How to score a cricket match ball by ball
Short answer: for every ball, record runs, any extra and any wicket. Everything else — batter scores, bowler figures, the total and the run rate — is worked out from those three things.
1. Before the first ball
- Team names, overs per side and players per side
- Who won the toss and chose to bat or bowl
- House rules: runs for a wide or no-ball, re-bowl or not, balls per over, last man stands
- The two opening batters (who is on strike) and the opening bowler
2. Every ball
Write the runs off the bat (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6). Boundaries count without running. If the ball is a wide or no-ball, mark the extra; if the runs came without touching the bat, they are byes or leg byes. A wicket gets the method: bowled, caught, LBW, run out, stumped, hit wicket and so on.
3. When strike changes
Batters swap ends on an odd number of runs (1, 3, 5) and again at the end of every over. That means a single off the last ball keeps the same batter facing the next over.
4. End of the over and innings
After six legal balls (or your agreed number) note the over, pick the next bowler — the same bowler cannot bowl two overs in a row. The innings ends when all overs are bowled, the team is all out, or it is declared. In the chase, the target is the first-innings total plus one.
5. Finishing the scorecard
A full card shows each batter's runs and balls, how they got out, extras by type, fall of wickets, and each bowler's overs, maidens, runs and wickets. The result is "won by X runs" when the side batting first defends, and "won by X wickets" when the chase succeeds.
How Wickora helps
Wickora asks for teams, overs, toss and openers, then gives you one big button per run. Extras and wickets are one tap, strike and bowler figures update by themselves, and undo always works. At the end you share the scorecard as a PDF.
FAQ
What does the scorer write for each ball?
The runs scored (0–6), any extra (wide, no-ball, bye, leg bye) and whether a wicket fell. The batter's runs, the bowler's figures and the team total all come from these entries.
Who keeps the scorebook in a friendly match?
Usually one player from the batting side or someone waiting to bat. Agree before the match who scores and which rules you play, such as overs and wides.
What if two scorers disagree?
Go back over by over. Writing every ball, not just the total, is what lets you find the mistake.