American Cricket

Official Rules

 

American Cricket is a bat-and ball-game played between two teams according to the rules herein outlined:

 

1.  Each team shall consist of eleven players each, one of which shall be designated as captain of the team, who shall represent the team on and off the field, and whose opinions and decisions about the game shall represent that of the entire team.

 

2.  Umpires shall be designated in a method agreeable to both captains to officiate the game, in order to ensure fair play and legal enforcement thereof, according to the rules herein outlined.  The ruling of the umpires shall be final in all cases, and shall not be disputed by any player or spectator or person otherwise involved.  The umpires are also granted the authority to require any player or spectator or person otherwise involved in the match to leave the playing area who is, in the opinion of the umpires, acting in an unruly or uncooperative manner, in accordance with the spirit of fair play and good sportsmanship.  

 

3.  Before play commences, the captains of the teams shall agree upon the area of play, in which any ball that remains within that area during play shall be considered live and in play.

 

4.  Before play commences, the captains of the teams shall agree upon any rule changes to this set of rules that will be played by for the duration of the game, and shall inform the umpires of these rule changes before the game begins.

 

5.  The ball used in an American Cricket match shall be made of cork covered in leather, and shall be nine inches in circumference, and five and a half ounces in weight.  

 

6.  The bat used to hit the ball shall be flat and made of wood, the widest part thereof not exceeding four and a quarter of an inch, and shall be no more than thirty eight inches in length.

 

7.  Players may not use gloves while fielding.

 

8.  The playing field shall be an elipse surrounding two wickets, each consisting of three cylindrical wooden stumps protruding at right angles twenty eight inches from the ground, each being one and a half inches in diameter, with center stumps being foci thereof, according to the diagram below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. The stumps that form each wicket shall collinear, the outer edge of each outer stump being exactly four and a half inches from the center of the center stump, so that the distance from the outer edge of one stump to that of the other is exactly nine inches.

 

10. The wickets shall be sixty six feet apart and set up so that the lines formed by them are parallel.

 

11. There shall be a batter's crease on each end of the field each parallel to the lines formed by the wickets and each intersecting the line segment formed by the center stumps of each wicket, and each four feet away from their respective wickets.

 

12.  One of the two teams shall bat while the other one fields, and vice versa.

 

13. An inning shall consist of each team having batted and fielded exactly once.

 

14. A cricket match shall consist of one or two innings, whichever is decided up on by the captains prior to the match.

 

15. The fielding team shall have a clearly designated bowler who shall deliver the ball from one wicket to the other.

 

16. No part of the body of the bowler shall not cross the crease on the bowler's side until after delivery, except that his front foot may cross the bowler's crease upon delivery, provided that at least part of his foot is also at least touching the creace.

 

17. The bowler may deliver the ball only with elbow not bent, so as to not allow the ball to be chucked to the opposting wicket.

 

18. The batting team shall start with two batsman on the field, one at each wicket.  A run is scored each time the two batsman legally exchange wickets by each one running from one to the other.

 

19. The batters may at any time during the match attempt to exhchange wickets in an attempt to score runs, provided the ball is considered by the umpire live and in play. 

 

20. If any part of the body of the batter is in contact with the ground on his wicket's side of his crease, he shall be deemed in safe territory, and likewise for the other batter with respect to his wickets side of his crease.  If the ball knocks the bails off the stumps while the batter closest to that wicket is not within his safe zone, he shall be ruled out.

 

21. A bail shall be considered to have been knocked off the stumps by the ball if a fielder knocks the bails with his hand(s) holding the ball.  If a fielder knocks a bail off the stumps with any part of his body other than his hand(s) holding the ball, or if he knocks a bail off the stumps with his hand not holding the ball, the bail will be considered to not have been knocked off by the ball.

 

22. If a bail has been knocked off the stumps by the ball, the bail will be deemed to have falled from the wicket at the moment the ball had struck the wicket, even if there is a delay in the time between when the ball had struck the wicket and the bail actually fell from the stumps.

 

23. The two batters shall bat until either one of them is out, in which case the one that is out shall leave the batting area and be replaced by one of his teamates who has not yet batted.

 

24. A team shall bat until every batter on the team except for one has been retired exactly once before the other team shall bat.  Once all the batters have been retired from a team except for one, the batting team shall field, and the fielding team shall bat.

 

25. If a batter hits the ball outside the elipse, each of the batters shall not considered safe although he remains in his save zone, but rather, he shall be obligated to attempt to advance to the alternate wicket, and the other batsman shall likewise be obligated to advance.  In the case where a runner is obligated to attempt to avance to the opposite wicket, if a bail should be knocked off the stumps by the ball before a runner advances to the alternate wicket, the batter who is advancing to the wicket that had been struck, even if he is furthur from that wicket than the other batter, shall be called out.

 

26. If the ball is not hit outside the elipse, the batters are not obligated to run.  However, if in such a case the batters attempt to run, and if a bail is knocked off the stumps of either wicket and the runner closest to that wicket is not in the safe zone that contains that wicket before the ball strikes the wicket, then that runner who is closest to that wicket shall be called out.    

 

27. If the ball is struck by the batter and hits any part of the field outside the elipse, it shall be considered to have been hit outside the elipse.  If the ball is in the air while having made contact with a fielder who is outside the elipse, then the ball shall be considered to have been hit outside the elipse.  

 

28. A fielder shall be considered outsdie the elipse if he is in contact with the playing field outside the elipse and no part of his body is in contact with the elipse, nor any part of the field inside of the same, of if in the air, the last part of his body having touched the ground was outside the elipse before his having left the ground.  

 

29. If the ball was in contact with the ground while a fielder makes contact with the ball, then the ball shall be deemed inside or outside the elipse exclusively depending on the part of the field that the ball was in contact with upon having made contact with the fielder.

 

30. A ball in contact with the line that forms the elipse shall be considered to be inside the elipse.

 

31. If a ball is hit in the air, and is caught by a fielder before making contact with the ground, the batter who hit the ball shall be called out.

 

32. If a batter is caught out having hit a ball in the air, and if the not batting batter had crossed the pitch midway before the ball had been caught, then that batter shall be next to bat.  In the case where the opposite batter had not crossed the pitch midway before th ball had been caught, then he shall return to his wicket and allow the new batter who is replacing the one who had gotton out to bat.

 

33. The playing field shall be bounded with a clearly designated boundary all around the field.

 

34. If a ball is hit in the air and lands in the area outside the boundary, then the batter shall be awarded six runs, and the batsman shall not exchange wickets before the commencement of the next bowl.

 

35. If a ball is hit on the ground and rolls accross the boundary, whether or not the ball first makes contact with a fielder before crossing the boundary, the batter shall be awarded four runs, and the batsman shall not exchange wickets before the commendnext bowl.

 

36.  The set of rules written in this document shall be considered the complete set of rules for American Cricket, and any play during a legal game of the same that does not break nor disobey these rules shall be considered legal, and shall be considered so until a rule is otherwise added to this set.

 

37.  Any rule outlined in this document can be spontaneously modified during or before a game, if agreed upon by both captains.  However, unless otherwise agreed upon by both captains, each rule in this document shall be considered binding during game play and shall be followed in all cases.

 

38.  Players shall use common sense in keeping safety, fair play, and good sportsmanship in mind when playing American Criket.  A player who is unruly or otherwise unreasonable in the opinion of the umpires shall be asked to leave after a second or third warning.