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Cricket · Level 1: Beginner · Sub-level 1.1

The Shape of a Match

10 tests · 100 facts · updated 12 October 2026 · markdown

This sub-level teaches that cricket is played between two sides of eleven who take turns to bat and to field, with the choice decided by a toss; that an innings is one side's turn to bat and a match is one or two innings a side; that bowling is organised into overs of six legal balls; that runs and wickets are the two quantities being counted; and how a completed match is won, tied or, in the longer game, drawn. It also covers who faces each ball and how the strike changes, the batting order and partnerships, how a margin of victory is written, and the landmarks a batter or bowler can reach.

Each test below is ten questions on Insporta. The list under a test is what the questions check: one fact per question, with the source it was written from. Read it before the test, or come back from a wrong answer.

Test 1Two sides, and the two things they doTake a test

  1. A side is eleven players; a substitute may field for an injured player but cannot bat or bowl.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 1 · recall

  2. While one side bats, the whole of the other side is in the field, with one of them bowling.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 1 · recall

  3. Only the batting side adds runs; the fielding side must wait for its own turn to bat.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 18 · applied

  4. The fielding side cannot add runs, so it competes by dismissing batters and restricting scoring.

    Source: General playing principle · recall

  5. Batters run in pairs because a run is scored by both of them crossing and reaching the far crease.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 18 · applied

  6. An all-rounder contributes with both bat and ball; a specialist is picked mainly for one discipline.

    Source: General cricket terminology · recall

  7. A team is allowed to play short-handed; it simply competes with fewer players and no borrowed cover.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 1 · applied

  8. Cricket is a two-team game in which each side alternates between batting and fielding.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 1 · recall

  9. The fielding captain picks who bowls each over and places the fielders; scoring and signals belong to the scorers and umpires.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 1 · applied

  10. A substitute may only field; batting and bowling stay with the eleven who were nominated.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 24 · recall

Test 2The toss and choosing to bat or bowlTake a test

  1. The match opens with a coin toss to decide which side has first choice of batting or fielding.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 13 · recall

  2. The winning captain's only choice is to bat or to field; the rest is fixed by the match conditions.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 13 · recall

  3. "Put in" or "inserted" describes a side made to bat first by the toss-winner's choice to field.

    Source: General cricket terminology · recall

  4. On a pitch that will deteriorate, batting first lets a side score while it is at its easiest.

    Source: General captaincy principle · applied

  5. When the ball is likely to move about early, bowling first exploits the conditions before they ease.

    Source: General captaincy principle · applied

  6. If the pitch will stay good, first use of it is the moment to build a total the other side must chase.

    Source: General captaincy principle · applied

  7. Dew makes the ball hard for bowlers to grip, so many sides prefer to chase, batting second on a wet ball.

    Source: General captaincy principle · applied

  8. The toss is settled by the coin; the losing captain cannot overturn or trade the winner's decision.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 13 · recall

  9. Holding the toss close to the start lets each side warm up for the role it has just been given.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 13 · recall

  10. "Elected to field" means that side chose to bowl first, so the other side opens the batting.

    Source: General scoring convention · applied

Test 3The inningsTake a test

  1. An innings is a full period in which one side bats and the other fields.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 13 · recall

  2. "Innings" keeps the "s" whether you mean one team's turn or several.

    Source: General cricket terminology · recall

  3. Limited-overs cricket is a single innings per side; only the longer forms give two.

    Source: ICC Men's ODI Playing Conditions · recall

  4. First-class cricket is a two-innings-a-side game, which is why a large first-innings lead can matter.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 13 · recall

  5. A limited-overs innings closes at all out or at the end of the overs, whichever comes first.

    Source: ICC Men's ODI Playing Conditions · applied

  6. A declaration voluntarily closes an innings that is not all out; it is a tool of the longer game only.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 15 · recall

  7. Once the chasing side goes one run past the target the match is won and play stops.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 16 · applied

  8. The sides normally alternate innings: first side, second side, first side, second side.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 13 · recall

  9. A score is given as runs then wickets lost, so "230 for 7" is 230 runs with seven batters out.

    Source: General scoring convention · applied

  10. With eleven batters, the tenth dismissal leaves the last man without a partner, so the innings ends.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 13 · recall

Test 4The overTake a test

  1. A completed over is six legal balls; eight-ball overs were used in some countries decades ago but not now.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 17 · recall

  2. Play switches to the opposite end for each new over, so the bowling alternates ends.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 17 · recall

  3. No bowler may bowl two overs in succession; another bowler must send down the next one.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 17 · recall

  4. With the ends swapping each over, whoever stands at the new bowler's end faces, so the strike alternates unless an odd number of runs was scored.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 17 · applied

  5. Illegal deliveries do not count towards the over, so the bowler has to bowl an extra ball for each one.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 17 · applied

  6. The call of "over" tells the players the six deliveries are done and the field now changes ends.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 17 · recall

  7. Each side receives fifty overs, but its innings also ends early if all ten wickets fall.

    Source: ICC Men's ODI Playing Conditions · recall

  8. A Test innings runs until the side is all out or the captain declares; ninety overs is a daily minimum, not an innings cap.

    Source: ICC Men's Test Match Playing Conditions · recall

  9. Figures are read as overs bowled, maiden overs, runs conceded, then wickets taken.

    Source: General scoring convention · applied

  10. Between overs the fielders simply reposition for the new bowling end; there is no break or substitution.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 17 · applied

Test 5Runs and wicketsTake a test

  1. Runs are cricket's unit of score; everything else on the scoreboard exists to explain the runs.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 18 · recall

  2. "Taking a wicket" is dismissing a batter; the same word also names the stumps in other contexts.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 32 · recall

  3. The winner is decided on runs, but the batters still not out set how much risk the side can take.

    Source: General playing principle · applied

  4. "All out" always means ten wickets have fallen, whatever the run total.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 13 · applied

  5. With only four wickets down, the innings closed at the end of the allotted overs.

    Source: ICC Men's T20I Playing Conditions · applied

  6. The batting side simply tries to make the largest total it can before its overs or wickets run out.

    Source: General playing principle · recall

  7. "Wickets in hand" is the number of batters not yet out, which lets the side bat aggressively at the death.

    Source: General cricket usage · applied

  8. Economy rate is runs conceded divided by overs bowled, a measure of how tightly a bowler contains scoring.

    Source: General scoring convention · recall

  9. "Not out" simply means the batter had not been dismissed when the innings closed.

    Source: General scoring convention · recall

  10. Runs and wickets are the core pair; overs, boundaries and the rest are detail hung off them.

    Source: General scoring convention · recall

Test 6Winning, tying and drawingTake a test

  1. Runs are the only currency for the result; wickets and boundaries matter only through their effect on runs.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 16 · recall

  2. Team B scored more runs, so it wins regardless of how many wickets it lost getting there.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 16 · applied

  3. Level completed totals make it a tie; a draw is an unfinished match and there is no "first-innings win" in a single-innings game.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 16 · applied

  4. A draw is an unfinished match; a tie is a finished match with the scores level.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 16 · recall

  5. A 50-over game is designed to reach a result, so "time running out undecided" does not apply to it.

    Source: ICC Men's ODI Playing Conditions · applied

  6. The side neither reached the target nor lost its last wicket before time ran out, so the match is drawn.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 16 · applied

  7. Many white-ball competitions break a tie with a Super Over, a one-over mini-innings for each side.

    Source: ICC Men's ODI / T20I Playing Conditions · recall

  8. Without the minimum overs to the chasing side, a limited-overs match has no result rather than a draw.

    Source: ICC Men's ODI Playing Conditions · applied

  9. Level aggregate scores after four completed innings is a tie; the tied Tests were in 1960 and 1986.

    Source: ESPNcricinfo · applied

  10. Batting order can matter tactically, but the Laws hand neither side a head start in runs.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 16 · recall

Test 7Striker and non-strikerTake a test

  1. Two batters are always in: one facing the bowler, the other standing at the bowler's end.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 1 · recall

  2. A boundary needs no running, so the batters stay where they were and the striker keeps the strike.

    Source: General playing principle · applied

  3. Two runs leave the batters where they were, but the new over is bowled from the other end, so the partner faces.

    Source: General playing principle · applied

  4. Since the 2022 edition of the Laws a new batter replacing one who was caught takes strike, whether or not the batters had crossed.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 18 · applied

  5. Whoever stands at the end the bowler is bowling to is the striker for that ball.

    Source: General playing principle · recall

  6. The batters keep their ends; the next over is bowled from the other end, which changes who is on strike.

    Source: General playing principle · applied

  7. The non-striker can be run out only if a fielder, including the bowler, touched the ball before it broke the wicket.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 38 · applied

  8. The keeper stands behind the striker's wicket; at the far end the non-striker waits at his crease and the umpire stands behind the stumps.

    Source: General playing principle · applied

  9. The non-striker edges forward as the bowler runs in, the ball is delivered and played, and the batters then run.

    Source: General playing principle · applied

  10. Three runs is an odd number, so the striker ends at the far end, at the popping crease beside the bowler's stumps.

    Source: General playing principle · applied

Test 8Batting order and partnershipsTake a test

  1. The openers face the new ball; the rest of the order comes in as wickets fall.

    Source: General playing principle · recall

  2. The tail is the last few batters, usually the specialist bowlers.

    Source: General playing principle · recall

  3. A partnership, or stand, counts every run added while the same pair is at the crease, extras included.

    Source: General scoring convention · recall

  4. Carrying the bat is batting through a completed innings: in at the start and still not out when the tenth wicket falls.

    Source: General scoring convention · applied

  5. Number 11 comes in when the ninth wicket falls; with him and his partner the side is on its last pair.

    Source: General scoring convention · applied

  6. A nightwatchman is a lower-order batter sent in near the close so that a better batter is not exposed until the next morning.

    Source: General playing principle · applied

  7. The Laws fix who plays, not the order they bat in; a captain may send in any of his not-out players next.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 1.2 · applied

  8. Each stand is the gap between two fall-of-wicket totals: 12, then 38, then 1, then 69 runs.

    Source: General scoring convention · applied

  9. The lower-order batter shields the specialist through the last overs of the day; the specialist comes in only when he is out.

    Source: General playing principle · applied

  10. A partnership counts every run added while the pair is together: 28 and 41 off the bat plus 3 extras make 72.

    Source: General scoring convention · applied

Test 9Margins of victoryTake a test

  1. A side that bats first and defends its total wins by the difference in runs.

    Source: General scoring convention · applied

  2. Wickets in hand are counted only for the side that reaches the target; the side batting first can only win by runs.

    Source: General scoring convention · recall

  3. A chasing side wins by the wickets it still had in hand: ten minus the two that fell.

    Source: General scoring convention · applied

  4. The balls left in the innings when the target is reached are given as balls to spare.

    Source: General scoring convention · applied

  5. The side batting last fell 50 runs short of Team A's aggregate, so Team A won by 50 runs.

    Source: General scoring convention · applied

  6. With no wicket down the chasing side wins by all ten wickets, the widest possible margin by wickets.

    Source: General scoring convention · applied

  7. A side that defends its total wins by runs, whether the chasers were bowled out or ran out of overs.

    Source: General scoring convention · applied

  8. The margins are 1, 14, 25 and 90 runs.

    Source: General scoring convention · applied

  9. Three down leaves seven wickets in hand and eight down leaves two, so the order is 9, 7, 4 and 2 wickets.

    Source: General scoring convention · applied

  10. Team B passed 245 with four wickets down, so they won with six wickets in hand.

    Source: General scoring convention · applied

Test 10Landmarks and recordsTake a test

  1. Out for nought is a duck, from the egg-shaped 0 in the scorebook.

    Source: General scoring convention · recall

  2. A hundred runs in an innings is a century, the batter's main landmark.

    Source: General scoring convention · recall

  3. A maiden is an over with no runs charged to the bowler; byes and leg-byes do not spoil it.

    Source: General scoring convention · recall

  4. Five wickets in an innings is a five-wicket haul, or five-for, the bowler's landmark.

    Source: General scoring convention · applied

  5. The nervous nineties are the scores from 90 to 99, where batters often tighten up before a hundred.

    Source: General scoring convention · applied

  6. Two noughts in one match is a pair; out first ball both times is a king pair.

    Source: General scoring convention · recall

  7. An asterisk after a score marks a batter who was not out.

    Source: General scoring convention · applied

  8. Getting off the mark is scoring a first run; fifty and a hundred are the landmarks that follow.

    Source: General scoring convention · applied

  9. Wickets come before runs: 5 for 61 beats any four-wicket return, and 4 for 38 beats 4 for 50.

    Source: General scoring convention · applied

  10. Wickets with three consecutive balls by one bowler are a hat-trick, even when they span two of his overs.

    Source: General scoring convention · applied

Sources

MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022) for the mechanics of play; ICC Playing Conditions for international format and officiating detail, which override the Laws where they differ; ESPNcricinfo and Wisden for history, records and governance. Questions are authored from these sources, not reproduced from them.

  • General scoring convention31
  • General playing principle14
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 139
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 167
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 177
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 16
  • ICC Men's ODI Playing Conditions5
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 184
  • General captaincy principle4
  • General cricket terminology3
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 241
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 151
  • ICC Men's Test Match Playing Conditions1
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 321
  • ICC Men's T20I Playing Conditions1
  • General cricket usage1
  • ICC Men's ODI / T20I Playing Conditions1
  • ESPNcricinfo1
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 381
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 1.21