INDOOR CRICKET

INTRODUCTION

Several versions of the game have been in existence since the late 1960s, whilst the game in its present form began to take shape in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Indoor  Cricket  is  play  usually  in  a warehouse.  The size of indoor  cricket  court  is  30  meters  x  10  meters  with  nets surrounding  the court.  The ground is concert with astro turf on top.  The cricket pitch is the same length as normal cricket, and has 3stumps at each end.  We don't  use  a  real  cricket  ball,  we  use a tennis ball with a cricket ball casing.

Like its outdoor cousin, indoor cricket involves two batsmen, a bowler and a team of fielders. The bowler bowls the ball to the batsmen who must score runs. The team with the highest score at the end of the match wins. Despite these basic similarities, the game itself differs significantly from its traditional counterpart in several ways, most notably on the field of play and the duration of the game.

BASIC RULES

Indoor cricket has the same basic rules as normal cricket except:

* The game is played over 16 overs(8 balls each).

* Bowlers can only bowl only 2 overs.

* Batmans can only bat for 4 overs.

* You can get caught out off the net.

* When you get out you lose 5 runs  (The batman stays in  until  he has completed his 4 overs).

* You  get  runs  by  hitting  the  ball and  running,  hitting  to different  sections  of the court (4 & 6 runs     possible).  Also by the bowler bowling a no ball or a wide (it cost 2 runs).

EQUIPMENTS

The stumps used in indoor cricket are not, for obvious reasons, stuck in the ground. Instead, they are collapsible spring-loaded stumps that immediately spring back to the standing position when knocked over. The ball used in indoor cricket is a modified cricket ball  with a softer centre. The ball also differs in that it is yellow in colour so to make it more obvious to see indoors against varied backgrounds. Both traditional outdoor cricket bats or more specialised lighter-weight indoor cricket bats may be used. The gloves are typically lightweight cotton with no protective padding on the outside. The palm-side of the gloves usually have embedded rubber dots to aid grip

Scoring Zone

Scoring in indoor cricket is split into 2 areas: physical runs and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net. Bonus scores for particular parts of the nets follow:

§  Zone A (front net - behind the keeper): 0 runs

§  Zone B (side nets between the striker's end and halfway down the pitch): 1 run

§  Zone C (side nets between halfway and the bowlers end): 2 runs

§  Zone D (back net - behind the bowler): 4 or 6 runs depending on the manner in which the ball hit the back net.

§  On the bounce: 4 runs

§  On the full: 6 runs

§  Zone B or C onto Zone D: 3 runs

NB: For bonus runs to be scored, at least one physical run must be scored. The bonus runs are then added to the physical runs. For example, a batsman strikes the ball, hitting the back net on the full (6) and makes one physical run, for a total of 7 runs.

 

Dismissals

A batsman can be dismissed in the same ways they can be in conventional cricket - with variations in the case of LBW and mankad (see below) - and with the exception of timed out. When a batsman gets dismissed, however, five runs are deducted from their total and they continue to bat. Batsmen bat in pairs for 4 overs at a time, irrespective of whether they are dismissed.

Mankads

A method of dismissal in indoor cricket that is far more prevalent than its outdoorcounterpart is the mankad. A mankad is given out if the bowler completes their bowling action without releasing the ball, breaks the stumps at their end without letting go of the ball and the non-striker is out of their ground.

LBW

Whilst LBW is still a valid form of dismissal in indoor cricket, it is a far rarer occurrence in indoor than it is in outdoor cricket. A batsman can only be dismissed LBW if he does not offer a shot and the umpire is satisfied that the ball would then have hit the stumps.

Officials

Indoor cricket is officiated by one umpire who is situated outside of the playing area at the strike batsmen's end of the court. The umpire sits or stands on a raised platform that is usually 3 metres above ground level. Secondary officials (such as scorers or video umpires) have sometimes been utilised in national or international competition.

RESULT

The team with the higher score at the conclusion of each innings is declared the winner of the match. The second innings continues for a full 16 overs even if the batting sidepasses the first innings total due to the possibility of a side finishing behind a total even after they have surpassed it (see dismissals above).

In most cases indoor cricket is played according to a skins system, where the batting partnerships from each innings are compared against one another and the higher of the two is deemed to have won the skin. For example, the second batting partnership in the first innings might score 5 runs whilst the second partnership in the second innings scores 10 - the latter would be deemed to have won the skin. The team that has won the greater of the four skins available is often awarded the win if the totals are tied.

TEST MATCH

Test indoor cricket is the highest standard of indoor cricket and is played between members of the World Indoor Cricket Federation.

The first international Test matches were played between Australia and New Zealand in 1985. Those sides have since been joined on the international stage by England (1990), South Africa (1991), Zimbabwe (1998), Namibia (1998), India (2000), Pakistan (2000), Sri Lanka (2002), the United Arab Emirates (2004), Wales(2007), France (2007) and Guernsey (2007).Test matches are usually played in a group of matches called a "series" featuring two to four nations. These series can consist of three to five matches and where more than two nations are involved, may also include a finals series. Matches played at World Cup events are also considered Test matches.