Follow the question. Understand the game.

Leg-break vs off-break: follow the turn, then check the batter

A camera-independent way to recognise two spin deliveries, with a handedness table and a replay exercise.

Maiden over vs maiden century: the same word, two different accounts

Separate a bowler's scoreless over from a batter's first hundred, including the extra-runs case that causes confusion.

The DRS review timer: what the fifteen seconds actually control

Follow an appeal from the on-field decision to a review request, and keep the request timer separate from the over-rate clock.

How long is a cricket pitch, and what do the white lines do?

Separate the 22-yard pitch from the running gap, then identify the bowling, popping and return creases on a broadcast.

Why do eleven cricket players have only ten wickets?

The eleventh player can bat. The missing piece is the partnership, plus the difference between not out, did not bat and facing no deliveries.

Why are cricket bats checked on the field?

Understand the bat gauge, distinguish an inspection from a finding, and see why one legal measurement does not settle the whole equipment question.

How to read a cricket scorecard without losing the story

Follow the team total, the batter ledger and the bowling account through one fully reconciled example.

Batting strike rate and average answer different questions

Two batters can have the same strike rate and very different averages. Work through denominators, not-out innings and sample size.

Bowling economy and dot balls: measure the pressure honestly

Separate runs conceded, team runs and zero-run deliveries, then compare two overs that finish with the same economy.

Partnerships and strike rotation: follow the two-batter story

Track a partnership total, individual contributions and who faces next through a six-ball example.

Run rate and required rate: count the balls before the pressure

Turn 14.3 overs into a usable denominator, calculate a chase and test what one quiet over changes.

Net run rate explained: aggregate first, then subtract

Work through two matches, the all-out adjustment and the reason a win can still lower a team’s NRR.

Overs and legal balls: read the innings clock correctly

Turn 14.2 overs into a real ball count, follow an over with extras, and calculate a rate without treating cricket notation as a decimal.

Wides, no-balls and extras: follow the whole delivery

Understand what the extra changes, who receives the runs, and why a free hit belongs to the competition's playing conditions.

Byes and leg-byes: trace the contact before the runs

Distinguish a missed ball from body contact, understand the attempt requirement, and avoid using extras as a shortcut for blaming the keeper.

Run-outs and stumpings: identify the decisive moment

Read a close crease replay through ground, wicket-breaking and dismissal conditions, including the no-ball exception that often causes confusion.

LBW explained as a decision path

Keep pitching, first impact and the projected wicket separate, then understand what a review does with a marginal finding.

Catches and boundaries: follow control, contact and the rope

Learn why a catch is a sequence rather than a still image, and how to inspect ordinary rope contact and the ICC's stricter airborne-return requirement.