Taking its name from the call (see also "howzat!") in cricket, Owzthat
(or, "It's not quite cricket") is a dice-based cricket game great for boring
caravan holidays when it's raining outside.
Team size is not important, but teams should be of equal size. The basic per-batsman rules being:
- There is a batsman's die, with sides labelled "1", "2", "3", "4", "6", and
"owzthat". The batsman accumulates runs by rolling his die onto a numbered
face, ie. until "owzthat" appears - at which point the bowler rolls.
- The bowler's die has sides labelled "bowled",
"caught", "stumped", "lbw", "not out", and
"no ball", of which the first four terminate the batsman's innings in the
corresponding ways, otherwise the batsman resumes rolling. "No
ball" is worth one run in the batting team's favour (an "extra").
The unofficial website owzthat.co.uk provides an "advanced" set of rules
for "added realism" (or increased sales, I suppose...)
requiring two sets of dice; the batting rules become:
- Roll the first batsman dice:
- If it is even then roll the second batsman dice.
-If you roll a number (1,2,3,4,6) that number of runs is added
to the batsman's score.
-If you roll a OWZTHAT roll the dice again:
-If you roll a 1 or 2 - the batsman gets 1 leg bye.
-If you roll a 3 or 4 - the batting team gets1 bye.
-If you roll a 6 - the batting team gets 1 overrun.
-If you roll OWZTHAT - the batsman is run out.
- if it is odd or OWZTHAT then roll the first batsman dice.
-If you roll a number (1,2,3,4,6) then there are no runs off that
ball - a dot ball.
-If you roll OWZTHAT then the bowler rolls his/her dice in
the usual manner to see if the batsman is out or not.
This can, of course, be effected with normal dice and an agreed mapping
between the numbers and the Owzthat labelling requirements.
(Wertperch notes that a hexagonal pencil is an excellent dice substitute).
(My brother had a football-inspired dice game by the same manufacturer;
this required a "board" on which to move counters. There is also
a motor racing game, having a similar requirement).
(Update, 09/05/2002: Found the other game, it's called "pokkit socca")