1. The Three Parts
A complete cricket score sheet has three sections that must agree with each other. The batting card records what each batter scored and how they got out. The bowling analysis records what each bowler conceded and took. The extras row records runs that belong to neither — byes, leg byes, wides, no balls and penalties. The sheet balances when all batters' runs plus all extras equals the team total.
That cross-check is the whole point of the format. It is not three tables of the same information written out three times — it is the same innings recorded from the batting side, the bowling side, and the neither side, so any error shows up as a mismatch.
2. The Batting Card
One row per batter, in batting order.
| Column | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Batter | Name. Captain marked *, wicketkeeper marked † |
| How out | Dismissal type — bowled, c Sharma, lbw, run out, stumped, not out |
| Bowler | Bowler's name, only if the bowler gets credit. Blank for run outs |
| Runs scored | Ball-by-ball tally boxes — one mark per delivery faced |
| R | Total runs off the bat. Excludes byes and leg byes |
| B | Balls faced. Excludes wides (not faced) but includes no balls |
| 4s / 6s | Boundary counts |
The R column is runs off the bat only. If a batter is on strike when four byes are run, those four runs go to the team and to the extras row, but not to the batter. This trips up new scorers constantly — the batter's total and the runs scored while they were at the crease are different numbers.
Strike rate
Some sheets include SR. Strike rate is runs per 100 balls: (runs ÷ balls) × 100. A batter who makes 45 from 30 balls has a strike rate of 150. It is not usually recorded live — it is calculated afterwards from the R and B columns.
3. The Bowling Analysis
One row per bowler. Each row has a series of boxes, one per over, and each over box is subdivided into six spaces for the six legal deliveries.
| Column | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| O | Overs bowled. A part-over is written 3.4 — three overs and four balls |
| M | Maidens — overs with no runs conceded at all |
| R | Runs conceded. Includes wides and no balls. Excludes byes and leg byes |
| W | Wickets credited to this bowler. Excludes run outs |
| wd | Wides bowled |
| nb | No balls bowled |
Bowling figures are conventionally written O-M-R-W — so 4-1-22-3 means four overs, one maiden, 22 runs, three wickets. Economy rate is runs divided by overs, so that bowler went at 5.50.
4. The Extras Row
Five separate boxes, because the five behave differently.
| Extra | Mark | Legal ball? | Charged to bowler? | To batter? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bye (b) | △ | Yes | No | No |
| Leg bye (lb) | ▽ | Yes | No | No |
| Wide (w) | + | No | Yes | No |
| No ball (nb) | ◯ | No | Yes | Runs off bat only |
| Penalty | P | — | No | No |
Penalty runs cover umpire-awarded penalties — five runs for the ball hitting a helmet on the ground, for example — and in local formats, custom deductions. Box cricket venues that subtract five runs per wicket record that here, as a negative.
5. Fall of Wickets
A single line recording the team score at each dismissal, written 1-24, 2-51, 3-51, 4-88 and so on. The wicket number, then the score.
Two wickets at the same score — 2-51 and 3-51 — tell you two batters fell without a run between them. That single line is how a scorecard conveys the shape of an innings without any commentary.
6. Full Notation Reference
The symbols are near-universal across scorebooks worldwide, with minor variations.
| Mark | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| · | Dot ball | No run scored |
| 1 2 3 | Runs off the bat | Written in both batter's row and bowler's box |
| 4 | Four | Some scorers circle boundaries |
| 6 | Six | — |
| W | Wicket | Add dismissal type to the batting card |
| + | Wide | Mirrors the umpire's arms-out signal |
| ◯ | No ball | Circle any runs scored off the bat |
| △ | Bye | Number of byes written inside |
| ▽ | Leg bye | Number written inside |
| M | Maiden | Join the six dots |
| WM | Wicket maiden | Maiden containing a dismissal |
Reading the Sheet Afterwards
A completed sheet should let anyone reconstruct the innings. From the batting card you get individual scores and how each batter fell. From the bowling analysis you get who bowled well. From the fall-of-wickets line you get the shape — a collapse, a partnership, a late surge.
What paper cannot give you is the running story during the match — the required rate two overs ago, the current partnership, whether this bowler is having their best spell of the season. Those need calculation you cannot do while also recording the next ball. That is the practical dividing line between a scorebook and ball-by-ball scoring in an app.