Rules of Kwik cricket

Kwik cricket has been developed as an organised game for school children but can be enjoyed at home and played with mixed age family groups or friends in the garden, park or on the beach.

There are different games of Kwik cricket, adapted to suit the skill and number of players available and Kwik cricket can be enjoyed by people who don’t understand the rules of cricket beyond hitting a ball with a bat and shouting howzat!

Kwik cricket is played with lightweight plastic equipment and a lightweight ball so no protective clothing is necessary. Kwik cricket can be made more difficult, or easier, by changing the pitch dimensions, such as increasing the distance between the wickets or pushing out or pulling in the boundaries.

There are many kwik cricket games that can be played, including Pairs kwik cricket, the Lords Game and Continuous kwik cricket.

• The aim of the game is for each team of two to score the maximum number of runs.
• To play pairs kwik cricket, eight to ten players are first arranged into pairs in the following way:
• Pair one should be two batters, who begin with a score of 20 runs.
• Pair two comprises of one bowler and one wicket keeper.
• Pair three are two leg side fielders, (From the point of view of a right-handed batsman facing the bowler, the leg side is the left hand side of the cricket field)
• Pair four are two offside fielders.
• If playing pairs kwik cricket with ten players, the final pair should be another set of fielders.
• The kwik cricket stumps should be set up approximately 14.5 metres (16 yards) apart, however the distance between the stumps in kwik cricket can be varied according to space available and the skill and fitness of the players.
• Each batting pair’s turn comprises of twelve balls.
• The bowler should bowl accurately to the batter – plastic cones can be set up to the left and the right hand side of the wicket to help this if necessary. If the kwik cricket ball is bowled outside of the area, a “wide” is called and the batting pair receives 1 run and another ball.
• The kwik cricket batting pair should try and get as many runs as possible from their twelve balls bowled.
• Batters lose three runs each time they are bowled out, that is the wicket is hit by the bowler, caught out - when a fielder catchers the ball before it touches the ground, or run out, this is where the wicket keeper catches the kwik cricket ball before the batter has run back to the stumps..
• Once the kwik cricket batting pair have played their turn, the pairs rotate to new positions and the next pair take their turn as playing as the batting pair.
• Runs can also be scored in pairs kwik cricket by hitting boundaries. This is when a batter hits the ball over the boundary of the kwik cricket pitch. Runs can be awarded to the batters for hitting the kwik cricket ball straight over the boundary line without bouncing (as in full size cricket, this scores 6 runs) or if the ball crosses the boundary line but has touched the ground before it crosses the line (this scores 4 runs)
• The winners of pairs kwik cricket are the pair that have the most runs after every pair has batted.

An alternative version of pairs Kwik cricket can be played as a team game. This form of pairs Kwik cricket is most like the structure of conventional cricket.

• Two teams of eight players are arranged into pairs, who both play one innings each.
• An innings is 8 overs long and there are 4 balls to be bowled in each over.
• In this version of pairs kwik cricket, each batting pair get 2 overs, or 8 balls in which to score runs.
• The kwik cricket batting team’s score starts at 200 runs and 5 runs are deducted from the score, each time a batter is out. Once a batter is out, the batting partner faces the bowler.
• Runs are scored in the normal way, that is by running between the wickets and hits over the boundaries (fours and sixes).
• The team with the largest number of runs win the game of kwik cricket.

• Two kwik cricket teams play in teams of four or five players each.
• Both kwik cricket sides play two innings, each comprising of 10 minutes batting time.
• One bowler is chosen from the fielding side. Usually a requirement of kwik cricket is that he or she must bowl underarm. The bowler must bowl from a minimum distance of 10 metres.
• Each batter faces 6 balls.
• There is only one set of stumps used in the lords game of kwik cricket.
• In this game the kwik cricket pitch is set up by first marking two lines in front of the wicket. The first line is positioned near to the wicket, the second line positioned further away from the wicket.
• Runs in the lords game of kwik cricket are scored in the following ways:
• One run is scored for hitting the kwik cricket ball over the two lines marked in front of the wicket.
• One run is scored for running to line one and back.
• Two runs are scored for running to line two and back.
• Four runs are scored when the kwik cricket ball is hit over the boundary.
• A batter is out if he or she is bowled out – that is, if the bowler manages to hit the wicket when bowling. The batter is also out if he or she is caught out or run out. To be run out, the wicket keeper must catch the ball before the batter manages to get back to the batting crease (the wicket)
• Once the batter is out, the next batter takes his or her turn.
• The kwik cricket side with the highest number of runs wins the game

• Continuous Kwik cricket can be played by two teams of five to six players who take turns to bat for a set period of time - 10 minutes each for example.
• Continuous kwik cricket is played using one set of stumps (wicket) and two cones, one of which is positioned at a distance  to the left side of the wicket  and the other to the right hand side of the wicket (to suit both left handed and right handed players)
• Runs are scored in continuous kwik cricket by running around one of the cones (the batter is allowed to run more than once in order to score extra runs). The batter has to run whether or not the ball is hit.
• The bowler has six balls to bowl for their turn and should bowl underarm from a minimum distance of 10 metres.  After six balls have been played, another kwik cricket team player should take a turn at bowling.
• The batter is out when bowled out, run out or caught out. Once out, the next batter takes their turn.
• The waiting batters take turn to umpire and keep the score of continues kwik cricket. The kwik cricket team with the most runs wins.