Boundary (cricket)

The boundary is the edge of the playing field, or the physical object (often a rope) marking the edge of the field. In low-level matches, a series of plastic cones or flags are sometimes used. Since the early 2000s, the boundaries at professional matches are often a series of padded cushions carrying sponsors' logos strung along a rope. If one of these is accidentally moved during play (such as by a fielder sliding into the rope in an attempt to stop the ball) the boundary is considered to remain at the point where that object first stood. The boundary is at least 195 feet (59 m) from the centre of the field in men's international cricket,[1] and at least 180 feet (55 m) from the centre of the field in women's international cricket.[2]

A traditional boundary rope

When the cricket ball is inside the boundary, it is live. When the ball is touching the boundary, grounded beyond the boundary, or being touched by a fielder who is himself either touching the boundary or grounded beyond it, it is dead and the batting side usually scores four or six runs for hitting the ball over the boundary. Because of this rule, fielders near the boundary attempting to intercept the ball while running or diving often flick the ball back in to the field of play rather than pick it up directly, because their momentum could carry them beyond the rope while holding the ball. They then return to the field to pick the ball up and throw it back to the bowler.

A law change in 2010 declared that a fielder could not jump from behind the boundary and, while airborne, parry the ball back on to the field.[3][4]

A boundary is the scoring of four or six runs from a single delivery, with the ball having left the field, and its first bounce having occurred either entirely within the playing field (in the case of four runs) or not (six runs); these events are known as a four or a six respectively.[5]

Occasionally there is an erroneous use of the term boundary as a synonym for a "four". For example, sometimes commentators say such as "There were seven boundaries and three sixes in the innings." The correct terminology would be "There were ten boundaries in the innings of which seven were fours and three were sixes."

When this happens the runs are automatically added to the batsman's and his team's score and the ball becomes dead. If the ball did not touch the bat or a hand holding the bat, four runs are scored as the relevant type of extra instead; six runs cannot be scored as extras, even if the ball clears the boundary, which is in any case extremely unlikely.

Any runs the batsmen completed by running before the ball reached the edge of the field do not count, unless they are greater than the number of runs that would be scored by the boundary, in which case it is the runs from the boundary that are discounted.

A batsman scoring a six during a game at Chrishall, Essex

The scoring of a four or six by a good aggressive shot displays a certain amount of mastery by the batsman over the bowler, and is usually greeted by applause from the spectators. Fours resulting from an edged stroke, or from a shot that did not come off as the batsman intended, are considered bad luck to the bowler. As a batsman plays himself in and becomes more confident as his innings progresses, the proportion of his runs scored in boundaries often rises.

An average first-class match usually sees between 50 and 150 boundary fours. Sixes are less common, and usually fewer than 10 (and sometimes none) will be scored in the course of a match.

The Laws allow for captains to change the boundary allowances (number of runs scored through either type of boundary) through a pre-match agreement.

1. ^ On 31 August 1968, Sobers became the first man to hit six sixes off a single six-ball over in first-class cricket.[18] The over was bowled by Malcolm Nash in Nottinghamshire's first innings against Glamorgan at St Helen's in Swansea. Nash was a seam bowler but decided to try his arm at spin bowling.[19] This achievement was caught on film.[20]
2. ^ On 10 January 1985, Bombay's Shastri equalled Sobers' record of hitting six sixes in an over in first-class cricket, off the bowling of Baroda's Tilak Raj, at the Wankhede.[21]
3. ^ On 23 July 2017, Worcestershire's Whiteley hit six sixes off six legal deliveries plus one wide to take the total number of runs in that over to 37 off bowler Karl Carver of Yorkshire at Headingley during a NatWest T20 Blast match.[22]
4. ^ On 14 October 2018, Zazai hit six sixes in an over off the bowling of Abdullah Mazari for Kabul Zwanan in a match against Balkh Legends in the 2018–19 Afghanistan Premier League, in Sharjah.[23]
5. ^ On 5 January 2020, in the 2019–20 Super Smash match between Canterbury and Northern Districts in Christchurch, Carter hit six sixes in one over off the bowling of Anton Devcich.[24]
6. ^ On 29 March 2021, in the 2020–21 Major Clubs Limited Over Tournament match between Sri Lanka Army Sports Club and Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club at the Army Ground in Panagoda, Army Sports Club's captain Perera hit six sixes in one over off the bowling of Dilhan Cooray.[25] This was the second instance in a List A match, and first in a domestic match.
7. ^ On 28 November 2022, Gaikwad became the first batsman to hit seven sixes in an over, for Maharashtra against Uttar Pradesh in the second quarter-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Ahmedabad. The bowler was Shiva Singh.[26]
8. ^ On 16 March 2007, in a match between South Africa and the Netherlands in Basseterre at the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Gibbs became the first person to hit six sixes off an over in a One Day International match. The over was bowled by Dutch leg-spinner Daan van Bunge.[27]
9. ^ On 19 September 2007, during a match between England and India in the inaugural T20 World Cup, Singh became the first batsman to hit six sixes in an over in a T20 International, in an over bowled by Stuart Broad.[28]
10. ^ On 3 March 2021, West Indian captain Pollard hit six sixes in an over off the bowling of Akila Dananjaya in the first T20I between Sri Lanka and the West Indies at the Coolidge Cricket Ground.[29]
11. ^ On 9 September 2021, Malhotra of the United States hit six sixes in one over, off the bowling of Papua New Guinea's Gaudi Toka in Muscat, becoming the second cricketer to achieve this in ODIs. He became the first USA batsman to make an ODI century.[30]

• Home run - similar to a six.