Coach's Guide to Cricket Australia Junior Formats Under 10-Under 13 2026/27

Stage 1 is the "learning the sport" format for children who have completed Cricket Australia's Entry Level Programs and are ready for their first junior club cricket.

• Players: 6 per team in a 15-over match, 7 per team in a 20-over match. Minimum 5 players to play.
• Overs: one innings of 15 to 20 overs (90 to 120 balls) per team.
• Time: 90 minutes (1.5 hours) to 120 minutes (2 hours). The Association or Competition Manager may add a first-innings cut-off for facilities use, travel, daylight or heat.
• Coach: accredited coach.
• Intended audience: community clubs and schools; indicative age under 11.

• Pitch: outfield or hard wicket surface, 14 to 16 metres long measured stump to stump.
• Boundary: 20 to 40 metres maximum, measured from the batter's end stumps.
• Ball: modified ball with a circumference of 21 to 22.5 cm and a maximum weight of 110 g.
• Bat: size 4 (under 1.8 lb or 800 g) is recommended.
• Surface equipment: a measuring tape or string, boundary markers, and chalk, tape or paint to mark the crease.

Every batter faces a set number of balls and retires as soon as they have faced it (not at the end of the over). All balls count, including wides and no balls. The batter swaps ends after a dismissal, and after a run out the not-out batter faces the next delivery.

Dismissals are unlimited in this format, so each player faces their allotted balls.

Bowling

• Maximum 6 balls per over.
• Maximum overs per bowler: 3 in a 15-over match, 4 in a 20-over match.
• Bowlers bowl from one end for the entire game.
• The preference is that everyone bowls. If bowling is too daunting and detrimental to a player's experience they can choose not to bowl, but coaches are expected to help them work towards bowling as soon as possible.

Fielding

• Fielding rotation is required. Players are recommended to move one position to their left after each over.
• No fielders within 15 metres of the batter.
• All players should get a chance to keep wicket. Helmets are compulsory for keepers, pads are not.
• With more than the maximum on-field players present (6 or 7 depending on overs), players rotate on and off the field after each over.

Dismissals

• Unlimited dismissals: each batter faces their allotted balls.
• Dismissals that apply: bowled, caught, caught and bowled, run out, stumped and hit wicket.
• The Association or Competition Manager may add consequences for dismissals, such as a bonus 5 runs to the opposition.

Stage 2 is the "playing and competing" format for children who have developed their skills and are ready for more competitive cricket.

• Players: 9 per team is the standard (and highly recommended for the most participation). Minimum 7, maximum 11 allocated to a team.
• Overs: one innings of 20 to 30 overs (120 to 180 balls) per team.
• Time: 120 to 180 minutes (2 to 3 hours). The Association or Competition Manager may add a first-innings cut-off for facilities use, travel, daylight or heat.
• Coach: accredited coach.
• Intended audience: community clubs and schools; indicative ages Under 12 and Under 13.

• Pitch: hard or turf wicket, 18 metres long measured stump to stump. For simplicity of measurement, the stumps can be brought in at each end to the two front crease lines (17.7 metres).
• Boundary: 45 metres maximum, measured from the batter's end stumps.
• Ball: 142 g hard or leather ball.
• Bat: size 4 (under 1.8 lb or 800 g) is recommended.

Some state competitions use their own boundary distances (for example the Perth and Peel MJCC Stage 2 competition uses 40 metres in 20-over matches and 45 or 50 metres in 30-over matches).

Retirement: batters retire as soon as they have faced their allotted balls (not at the end of the over). All balls count, including wides and no balls. The batter swaps ends after a dismissal, and after a run out the not-out batter faces the next delivery.

• If an extra ball must be bowled to complete the overs, the batter facing at the time faces it.
• The limits assume players will be dismissed. Coaches may retire a batter earlier than the limit to encourage participation.
• Retired batters return when all others have batted, in the order they retired.

Innings closed: after the allotted overs, or when this many wickets fall: 7-player team, 6 wickets; 8-player team, 7 wickets; 9 to 11-player team, 8 wickets.

The Perth and Peel (MJCC) competition sets its own retirement numbers (20 balls in 20 overs; 25 or 30 balls in 30 overs).

Bowling

• 6 balls per over, with up to 8 balls per over allowed for wides and no balls except in the last over, where 6 legal deliveries must be bowled.
• Maximum overs per bowler: 4 in a 20-over innings, 5 in a 30-over innings. Coaches are encouraged to rotate the chance to bowl the maximum.
• Bowlers change ends at 10 overs. Bowlers may bowl from one end for the whole game at the competition manager's discretion.

Fielding

• No fielders within 10 metres of the bat, except regulation off-side slips, gully and the wicketkeeper.
• Fielding rotations are at the coach's discretion so players experience all positions.
• With more than 9 players present, the extras rotate onto the field each over.
• Teams may change wicketkeepers after 10 overs.

Dismissals: all modes of dismissal count.

Both formats require, for batting and wicketkeeping:

• Helmet worn at all times while batting and wicketkeeping.
• Pads, gloves and a protector. (In Stage 1, helmets are compulsory for the keeper but pads are not.)
• Additional safety equipment may be worn depending on match conditions or personal preference.

Other equipment listed:

• Bat size 4 (under 1.8 lb or 800 g) is recommended.
• At least 1 set of portable stumps (with base and balls) is required, and 2 sets are recommended.
• A measuring tape or string to measure the pitch and boundary, boundary markers, and chalk, tape or paint to mark the crease.

Not always. The Cricket Australia documents are the national match formats, and they leave several settings to the Association or Competition Manager, for example a first-innings cut-off time for facilities, travel, daylight or heat, and consequences for dismissals in Stage 1 such as a bonus 5 runs to the opposition.

State and area competitions publish their own match-day rules, and some differ from the national figures. For example, the Perth and Peel (MJCC) Stage 2 competition uses a 40 metre boundary in 20-over matches, 45 or 50 metres in 30-over matches depending on age group, and batters retire after 20 balls (20 overs) or 25 or 30 balls (30 overs). Where a competition's own match-day rules differ, they are the ones that apply to its matches, and the national figures here are the baseline.