There are ten nine ways to go out in cricket:
- Bowled. Also colloquially called skittled. A bowler bowls the ball and it hits the stumps at the other end. If a batsman hits the ball before it hits the stumps, it is colloquially called 'played on', but on the official score card, it is marked as 'bowled'. The shortened form is 'b', as in 'b <bowler>'. It counts as one wicket for the bowler.
- Caught. A bowler bowls the ball, a batsman hits is and a fieldsman catches it without it bouncing. If the same bowler catches it, it is called 'Caught & bowled.' If a wicketkeeper catches it, it is colloquially called 'caught behind'. If a fieldsman catches the ball whilst touching or having a foot over the boundary rope or fence, it is called 'six' and six runs are scored for the batsman. The shortened form is 'c', as in 'c <fielder> b <bowler>', meaning "caught by <fielder> off the bowling of <bowler>". Caught & bowled is written 'c&b <bowler>'. In all cases, it counts as one wicket for the bowler. There is some debate about this: should the wicket count for the bowler or fieldsman? I say bowler. He has forced the batsman to hit the ball towards his field.
- Leg-before-wicket. This is one of the most complex rules of cricket. The bowler bowls the ball, it pitches (bounces) and then hits the batsman's leg before the bat. Whether the batsman is out or not depends on where it pitches, and where it hits the batsman:
- If the ball has hit the batsman between the two sets of stumps, the batsman is out if the ball would have gone on to hit the stumps.
- If the ball has hit the batsman outside off stump, the batsman is out if the ball would have hit the stumps, and the batsman has not offered a stroke.
- If the ball has pitched outside leg stump, the batsman may not be given out.
The shortened form is 'lbw' and can be written in one of two ways: the more common way is 'lbw b <bowler>', while the other way is simply 'lbw <bowler>'. There is no difference; this is simply a matter of preference.
- Run out. A bowler bowls the ball, a batsman hits it and the batsmen try to run to the other end. A fieldsman picks up the ball and throws it at the stumps. It hits the stumps, maybe with a little help from the bowler or wicket-keeper if necessary, while the batsman is still between the two popping creases. It has no shortened form, and it is simply written as 'run out', sometimes with the fieldsman's name in brackets. It counts as one wicket for the fieldsman.
- Stumped. A bowler bowls the ball, the batsman takes a step out of the popping crease and misses the ball. The wicketkeeper is quick enough to grab the ball and hit the stumps with the ball, or the hand that holds the ball. The batsman is still outside the popping crease, and is therefore out. If a batsman is starts running for the other end, however, he is run out. The shortened form is 'st', as in 'st <wicketkeeper> b <bowler>'. It counts as one wicket to the bowler, and it is more common for slow or spin bowlers because the wicketkeeper stands closer to the stumps (though I have made a stumping off a medium-pace bowler before...).
- Hit wicket. Simply put, a batsman hits the stumps with his bat or his body while the ball is 'alive'. The shortened form is 'hit wkt', as in 'hit wkt b <bowler>'. It counts as one wicket for the bowler.
Handling the ball. What it says on the tin. A batsman touches the ball with his hand. The exceptions are if the hand was on the bat at the time, or of he is returning the ball to the fieldsmen or bowler with the field's permission - say, if it is just sitting near him, eg. at the feet. There is no shortened form, and it does not count towards the bowler's total. Edit: As of October 2017, this method has been dissolved and incorporated under method 9.- Hit the ball twice. Also what it says on the tin. A batsman, for example, blocks the ball with his bat or pad, similar to bunting in baseball, then hits the ball again, this time away from the field of play to try to score runs. There is no shortened form and it does not count for the bowler. There are legitimate ways to hit the ball twice - the second hit must be solely to prevent the ball hitting the stumps.
- Obstructing the field. A batsman tries to stop the fieldsmen from getting the ball by getting in his way deliberately, or kicking the ball away. There is no shortened form and it does not count for the bowler.
- Timed out. A batsman fails to reach the field of play within a reasonable amount of time after a wicket has fallen. Again, there is no shortened form and it does not count towards the bowler.
A batsman may also retire. If the batsman retires due to injury or illness, he may return at any point in the innings; however, if he voluntarily closes his innings for other reasons, he may not return during that innings. He is not out and a wicket is not recorded. Retiring is more common at club level (particularly under-13s or the like), but retiring hurt is more common at international level.