How to score a cricket match

The job

A scorer is not a commentator. You are the memory of the match. Every run, extra and wicket has to be recorded so that anyone can rebuild the innings from the book alone, years later, without asking you. If the book and the umpires disagree, the book has to be able to explain itself.

What you need before the first ball

• A scorebook or scoring app with a column for each batter, the bowling analysis, and an extras line.
• Both teams' XI, in batting order, with the captain and wicket-keeper marked.
• The playing conditions: overs per side, ball type, whether DLS applies, the maximum overs per bowler, and whether a super over decides ties.
• A second pen. Ink fails, and a spare avoids a blank over.

Before the first ball

1. Write both sides, the toss result, who bats first, and the playing conditions at the top of the page.
2. Name the striker, non-striker, and the opening bowler. Confirm the bowler's end with the umpire.
3. Agree with the captains how you will mark wides, no-balls and the short run, so both teams read the book the same way.

Scoring a ball

Record each ball as it is bowled, not when someone shouts the score. The order matters:

• Legal ball: the ball counts toward the six balls of the over. A dot is a legal ball with no run.
• Runs off the bat: credit the striker and the bowler.
• Extras: a wide or a no-ball is not a legal ball. Byes and leg-byes are legal balls, but they are not credited to the batter or the bowler.
• Wickets: record the mode (bowled, caught, LBW, run out and so on) and the fielder involved. A wicket on a no-ball has its own rules, covered in the no-ball guide.

If you missed a ball, stop the next delivery if you can. Ask the umpire and the batter, then reconstruct it. Never invent a dot to make the over look finished.

Closing an over

At six legal balls, call the over to the bowler and the captain. Check that the runs in the over match the book. Check that the bowler's figures are right before the next over starts, because the bowling analysis is the first thing people argue about.

Changing ends and changing bowlers

Record the new bowler's name and end every time it changes. Write the over number and the score at the change. If a bowler is injured mid-over, note who finished the over; the Laws allow a change only at the start of an over, except for injury or a replacement permitted by the playing conditions.

The close of an innings

Check three things before you sign the book:

1. Batters' scores plus extras equal the innings total.
2. The overs bowled match the total of every bowler's analysis.
3. The wickets down match the number of dismissals recorded.

If any check fails, you still have time to find the missing wide or the mis-keyed boundary. Do it before the captains leave the field.

Common mistakes

• Crediting a bye to the batter because the ball went past them.
• Forgetting that a no-ball adds a run that is not a legal ball, so the over is one ball longer than the count.
• Recording a boundary as four when the ball was an overthrow and the batters ran.
• Losing track of who is on strike after a wicket. Write the new batter's name the moment they walk out.

Citations

Summarised for scorers from the MCC Laws of Cricket and standard club practice. Read the Laws for the exact wording and any updates.