Playing the Game

Before play begins, the 2 captains toss a coin to see which side will bat and which side will field. All of the fielding side take their positions, but only 2 batters are on the field at a time. At the start of play, the batter on strike assumes a batting stance ready to recive the first bowl. The other batter bowls stands at the opposite end of the pitch. The bowler bowls the ball overarm towards the striker's wicket. If the batter does not hit the ball, the wicketkeeper usually catches it. If the striker hits the ball, the 2 batters then have the choice whether to run or not. If the batter hits the inside the field of play and it then crosses the boundary, this counts as four runs. If the ball is propelled directly over the boundry without bouncing in the field of play, 6 run are awarded. After 6 legal deliveries have been bowled, the umpire calls over. While the batters attempt to score as many runs as possible, the fielders try to dismiss the batters. 

The end of an innings

When a batter is dismissed, that player leaves the field and the next memeber of the batting side is in. When 10 of the 11 members of the batting side are out, ( there will always be one batter not out because batters must operate in pairs), when the allocated time is up, or the set nmber of overs have been bowled, the innings is complete. For the next innings, the batting and fielding sides swap roles.