Indoor Cricket is a variation of standard Cricket. It was developed in Perth, Western Australia, in the late 1970's. Originally it was intended to be a low-cost sport, suitable for cricketers and novices alike, and one which could be played year-round. It meets all those goals to this day.

A close call - WA vs NSW, Adelaide 1998 Games consist of two innings. Each innings lasts for 16 overs. With 8 players per side, this means each and every fielder bowls 2 overs, and each pair of batsmen face 4 overs. Non-standard six-a-side games last for 12 overs (each fielder still bowls 2 overs, and each pair of batsmen still face 4 overs). Therefore, unlike outdoor cricket, every player bowls 2 overs, and every player bats for 4 overs. And with the compact size of the court, no player can be banished to far away on the boundary as some of us have experienced in outdoor cricket - in indoor, everyone is close enough to regularly be involved in the game.

One of the many positive aspects of the game is its suitability for children (and adults new to any form of cricket). The ball is softer than a regular cricket ball, everyone is involved to the same degree (regardless of ability), and you don't have to be super fit (no running a hundred yards to collect a ball from near the boundary, and having to throw it from the same distance). And you don't have to be able to hit the ball a hundred yards to be a regular and effective batsman.

Runs are scored in a variety of ways (none of which require you to hit a ball a hundred yards), and the team with the higher score after both innings are completed is the winning side.

Mad dogs and Englishmen?

Being out in the midday sun isn't an issue. Played indoors, the game is obviously suited to being played year-round, and at any time of day. Typically most competitions are run at night, though many centres run daytime competitions for school-kids.

Like watching paint dry?

Not on your Nellie! With the close proximity of fielders, run-outs are very common, and fielding is one of the features of the game, both from a player's perspective and a spectator's.The game is therefore always active, and it is rare for there not to be either a score or wicket on each and every ball bowled.

One of the more ill-informed (a.k.a. uneducated, belligerent, silly, sacrilegious, unwarranted .... and just plain wrong) criticisms of Cricket in general is that it can sometimes be boring. Although extensive scientific tests have proved this to be false, there are those who blindly stick to this assertion. However, such could never be said of Indoor-Cricket

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