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Backyard cricket, Street cricket, beach cricket or garden cricket is an informal ad hoc variant of the game of cricket, played by people of both sexes and all ages in gardens, back yards, on the street, in parks, carparks, beaches and any area not specifically intended for the purpose.

Overview

Whilst loosely based upon the game of cricket, many aspects are improvised: the playing ground, the rules, the teams, and the equipment. Quite often there are no teams at all; the players take turns at batting and there is often no emphasis on actually scoring runs. A bat of some kind is necessary. The bat can be anything, as long as it can hit the ball and can be suitably held in the hands. A ball (often a tennis ball, since this is less likely than a cricket ball to inflict injury) is the other essential item, (a tennis ball can be modified by wrapping half of the ball in insulating tape in order to induce swing bowling). The tennis ball is also common due to being much cheaper and more readily available than a leather cricket ball and is easier to hit due to having a slower air-speed. The pitch can be any stretch of ground that is reasonably flat. The wicket may be any convenient object - a cardboard box, a rubbish bin, case of beer, telegraph pole, or tree. Often, the wicket is by no means close to the official size, but it is used anyway. A wicket at the non-striker's end is generally a single stump if true stumps are available and in the absence of larger objects may be just a hat. Its main purpose is to mark the bowler's crease, but you can be run out by it. Standard footwear used in backyard cricket are thongs (flip-flops) or bare feet.

Rules

Backyard cricket rules change constantly. Often they are made up on the spot. As always with informal games, it is the unspoken rules that are most important: these are usually that all participants should have a reasonable chance to play a part regardless of age, gender, or skill level, and that no-one should be injured. Typical examples of the less important but explicit rules for a particular game include:

Rooves or flats? - Often the toss is conducted by spinning a bat in the air which will either land face down (with the roof shaped back of the bat pointing up) or with the flat face pointing up. Making this choice correctly gives the captain making the call the choice of innings. Since a bat thrown randomly will land "rooves" with about a 70% frequency, most people will call "rooves" when given the choice. Knowing this, however, a canny thrower may tailor his or her throw to increase the odds of "flats". With practice, the probability of throwing a bat to come up "flats" can be greatly enhanced.; Bowling - 'normally' 6 balls to an over with a new bowler each over. There will always be 'two' balls to go in an over. Sometimes longer overs or no overs are used. The striker's (batsman) and non-striker's (bowler) ends do not change. Instead, if there are two batsmen, they swap ends at the end of each over.; Last ball pending soup - on the bowlers otherwise last ball of the over, the "last ball pending soup" rule can apply, where the bowler is granted an extra delivery everytime he puts the batsman under a degree of discomfort, which is said to be placed in a soup due to the delivery. This may include such as an edge or a complete missed stroke.; No balls - would normally only be given if the ball is a grubber (strikes the pitch and rolls rather than bouncing). Random play may throw up other incidents which are inarguably a no ball though. The ball will be bowled again and depending on the days rules, will probably score the batsmen a run.; Wides - Have to be obvious. A wide may or may not be bowled again depending on local rules and may or may not score a run. It is not wide if the batsmen swings at it unless it is out of his reach at the full extension of arm and bat. Which is a wide as obvious as a barn.; First ball rule - a player cannot be given out on the first ball he/she faces.; No Duck - a player cannot be given out without scoring.; Wicket Dispute - When there is a dispute over a wicket, (a good example being the run-out rule), it is very common that the bowler will believe a player is out, and the batsman will believe it is not out. If there is not a mutual umpire present, the decision is often made with a compromise, such as -5 runs off the batsman's score however continue batting. If no compromise is accepted by both parties, the next step is 'Last Man Standing'. Some people choose to use a 'majority rules' system before the 'Last Man Standing' system, however it is common that the bowling or batting team will have more players, and therefore the decision will always go their way, or if the numbers are equal, there will be no majority. The 'last man standing rule' means that the first team to leave the backyard or playing area (such as an oval or beach), automatically forfeits the wicket. If the batter leaves first, they are automatically out, if the bowler leaves first, the batter is not out.; 3 miss rule - once a player has failed to hit 3 consecutive deliveries they are out, this number can be adjusted depending on ability and number of players. Rare.; Six and out rule - hitting the ball over the fence (or into the water, into the big hedge, or some other area where the ball may be difficult to retrieve) counts as six runs and out. If a game is being played where runs are not scored, this rule may still apply.A variant of this rule is hitting the ball inside or outside house(s) if playing outside or inside respectively.; One hand, one bounce - a player is able to catch the batsman out with one hand as long as the ball has bounced only once, hence the name "one-hand, once bounce." A variation on this is that a player is out if caught one-handed after the ball has bounced off an obstacle (not the ground) such as a house, car, or window pane, etc. Tng the obstruction, a fielder can catch the ball with one hand. his, if playing in an enclosed area, such as in a driveway or in cricket nets, can also be: One Hand Off the Net. This means hat after strikiAnother variation counts "one hand, one bounce" as half a wicket, requiring two catches for a dismissal. This counteracts the ease of dismissal when playing on hard surfaces with a tennis ball. This rule was invented to make fielding easier while holding a drink.; Two Bounce Headbutt - A fielding player is able to headbutt the ball after it has bounced on the ground twice to dismiss the batsman; Two Bounce Kick-up - A fielding player is able to kick the ball and catch it on the full with one hand after it has bounced on the ground twice to dismiss the batsman; No LBW - the more complex and subtle rules of formal cricket (like the leg before wicket rule) are often ignored. This rule is often expanded to include no-balls and most wides (unless of course, the ball is unmistakably wide). This rule came about because of the lack of umpires in this form of the game. Indeed, the bowling and popping creases are hardly ever indicated. There is simply a general consensus to deliver the ball when at a certain area.; Fixed LBW - if LBW is being used, the ball must hit a specified area of the batsman, usually designated as below the knees while the batsmen is standing in his/her crease and directly in front of the stumps for he/she to be out.; Tippy-go', Tippity, Tip-and-run, Tip-hit, Hit and run, Tipsy, Tipneys, One Tip or similar - if the batsman hits the ball he or she must run regardless of the distance or quality of the shot played. This is sometimes varied to two or three chances and the player must run before the second or third ball, respectively. These variant are called two tip and three tip respectively.; Tip-is-it or Batsman's fault - often employed when there are two batsmen and the above rule is in effect. Tip-is-it specifies that in the event of a runout the batsman who hit the ball is out, regardless of which player is found short of their crease. This helps prevent the non-striker being dismissed at fault of their batting player.; Any wicket - Fielders may run the batsman out by knocking over either wicket, irrespective of the end the batsman was running to.; Automatic Wickie, Electric wicket-keeper, or electronic wicket-keeper, automatic wicket-keeper, or auto-wiky - a rule which states that if a batsman "snicks", or edges, the ball so it goes to where a wicket-keeper might have been able to catch him out, then the batsman is out, regardless of the fact that he was not physically caught out. Electric/automatic wicket-keeper is often a feature of backyard games played in house driveways and against garage doors, where it is physically impossible for any player to take the fielding position of wicket-keeper. Of course, if there is a person playing at 'keeper, the electric/automatic wicket-keeper rule does not apply; an electric/automatic slip fieldsman might be called into play instead.; Wicket-leave - if there is only one batsmen and he makes a single run, he/she must exclaim Wicket Leave!, Wicket!, Safe!, Crease! or similar before walking back to the batting crease, or they may be run out.; Magic Fielders, similar to the automatic wicket keeper rule, magic fielders can range from a chair to a hose, and the rule states that any magic fielder that is hit on the full will be recorded as out.; Tree Fielders, similar to the Magic Fielder rule, the bowler is allowed to nominate a set number of trees (or bushes) as fielders. If the ball hits the tree on the full, the batsman is out. There are variations on the rules, such as the tree's canopy only counting as a fielder.; Hit and Roll rule - a rule in which fielders who retrieves balls hit by the batsman are given the opportunity to get the batsman out by rolling the ball from that point towards the batsman's bat which is laid flat on the ground facing the fielder. If the ball rolls and hits the bat then the batsman is out and is replaced by that fielder. If the ball is only hit within a short distance, then instead of laying the bat down, the batsman swings the bat like a pendulum and the fielder targets the swinging bat. Another variant involving balls which are only hit over short distances is that the batsman holding his bat with the edge facing the fielder. The fielder aims to target this to get the batsman out as above.; Peg - after the batsman has struck the ball they do not run. Once the fielder has the ball, they may throw it at the batsman's wicket. If the fielder hits the wicket, then the batsman is out and it is the fielder's turn to bat. Alternatively, if the batsman is caught or bowled then the fielder responsible bats next. Uncommon, bears more in common with Rounders.; Hit the Window - If the batsman's shot hits a fragile item such as a window pane or a car, they are often given out. However this rule normally doesn't apply if the ball has ricocheted off another item first.; House Rule - If the ball hits the house the batsman is out. Sometimes this is limited to the roof, or another area of the house, such as a garage door or a fence.; Creases - The bowling crease is generally the non-strikers wicket along a line straight out to either side. The batsman's crease may be marked by a stick or spare bat, but is generally made by dragging the bat across the line of the pitch at a guessed metre out from the stumps and however distance is large enough to be clearly seen.; Batter to bowler - not used much anymore but still an accepted form, a batsmen who goes out bowls the remainder of the over.; Can't Bat then Bowl - If a lot a players are playing the batsman that just went out can not bowl for at least one over after he goes out. Sometimes he is not allowed to bowl until everyone else has bowled depending on local rules;

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