How to Play Garden Cricket

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Garden Cricket is an informal outdoor bat-and-ball game based on the rules of cricket, scaled down for a garden or park setting. It uses lightweight plastic equipment, shorter pitch lengths, and simplified rules so that mixed-age groups can play together without specialist knowledge or a full-sized ground.

Its appeal is straightforward: almost any reasonably flat patch of lawn will do, games can be tailored to however much time you have, and players aged six to sixty can compete in the same match without anyone being bored or overwhelmed. It is a fixture of summer gatherings, school sports days, and family holidays across the UK.

A little history

Cricket itself is one of England's oldest bat-and-ball games, with written references dating to the sixteenth century in the Weald of Kent and Sussex. Garden or backyard versions have been played informally for as long as families have owned lawns large enough to swing a bat, though no single set of standardised garden cricket rules has an officially recorded origin. The lightweight plastic sets now associated with the game became widely available in the latter half of the twentieth century, making organised garden play far more practical and bringing the game to a much broader audience. Its origins as a distinct, codified activity remain unclear beyond that general history.

Setting up

1. Identify a flat area of lawn at least 10 metres long and 5 metres wide. Remove obvious hazards such as garden furniture.
2. Push one set of stumps firmly into the ground at each end of the pitch. Standard garden pitch length is 10 to 15 metres between the two sets of stumps; shorten to 8 metres for younger children.
3. Set the bails lightly across the top of each set of stumps so they will fall if struck.
4. Mark a boundary if space allows, using cones, rope, or natural features such as a fence or hedge. Note the boundary distance so all players agree on it before play begins.
5. Divide players into two teams of equal or near-equal size. Toss a coin; the winner chooses whether to bat or field first.
6. The fielding team nominates a bowler to bowl the first over. The batting team sends in its first two batters.

How to play

1. The bowler delivers the ball from behind or at the bowling crease toward the batter at the opposite end. In garden cricket, both underarm and overarm bowling are permitted; agree which is allowed before the game starts.
2. The batter defends their wicket and attempts to hit the ball into the field.
3. Runs are scored by the two batters running to exchange ends after a hit. Each completed exchange scores one run. The batters may run as many times as they choose on a single delivery provided they are safe before a fielder returns the ball and breaks the wicket.
4. If the ball reaches a pre-agreed boundary marker, the batting side scores four runs automatically without running. If the ball clears the boundary on the full (without bouncing), six runs are scored.
5. A batter is dismissed in the following ways: (a) Bowled: the ball strikes the stumps and dislodges a bail; (b) Caught: a fielder catches the ball cleanly before it touches the ground after the batter has hit it; (c) Run out: a fielder hits the stumps with the ball while the running batter has not reached the safety of the crease; (d) Hit wicket: the batter dislodges their own bail with the bat or body.
6. When a batter is dismissed they leave the field and the next batter on their team comes in. Play continues until the batting team has lost all its wickets or the agreed number of overs has been bowled.
7. An over consists of six deliveries bowled by the same bowler. Once an over is complete, a different fielder must bowl the next over. The same bowler may not bowl consecutive overs.
8. No-balls and wides may be included for older or experienced groups: a delivery that bounces above the batter's shoulder height, or is bowled too far wide to reach without stretching, counts as a no-ball or wide. One extra run is added to the batting team's score and the delivery is retaken.
9. Once the first batting team has finished its innings, the teams swap roles. The fielding team now bats and tries to beat the first team's score.
10. The number of innings per team (commonly one or two) and the maximum number of overs per innings should be agreed before the game begins.

Winning and scoring

The team that scores the most runs across its agreed innings wins. If scores are level after all innings, the match is a tie. For time-limited games, the team leading when time is called wins; if scores are level at that point, the match is called a draw. Where a league or tournament format is used, a win typically earns two points, a tie one point each, and a loss zero, but house rules vary.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns whether a bail was genuinely dislodged. A bail must fully leave the groove of the stumps to count as the wicket being broken; a bail that wobbles but stays in place is not out. Agree before play that the fielding captain's call stands on close decisions, or nominate a neutral umpire. If no bails are used, the ball must visibly strike and move a stump.

Run-outs cause regular arguments about whether the batter was in their ground. The crease is the line at the batter's end; the batter is safe if any part of their bat or body is grounded behind it when the wicket is broken. If both batters end up at the same end after a run, the batter who was running (not the one already there) is out if the wicket is broken at the end they left. When playing without a formal umpire, the fielding team's captain calls it and the result stands; persistent disputes should be settled by a re-bowl.

How to win more often

• Place your strongest bowler at the end with the wind behind them; even a soft ball swings and skids more with the breeze, and wickets early in an innings shift pressure onto inexperienced batters.
• Station your best fielder at mid-on or mid-off, the area directly in front of the batter. Most garden cricket shots go straight rather than square, and a sharp catch or quick return from there accounts for a high proportion of dismissals.
• As a batter, score your boundaries early while fielders are still finding their positions. Once the field is set, target any obvious gaps rather than trying to hit over the top.
• Rotate your bowlers evenly to keep arms fresh and to stop the batting side working out one bowler's line and length. A sudden change of pace or angle from a fresh bowler takes wickets.
• Agree the boundaries clearly before the first ball is bowled. Ambiguous boundary rulings in the middle of a close game cause more ill will than almost anything else.

Variations

Last Man Stands

When a team loses all but one of its wickets, the remaining batter continues at one end while the previously dismissed batters take turns returning as their partner. Each dismissed batter gets one more chance to bat in this way. The innings ends only when the last batter is out. This keeps more players involved and suits smaller groups where sitting out feels punishing.

French Cricket

There is no pitch, no wickets, and no running. The batter stands in one spot, defending their legs, which serve as the wicket. Fielders bowl or throw from wherever the ball was fielded; the batter may not move their feet until they have hit the ball. A caught hit or a strike to the legs below the knee is out. Fast to set up and ideal for very young children or awkwardly shaped gardens.

Continuous Cricket

There are no overs and no waiting: every member of the batting team bats in turn, one at a time, with no partner at the other end. The batter hits the ball, runs to the far crease and back, scoring one run per completed return trip. As soon as the ball is returned to the bowler, the next delivery is bowled regardless of whether the current batter has returned. This format keeps all players active and works well for large, energetic groups of younger children.

Pairs Cricket

Each batting pair faces a set number of overs (typically two to four). A dismissal costs five runs rather than ending the pair's innings, so all pairs bat for the same amount of time. Every player bats and every player bowls, which makes this variation ideal for school or youth events where equal participation matters.

Garden Cricket: frequently asked questions