Who Faces Next? Strike Rotation After Runs, Extras and Wickets

The one principle behind it all

There is no separate rule for each situation. The striker for the next ball is simply whoever is standing at the end the bowler will be bowling to. Runs make batters change ends; overs make bowlers change ends. Everything else is about whether the batters move and whether the Laws send them back.

So the quickest way to track strike is to watch the batters, not the ball. When the ball is dead, look at who is at the striker's end. On most deliveries that tells you the answer. The tricky cases are the ones where the Laws override what the batters physically did, and those are covered below.

Scoring apps generally work out the strike from what you enter. That only works if what you enter is right, which is why understanding the logic still matters, especially for the handful of cases where the batters' positions and the runs scored do not line up.

Runs, boundaries and the end of the over

Odd completed runs (1, 3, 5) swap the batters. Even completed runs (0, 2, 4 run) leave them where they were. This applies to runs off the bat, byes and leg byes alike.

Boundaries are different. When the ball reaches the boundary, the batters go back to their original ends, even if they had crossed on a run. A boundary 4 or 6 therefore never changes the strike. The rare exception is when the batters had already run more than the boundary allowance before the ball reached the rope, in which case the higher figure is scored instead. On a local ground you might see that once a season.

At the end of every over the bowling switches to the other end, so whoever finished at the non-striker's end faces the first ball of the next over. That is why batters try to take a single off the last ball. They run to the other end, then the over changes, and they are on strike again.

Wides, no-balls and penalty runs

The one-run penalty for a wide or a no-ball does not move anybody. Only runs the batters actually complete do. A wide with no running keeps the same striker. A wide where the batters run one is recorded as 2 wides, and the batters have swapped ends. A wide that goes to the boundary is 5 wides and the batters stay at their original ends.

No-balls work the same way. A no-ball hit for a single is 2 runs in total, and the batters have crossed. A no-ball hit for four is 5 runs, and they have not. Because neither a wide nor a no-ball counts in the over, the over cannot end on one of them.

Five-run penalties, such as when the ball hits a fielder's helmet on the ground, also do not change ends. Only completed runs count for strike.

Short runs and disallowed runs

When an umpire calls one short, it means a batter did not ground the bat beyond the crease when turning. That run is not scored, but the batters stay where they are. So if they ran two and one was short, the score goes up by 1 but the batters have run twice and are back at their original ends. The strike does not change, even though only an odd number of runs was scored. This is the case scorers most often get wrong.

Deliberate short running is treated far more harshly. The umpire disallows all runs, returns the batters to their original ends, and awards 5 penalty runs to the fielding side.

When leg byes are not allowed because the batter neither played a shot nor tried to avoid the ball, the umpire calls dead ball and the batters also return to their original ends.

Strike after a wicket

For bowled, lbw, stumped and hit wicket, the striker is out and the batters have not run, so the new batter takes the striker's end and faces the next ball. If the wicket fell on the last ball of the over, the not-out batter faces the next over instead.

Catches changed in October 2022. Before then, if the batters crossed while the catch was being taken, the not-out batter would face. Now the new batter always comes in at the striker's end, whether or not the batters crossed. The only exception is when the catch is taken off the last ball of the over, when the not-out batter faces the new over from the other end.

Run outs still depend on where the batters are. The new batter takes the end vacated by the dismissed batter, and whoever is at the striker's end faces.

• Bowled, lbw, stumped, hit wicket: new batter faces unless the over has ended.
• Caught: new batter faces unless the over has ended, crossing no longer matters.
• Run out: new batter goes to the dismissed batter's end; check who is at the striker's end.

Local variations and checking your work

Some local formats change these rules, and they are house rules rather than Laws. Many friendly sides still play the old pre-2022 crossing rule for catches out of habit. In gully cricket, "last man batting" lets the final batter continue alone, so there is no rotation at all; the same batter faces every ball. Agree these before the match.

A simple check helps: before each ball, glance at the striker on your screen and at the batter taking guard. If they do not match after a short run or a tricky wicket, use the undo button on Cricket Score Counter and re-enter the ball, rather than letting the wrong batter collect runs for the next ten deliveries.