Scoring's an interesting aspect to cricket and it's a shame that increasingly there's a move towards using digital systems for recording scores. I came late to cricket and had no idea of how involved scoring was and was intrigued when I looked over the shoulders of people doing it, filling in all the little boxes with weird symbols.
I've never fancied the idea of umpiring and quickly saw that if chose to score I'd be alleviated of the job of umpiring and so began to watch people doing it and asking them questions. One thing I quickly noted was that there was no one way of doing it. Different people did it in different ways, so when I was learning, I had different people saying do it this way or that way. When it comes down to it you need to learn the basics and then listen to what different people say and adopt your own way. Of course there are
courses that you can do and some clubs are prepared to send players on such courses, but if you're playing at the lower levels this isn't necessary.
What is disappointing is that, as much as I try I can't get kids to do it, even my own son is fairly reluctant, but has learned to do the basics.
On-line there are a number of different resources and I'm currently trying to put together a series of
videos on Youtube to help people.
The thing is if you don't get it right and you use unorthodox methods, you'll pass on those methods to others, so it's important to standardise the process as much as possible. I've knocked up this post in response to my bowling figures being inflated because of the lack of knowledge with regards how to record byes and wides primarily. I know from experience that if you get it wrong and the results of the match are tight, what you've done is pored over and scrutinised and it can lead to embarrassing and tense situations at the end of the game. This is my take on how it's done and if I'm honest just by writing this blog and having to check what I'm writing is correct I've learned a couple more things about how to do it correctly. I'm not saying this is the definitive way of doing it and there may be things that I'm still doing wrong? If I am let me know.
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| Figure 1 |
Multi-colour or single colour? I started out using a black/blue penwhen scoring, but in the last year or so I've started to use multi-colour pens. When each of the bowlers is assigned a different colour (Figure 1) and you combine this with marking the balls the batters face in the batting "Runs scored" row using the same colours as the bowler (Figure 2).
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| Figure 2 |
You might find it makes it far easier to check your figures at the end of the overs and at the end of the innings when you check everything consolidates.
Bowlers analysis box symbols________________________
1st Over F.Blogs
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| Figure 3 |
One of the first things to consider especially if you're scoring youth matches or any game with potentially sketchy bowling is the size of your symbols in the boxes. If you get into a situation where numerous wides are bowled, you're going to run out of space and potentially may need to use the
notes section to record data that you can't fit into the bowling analysis boxes.
Figure 3 In this box the bowler has bowled six balls that haven't gone for runs so 6 dots are recorded. No runs in an over is
maiden indicated by an 'M'. In the running tally I've marked 0-0... No runs for no wickets or vice versa.
Score sheet layout
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| Figure 4 |
Below (Figure 2) is how it could be recorded in the batters 'Runs scored' section of the score-sheet.
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| Batting row "Runs scored" Figure 2 |
One of the advantages of using coloured pens for scoring is that it makes it easier to establish who was facing who and this is often helpful if you lose track of where you are and ensuring your figures add up when you do the end of over checks.
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| Figure 3 |
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(B). In this box we have 5 x dot balls and a small
w which indicates a wicket has been taken. Therefore no runs have been scored and this is a
wicket maiden indicated by the
W.
Note in the tally box beneath the symbols is the running total of the runs and wickets
0-1 indicates that no runs have been made for 1 wicket. A lot of people write this up the other way round e.g. 1 wicket for no runs, but you simply need to be consistent with the way you do it for each match.
In the box between
(B) and
(C) runs have been made. The first ball is a dot ball, the 2nd is run for a single, the 3rd ball 2 runs are made, the 4th ball - 2 runs followed by 2 dot balls e.g. no runs. Overall in that over, 5 runs are made so the tally in the box below now reads as
5 runs for
1 wicket (5-1).
(C). The
+ symbol is used to indicate a wide has been bowled. In this instance no runs have been made as a result of the wide. The
+ is counted as 1 run against the bowler.
Scenario - The bowler bowls a wide, the keeper collects the ball and no runs are made. The Umpire calls "Wide ball" and
signals the wide you acknowledge the symbol.
- In the 'Runs scored' batsman's row, a dot is recorded.
- In the cumulative total 1 run is recorded for the wide.
- In the extras box, 1 is added in the wides section.
- The cross (Wide) is added in the bowlers analysis.
- In the 'Bowlers analysis to the right, there's an additional section in which to record the wide and it's useful to do so.
In box (C) the wide (1 run) is followed by 2 dot balls and then 2 balls that the batters run 2 for and then 2 more dot balls. The total for this over is 5 runs against the bowler bringing the running total up to 10 for 1. Note; Wides are not legitimate balls, so an additional ball has to be bowled, so in that box you'll see 7 (D) symbols as opposed to the normal 6 symbols.
(E). Wides with runs; In this over, the first ball is a wide, so again the cross is used, but a single run is made (See below).
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| Figure 4 |
The run is indicated by the use of a dot in one of the quadrants of the cross. If two runs are made off the wide, 2 dots are marked in separate quadrants and so on. If the ball is bowled as a wide and runs across the field of play and crosses the boundary that is marked in the bowlers analysis in the same way.
Note as mentioned before if you have bowler with the Yips this starts to get messy and you need to have contingency for a situation where multiple wides are bowled. Remember too that for every wide another ball has to be bowled as a wide doesn't count as a legitimate delivery.
So in the box (E) We have a wide that has one run made, followed by 2 runs, then 4 dot balls, followed by a wide with 2 runs made and then a final dot ball. 8 separate entries 2 wides and 6 legitimate balls.
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| Figure 5 |
- The first wide with the 1 run = 2 runs against the bowler.
- The 2nd wide with 2 runs = 3 runs against the bowler.
- Add the 2 regular runs made off the 2nd ball, the runs against the bowler in this over add up to 7 in total meaning the running total is now 17 for 1.
- Note on the right hand side in the wides column the 2 and 3 wides have been recorded.
- The runs from the wides must be recorded in the cumulative tally.
The 5 wides would also need to be recorded in the Extras and in the cumulative tally. The runs gained as a result of the poor bowling are
NOT credited to the batters and are recorded as dots in the batting row.
(G) Byes; These are
not credited to the bowler.
Despite the fact that Byes (And leg-byes) are not credited to the bowler, they still have to be recorded in the bowlers analysis, but t
he bowler is not penalised...
The bowler has bowled a good delivery and it's either glanced off the batters body (Leg-Bye) or everyone has missed it (Batter and wicket keeper) and the ball has evaded all of the fielders enabling the batters to run.
In the bowling analysis for
A.Nother in the first box marked
(G) we see the symbol for a
Bye which is an
upward pointing triangle. In the bowlers analysis this is worth nothing and some scorers don't even use a bye symbol and simply mark a dot ball, but this I feel is bad practice as if you're struggling to make sense of your scoring when it comes to adding everything up and checking the data at the end of the innings, the use of the correct symbols helps with the process.
Scenario; The bowler bowls a legitimate ball, it misses everything and it beats the wicket keeper for pace and runs down towards long off. The batters see that no-one is going to field the ball and make 2 runs before the fielders get the ball back to the keeper/bowler.
- In the batters row (Runs scored) you have the option of marking dots or the Bye symbol, some scorers don't mark anything.
- The two runs must be added to the cumulative tally.
- In the extras box the 2 runs have to be added in the Byes tally.
- Finally the bye symbol is added to the bowlers analysis - you do not record the runs made as a figure in the bowlers analysis, otherwise they will not tally up correctly at the end of the innings/game.
(H) Leg Byes; These are not credited to the bowler and the rules are as above for Byes except that the symbol is downward pointing triangle.
(J) Maiden with Byes/Leg-Byes. If in the over the bowler bowls a series of dot balls as in the case of a normal maiden (See above in section 'A') but one or more of the balls goes for runs off of either Byes or Leg-Byes which is no fault of the bowler, the over is still a Maiden and the
M should be written in the box in the usual manner to indicate it is a Maiden.
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(K) No-Balls with runs off the bat
Scenario - The bowler runs in and bowls an illegal ball and the Umpire calls "No-ball"! The batsman strikes the ball hitting it for six in the case below in the bowlers analysis for
(K).
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| Figure 6 |
In this instance the No-Ball is down to the bowler, so the bowler is penalised heavily, with the No-Ball indicated by the circle and then any runs made off the illegal delivery credited to the bowler. The batsman in this instance has hit the ball for six, so the six runs appear in the circle.
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| Figure 7 |
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| Figure 8 |
How-ever many runs the batsman scores having hit the ball, these are recorded inside the circle as a number.
Additionally at the end of the bowling analysis row on the right-hand side, see image above circled in black, the 7 runs (1 for the No-Ball and 6 for the runs off the bat) should be recorded. The other two singles that are recorded in that same column in the circle are for the
No-Balls associated with the leg-byes and byes in columns L and M.
(L) "No-Ball byes". Scenario - The bowler runs in and bowls an illegal ball and the Umpire calls "No-ball"! The ball then either evades the batsman and the wicket keeper and runs away enabling the batters to run byes; or the ball strikes the batsman's body and runs away enabling the batters to run Leg-Byes. In this instance we'll say they run 2 runs. So they get 1 run for the team for the No-Ball and then 2 runs for the team for the Byes or Leg-Byes run.
- In the batting row "Runs scored" you have the option of entering nothing or a dot or a Bye symbol, the batsman gains no credit for the runs accrued.
- In the Cumulative Tally you add 3 runs - 1 for the No-Ball and 2 for the Byes/Leg-Byes run.
- In the extras box - 1 is added to the No Ball row and 2 is added to the Byes/Leg-Byes.
- In the bowlers analysis (See below) a circle is used to indicate the No-Ball and in the circle you have the option of using a upward pointing triangle for Byes or as in (M) a downward pointing triangle for Leg-Byes.
- . You do not have to record how many runs were accrued as a result of the batters running - these have already been recorded in the extras section and the bowler is not penalised for the runs from Byes/Leg-Byes. The bowler is penalised for the No-Ball and when adding up the bowling figures the circle counts for 1 run.
- On the right hand side of the bowling figures at the end of the row you need to record the No-ball element, but not the runs.
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| Figure 9 |
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| Figure 10 |
To be continued...
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If you're not sure still, I found the best way to learn was to sit in front of a computer and watch a complete game on Youtube and score the game. That way if you miss something you can re-wind it. I've discovered a better way that is less likely to be confusing is to watch these XBOX/Playstation games here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-mgbdTeQP4&t=1284s
https://basildoncricket.hitscricket.com/pages/page_25500/A-guide-to-scoring.aspx
http://www.snitterfieldcricketclub.co.uk/page.php?page=scoring
https://cornwallcricket.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/MCC-law-changes-2017-code-guidance-for-scorers.pdf
