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Gully cricket rules explained

Gully cricket, street cricket and box cricket are played with small squads, a tennis ball and house rules that change from one ground to the next. The most common ones are below. Agree them before the toss, and in CricAura set them once for a tournament or per match under Gully Cricket Rules, so the scoring follows them automatically.

Last batter allowed

Officially an innings ends when only one batter is left. With this rule the last batter keeps batting alone, which matters when a team only has six or seven players.

Repeat batting

A batter who is already out may come back and bat again later in the same innings. Common with very small squads.

One-tip one-hand catch

A tennis-ball favourite: a catch taken with one hand after the ball has bounced once ("one tip") is still out.

Consecutive overs

Official cricket stops one bowler from bowling two overs in a row. Many gully games lift that rule when only one or two people can bowl.

Max overs per bowler

Usually one fifth of the innings (4 overs in a 20-over game, 2 in a 10-over game). Set your own cap for short formats.

Wide and no-ball runs

Officially one run each. Plenty of grounds use their own value, such as 2 runs for a wide to discourage sloppy bowling.

Dot-ball and wicket penalties

Dot-ball penalty: after a set number of dot balls in a row, the batting side loses a set number of runs. It keeps short games moving.
Dot-ball retire / out: after a set number of dots the batter on strike must retire, or is given out.
Wicket penalty runs: runs deducted from the batting total for every wicket that falls.

Continue after target reached

Normally the match ends when the chase is complete. Some groups keep batting to the end of the overs for fun or practice.

Super over for a tie

When scores finish level, each side bats one over to decide the winner instead of leaving the match tied.

Score it without arguments

Most gully disputes are about what the score really is. Turn these rules on in CricAura and every ball is counted the same way for both sides, with a ball-by-ball record anyone can check. Open the web app to set up your next match.