Between the wickets
Ready when: Hit off a tee (b2) done.
What you are learning
Running between the wickets: call "yes", "no" or "wait" before running, run hard, slide the bat over the crease line so the run counts, then turn and come back for two. Calling stops the two batters crashing into each other.
Words on this card Pitch, Stumps, Crease, Batter, Wicketkeeper, Fielder, Over, Umpire, Tee
- Pitch
- The strip of ground between the two sets of stumps; a full one is 20.12 m long.
- Stumps
- The three upright sticks at each end, with two small bails on top. A bucket can stand in for them.
- Crease
- The line in front of the stumps. The batter is safe while the bat or a foot is grounded behind it.
- Batter
- The player with the bat.
- Wicketkeeper
- The fielder who crouches behind the batter's stumps and catches the balls the batter misses.
- Fielder
- A player on the fielding team.
- Over
- Six balls bowled by one bowler.
- Umpire
- The person who decides whether a batter is out and signals it with a raised finger.
- Tee
- A stand that holds the ball still for the batter to hit.
Set up
Two sets of stumps or cones 12 m apart, a bat, a tee.
Weather: dry ground
Show it first for the one teaching
- Stand at the crease with the bat. Call "yes!" loudly and run hard to the other end.
- Reach the bat out and slide it along the ground over the line.
- Turn and run back for a second run, sliding the bat over the line again.
Your part while they practise
Be the umpire; call the runs.
Step by step
- Hit the ball off the tee.
- Call "yes" and run hard to the other end.
- Slide the bat over the line.
- Turn and come back for two.
How much: 5 runs, 3 rounds 8 min a session 2 days a week
Say one thing Pick one line from "What you will see" for today and say only that.
The game: Run-out race
On "yes" the batter runs two while a fielder fetches a ball from a tee and throws it to the keeper.
Who plays: 2 to 4: a batter, a fielder and a keeper (you, at first).
How to play, turn by turn
- Turns
- Put a ball on a tee 10 m to the side of the pitch
- The batter hits off the batting tee and calls "yes"
- The batter runs two; the fielder runs to the side tee, picks up that ball and throws it to the keeper at the batter's starting end
- If the bat is over the line before the keeper knocks the stumps with the ball in hand, the batter is safe
- Fair play
- A grown-up fielder walks to the tee.
- Points
- The batter scores 2 runs for each safe two; the fielder and keeper score 1 point for each run-out.
- Fouls
-
- A run with the bat not grounded over the line does not count
- Running without calling: no runs
- A throw at the batter gives the batter 2 extra runs
- Winning
- The most runs after everyone has batted 5 times.
- 4 runs for 1 star
- 6 runs for 2 stars
- 8 runs for 3 stars
Easier or harder
A shorter pitch.
Three calls: yes, no, wait.
What you will see, and what to say
- the child stops short of the crease
Bat over the line
Slide it along the ground past the line. - both run at once and collide
Call before you go
The batter who can see the ball calls.
Self-check
5 runs in a row, bat grounded each time.
Stop and get a coach when
Collision or a fall; slow down.
Fitness for this
Warm up first: how to warm up, at workonfitness.com. For strength and stretching, its exercise library shows each exercise step by step, with an easier version.
This card trains running, turning, calling.
Basic is done when the child meets the self-checks on b1 to b4 on two days.
awiseathlete.com/sports/cricket/cricket-b5