What is the cricket, cricket is played between two teams, 11 players each side, and gives the maximum chance for combining team effort with individual skill and initiative. Each team bats, or takes its innings, in turn the choice for first innings is by toss. The game is played on a pitch on which two wickets are placed 22 yards (20.12 m) apart, this distance can be reduced for children.

The two bats men defend the wickets against the bowling of the fielding side, and when a bats man is 'out' someone else come on his place, and so on until ten  bats men are out or until the innings has been declared closed. A bowler from the other side bowls an over of 6 balls from one end to the other bats man defending his wicket, and aims to dismiss him in one of the ways provided for in the Laws. The more used methods of dismissing a bats man are the bowling straight on the striker's wicket,  catching him from a stroke, his being Leg before wicket, stumping  by the wicket keeper when he has gone out of his ground, and by either bats man being run out.

Overs are bowled successively from alternate ends. No bowler can bowl two overs in succession, but otherwise the captain of the fielding side can change his bowling as he thinks it should do good to him. The score is reckoned by 'runs', i.e. the number of times the bats men run from one end to another of the area between the 'popping crease' at each end of the pitch. Runs are usually the result of hits, but can be scored when the ball has not actually been hit by the striker, e.g. 'Byes' and 'Leg byes', or as penalties for 'Wides' and 'No balls'. The fielding side has the twofold object of dismissing the opposing bats men and of preventing them from scoring runs.

When the first team has finished its innings, the other team starts its own. A match could consist of one or two innings by one side. The side scoring the largest aggregate of runs in the match wins. If the match is not played out to a finish, it is regarded as drawn.