Cricket Wickets, Extras and Umpire Decisions: Lesson Plan and Printable Worksheet

Learner worksheet

Name: ____ Date: ______

Your goals are to classify extras, distinguish dismissal decisions and explain a decision using evidence.

Use the MCC 2026 Laws baseline. Assume live play, no runners, no other infringements and no match-ending score. Dismissal appeals are timely unless stated otherwise.

For each scenario, record your decision, the decisive fact and a Law reference. For scenarios 1–4, also record the team runs added and their scoring category. Work independently first, then compare reasoning with a partner. Do not use the answer sheet until instructed.

Six decisions
Scenario	What happened?
1	Legal delivery misses bat and body; two runs completed.
2	Legal delivery hits pad during an attempted shot; no bat contact; one run completed.
3	No ball; bat-edge caught; no running.
4	Wide; striker advances, misses, stays out of ground without attempting a run; keeper alone fairly breaks wicket.
5	No ball; batter attempting a run is short when a fielder fairly breaks their wicket.
6	Apparently fair catch; batter stays; nobody appeals. May the umpire give Out?

Record and justify your decisions
Scenario	Decision	Runs and category, where requested	Decisive fact and Law	Confidence or question
1	________________	________________	________________	________________
2	________________	________________	________________	________________
3	________________	________________	________________	________________
4	________________	________________	________________	________________
5	________________	Not requested	________________	________________
6	________________	Not requested	________________	________________

Worked examples — controlled teacher reveal

A: No ball, two runs off the bat: three total—two batter runs plus one extra (21.14–21.15).

B: Legal delivery directly breaks striker’s wicket; appeal: Bowled (32.1).

Source: MCC fourth-edition Laws.

Answer key — release after the worksheet

Two byes: neither bat nor body touched (23.1).
One leg bye: attempted shot qualifies (23.2).
Not out Caught; one no-ball extra (21.14–21.17).
Stumped; one wide extra remains (22.9; 39.1, 39.4).
Run out: a no ball does not prevent this dismissal (38.1).
No: an umpire needs an appeal (31.1).

Source: MCC fourth-edition Laws.

Teacher notes: preparation and objectives

Audience: beginners aged approximately 11–16, or adults learning cricket vocabulary. The suggested age range is a teaching choice, not a competition eligibility rule.

By the end, learners should be able to:

Classify the extras in a short incident description.
Identify the fact that determines a dismissal decision.
Support a decision with a specific Law reference.
Separate an observation from an assumption.

Materials: learner sheets, pencils, the cited MCC rulebook, separate answer sheets and a board or projector. Optional paper tokens can represent players; no physical cricket equipment is necessary.

Before teaching, read the cited clauses and prepare access to those sections. Check that learners understand striker, wicket-keeper, ground, appeal and extras. Use a simple board sketch for spatial vocabulary.

Print only the learner section for initial distribution. Retain both answer blocks separately. Worked examples belong to the answer section so the learner printout contains no solutions. Keep the complete page out of view during independent work.

45-minute teaching sequence
Minutes	Activity	Teacher action
0–5	Vocabulary and baseline	Introduce the task and use a sketch to establish the roles and positions.
5–12	Worked decisions	Reveal answer_worked only. Model reading the incident, locating the relevant clause and explaining the conclusion.
12–25	Independent worksheet	Learners answer all six scenarios. Encourage a question mark where they need evidence rather than a guess.
25–33	Pair review	Partners compare decisive facts and consult the rulebook. Ask each pair to explain one disagreement.
33–41	Answer discussion	Release answer_key. Learners correct their work in a different colour and identify why their reasoning changed.
41–45	Exit task	Ask each learner to select one scenario, change one fact and identify which clause they would consult again.

Teacher notes: scope, adaptation and assessment

This draft uses the fourth edition of MCC’s 2017 Code, effective 1 October 2026, rather than inheriting the sport page’s older third-edition wording. See MCC’s effective-date announcement.

MCC supplies the Laws; competition authorities can amend or supplement them. Do not present these exercises as the complete rules of a school league, junior format or international competition. Before adapting them for an actual fixture, obtain that competition’s named regulations and check the relevant provisions. Free-hit and DRS procedures are outside this lesson; they depend on playing conditions. See MCC’s explanation of Laws and playing conditions and its Laws overview.

For support, read scenarios aloud and let learners dictate their reasoning. For extension, require a second clause or a statement of what additional evidence an umpire would need. Do not introduce unverified local variations as established rules.

Suggested assessment: award one point per scenario for the decision and one for a relevant explanation, for 12 points. Treat scoring-category corrections as feedback rather than a separate arithmetic test. Review any pattern of errors before proceeding to a practical activity.

Further site reading: Appeals and umpire decisions, Byes and leg byes, and Run outs and stumpings. Check each resource’s stated edition before using it alongside this lesson.