Tennis-ball cricket rules
Tennis-ball cricket is the cricket most of India actually plays — and every ground has its own rules. Here are the ones most tournaments use, and the ones to settle before you start.
Tennis-ball cricket follows the shape of normal cricket — two innings, overs, wickets — with a softer ball, shorter matches and local rules layered on top. There's no governing body, so a tournament's rules are whatever the organiser writes down. Write them down.
The ball
Most tournaments use a heavy tennis ball. Many tape it — “tape-ball” cricket — which makes it skid faster and swing more. Say which ball the tournament uses and who supplies it, and keep a few spares of the same kind so a lost ball doesn't change the game.
Teams and overs
- Players a side: anywhere from 8 to 11.
- Overs: usually 6 to 12 an innings for a one-day tournament — short enough to fit five or six matches on a ground in a day.
- Bowling limit: commonly a fifth of the overs each (2 overs in a 10-over match), so a team needs at least five bowlers.
- All out is when one batter is left without a partner, as in normal cricket, unless you agree to let the last batter carry on alone.
Bowling
Bowling is overarm, and most tournaments call a throw — a bent and straightened arm — a no-ball. A tennis ball rewards pace, so this is the rule umpires are asked about most. Agree who calls it and that their call is final.
Dismissals
- Bowled, caught, run out and stumped as normal.
- LBW is usually not given in tennis-ball tournaments; if you do give it, use neutral umpires.
- One tip, one hand— a catch taken one-handed after a single bounce is out. It's a gully rule for casual games; most tournaments leave it out. Say which.
- Hit out of the ground is out is another gully rule, for games where a lost ball is the end of the match. With proper boundaries and spare balls, tournaments count it as six.
Extras
Wides are usually called strictly, especially down the leg side, and cost one run plus a re-bowl. A no-ball — overstepping, a throw, or a full toss above the waist — usually costs one run plus a re-bowl, and many tournaments make the next ball a free hit, on which the batter can't be bowled, caught or stumped — only run out (or out for obstructing the field).
Ties
A tied knockout match needs a decider. The usual one is a super over: one over each, two or three batters, the higher score wins. Decide what happens if the super over is tied too.
The checklist to agree before the tournament
- Ball type (plain or taped) and who supplies it.
- Players a side, overs an innings and the bowling limit.
- Who umpires, and how throws are called.
- Whether LBW is given.
- Gully rules: one tip one hand, hit out of the ground, runs behind the wicket.
- Wides, no-balls and free hits.
- Points for a win, a tie and a washout, and the tiebreaker — usually net run rate.
- How a tie is decided in a knockout.
Run the tournament on SportsScorer
Set your overs and players a side, and SportsScorer handles the rest: fixtures, ball-by-ball live scores with free hits and retirements, and a points table with net run rate that updates itself. Make your fixtures first with the free fixture maker, or create a free tournament. Organising for the first time? Start with how to organize a cricket tournament.