How to read a cricket scoreboard
A cricket scoreboard packs a whole innings into a few numbers. Here's what each one means, using a match in progress as the example.
| Lounge Room XI — 2nd innings, v Bradman XI | |
|---|---|
| Total | 156 for 4 |
| Overs | 23.4 |
| Batters | Grace* 62 · Bradman 24 |
| Bowlers | Jones* 7.4–1–34–2 · Smith 8–0–41–1 |
| Last wicket | 149 — Hobbs 31 |
| Fall of wickets | 23 · 78 · 112 · 149 |
| Target | Need 134 to win |
The total
The biggest number on the board is the team's runs. Next to it are the wickets that have fallen. 156 for 4 means 156 runs with four batters out. When ten wickets fall, the innings is over ("all out"), because the last batter has no one left to bat with.
Why Australians write it the other way round
In most of the cricket world the score is written runs first: 156/4. In Australia it's traditionally wickets first: 4/156, said "four for 156". Both mean exactly the same thing. Test Match Scoreboard lets you pick either style.
Overs
An over is six legal deliveries. The overs figure is written as completed overs, then a dot, then balls into the current over. 23.4 means 23 overs and 4 balls, so two more balls finish the 24th over. It is not a decimal: after 23.5 comes 24.0, not 23.6.
The batters
The board shows the two batters at the crease with their runs so far. A marker, often an asterisk or a light, shows which batter is on strike, facing the next ball. Traditional boards also show each batter's number in the batting order, so you can see how deep into the line-up the team is.
The bowlers
The bowlers' figures are written overs – maidens – runs – wickets. 7.4–1–34–2 means Jones has bowled seven overs and four balls, including one maiden (an over with no runs off it), conceded 34 runs and taken 2 wickets. The marker shows who is bowling the current over.
Last wicket and fall of wickets
Last wicket shows the score when the most recent batter was out, and often how many they made. Here the fourth wicket fell at 149, so the current pair have put on 7 runs together since.
Fall of wickets lists the score at each dismissal: the first wicket at 23, the second at 78, and so on. The gaps tell you the partnerships: 55 runs for the second wicket, 34 for the third.
Extras
Many boards show the extras total: wides, no-balls, byes and leg-byes added to the score but not credited to any batter. Cricket extras explained covers each one.
Targets, leads and run rates
- Need 134 to win: in the last innings of a match, the runs the batting side still needs to pass the other side's total.
- Lead / trail: in test cricket, before the final innings, the board may show how far ahead or behind the batting side is across both innings so far.
- Run rate: runs per over. 156 runs in 23.4 overs (23⅔ overs) is a run rate of about 6.6.
- Required run rate: in limited-overs matches, the runs needed divided by the overs left.
Traditional scoreboards
Before electronic screens, scoreboards at cricket grounds were operated by hand. Volunteers hung painted tin numbers on hooks and slid name boards into place, often from inside the board itself. Many grounds have kept their old boards because they're so much part of the atmosphere. They show the same information as a modern screen, usually laid out with the total in the middle, the batters on one side and the bowlers on the other.
Test Match Scoreboard draws its live board in that traditional style, with painted lettering, tin-plate numerals and a ground clock, so a family match on the TV looks like a day at the ground.
Put a scoreboard on your TV. Score on a laptop, then open Watch a match on the TV and type the six-character match code.
Start scoring — free, no account neededMore guides: How to keep a cricket scorecard · Cricket extras explained · Scoring table-top cricket at home