Coach's Guide to ECB Junior Cricket Under 8-Under 17 2026

The ECB Junior Cricket Format Recommendations for Under 8s and Under 9s:

Set-up

• Two teams of 6, pairs cricket played on the outfield.
• 13.7 m (15 yard) pitch with a 30 m boundary from the middle of the pitch.
• One innings of 12 overs per team, no longer than two hours.
• Light rubber ball and plastic bats.

Batting

• Three pairs each bat for 4 overs; batters swap ends at the end of each over.
• A batter who is out keeps batting, but 5 runs are added to the fielding team's score and the batters swap strike.
• Out bowled, caught, run out, stumped or hit wicket. No LBW, unless the batter deliberately blocks the ball with their leg or foot.
• Coaches should help batters share the strike (for example rotating after three balls).

Bowling and fielding

• All six players bowl 2 overs each, all from the same end, with short run-ups and a straight arm.
• Six balls an over. No balls and wides add 2 runs but are only re-bowled in the final over. There are no free hits.
• Rotate fielders through different positions.

Teams often start on 0 or 200 runs; runs are only added, never taken away. If rain shortens the game, 6 overs per team counts as a game.

The ECB Junior Cricket Format Recommendations for Under 10s and Under 11s:

Set-up

• Two teams of 8, playing standard cricket with a hard ball or a soft ball.
• 15.5 m (17 yard) pitch, on the outfield, a grass wicket or an artificial wicket.
• Boundary: 35 m with a soft ball, 40 m with a hard ball.
• One innings of 16 to 20 overs per team, lasting no more than two hours.
• Ball: a 4¾ oz cricket ball or a soft rubber ball. With a hard ball, players wear a helmet, pads, gloves and box.

Batting

• Batters retire at 25 (the last scoring shot counts, so a batter on 24 who hits a six retires on 30).
• Each batter has two lives. If only one batter remains, a retired batter can return; when next out, they are out.
• Batters can be out bowled, caught, run out, stumped, hit wicket or LBW.

Bowling and fielding

• Every player bowls at least 2 overs and no more than 4 (except the wicketkeeper in hard ball cricket).
• Short run-ups, all bowling from the same end.
• Six balls an over: no balls and wides earn 2 runs but are only re-bowled in the final over.
• Rotate fielders; in hard ball cricket the wicketkeeper stays for the innings.

Coaches can also use the Under 9 pairs rules at this age. These are recommendations, so leagues may adapt them.

There are two different ages to keep in mind:

• Age group: in ECB competitions and County Age Group cricket, age groups are based on the player's age at midnight on 31 August in the year before the season. For example, an Under 13 player in the 2026 season was under 13 at midnight on 31 August 2025. County boards and leagues can set their own age group rules for their own junior competitions.
• Safety rules: fast bowling limits, minimum fielding distances and helmet rules use the player's actual age (for fast bowling, their age on the day of the match), not the age group they are playing in.

So a player who turns 14 mid-season can still be in an Under 14 team, but must follow the 14 and 15-year-old fast bowling and fielding limits from their birthday.

The ECB Recreational Cricket Safety Regulations set compulsory limits for fast bowlers aged 19 and under in hard ball cricket:

• A fast bowler is anyone who attempts to deliver the ball at high intensity, including seam, swing and medium-pace bowlers. Once a player has bowled (or attempted to bowl) one ball at high intensity, they count as a fast bowler and the limits apply.
• The limits follow the bowler's own age, not the age group: a 13-year-old in an Under 15 match is limited to 5 overs a spell and 10 a day.
• If a player bowls spin first and then bowls fast, the spin overs count towards the spell. For example, after 3 overs of spin with a 5-over spell limit, they can bowl only 2 fast overs.
• Academy and Emerging Player Programme players follow their own talent pathway protocols instead. The limits do not apply to soft ball cricket.

Competition rules may set lower overs-per-bowler limits (for example 4 overs each in a 20-over match).

Under the ECB Recreational Cricket Safety Regulations:

• After completing a spell, a fast bowler cannot bowl again from either end until the same number of overs as their spell has been bowled from the same end. A 4-over spell needs 4 overs from that end before they can bowl again.
• A bowler can change ends without ending the spell, provided they bowl the next over the Laws allow from the other end. If not, the spell is over.
• Interruption under 40 minutes: a spell in progress can continue afterwards up to the maximum spell length. If it doesn't continue, the normal rest period applies.
• Interruption of 40 minutes or more (scheduled or not): the bowler can start a new spell straight away.
• Matches of 20 overs or fewer a side: if the competition limits each bowler to no more than the maximum spell for their age (for example 4 overs each), the rest period does not apply and those overs can be bowled at any time in the innings.

The daily maximum still applies, and once a player has bowled fast it includes any spin they bowl later that day.

Yes. Under the ECB Recreational Cricket Safety Regulations, a delivery counts towards the spell and daily limits when it is bowled in a match or in training with the intention of bowling at match or near-match intensity.

Deliveries clearly meant to be slower do not count, for example walk-throughs or running in at half (or less) of normal run-up speed.

The limits apply to hard ball cricket. The ECB's recommended weekly workloads, however, count soft ball and hard ball overs alike, because both put similar forces through the body.

On top of the compulsory match limits, the ECB Recreational Cricket Safety Guidelines recommend weekly workloads, counting overs bowled in matches and training with both hard and soft balls:

The ECB also recommends:

• no more than 4 bowling days in any 7, with only one pair of consecutive days;
• a 7 to 10-day bowling break mid-season, a lighter week (about 50% of target) every 4 to 5 weeks, and a 4-week break after the season;
• a gradual "ready to bowl" build-up after any break of 2 weeks or more;
• a player in a growth spurt (growing faster than 7 cm a year) following the guidance for the age group below.

Too much bowling, and too little, both raise the risk of lumbar stress fractures in young fast bowlers.

The ECB Recreational Cricket Safety Regulations set minimum fielding distances for all juniors, in both hard ball and soft ball cricket:

• The distance is measured from the batter's position on the popping crease, on a middle stump line.
• Fielders behind the wicket on the off side (for example slips) don't have to comply.
• The distances apply even if the fielder wears a helmet or other protective equipment.
• They follow the player's own age, not the age group: a 13-year-old in an Under 15 match must stay 11 yards away.

If a fielder is too close, the umpire must stop the game and tell the player and team manager to move them back. Refusing can lead to 5 penalty runs and, ultimately, the match being awarded to the batting side.

In hard ball cricket, the ECB Recreational Cricket Safety Regulations require every player under 18 to wear a helmet with a faceguard or grille when:

• batting, in matches and in practice (including nets);
• keeping wicket standing up to the stumps (able to reach the stumps with an outstretched arm without moving their feet). A keeper may wear a face protector instead;
• fielding within 8 yards (7.3 m) of the striking batter, if aged 16 or 17.

In each case, a player whose sex is male must also wear a groin protector (box). The ECB strongly advises wearing a neck protector with the helmet.

• Helmets must meet BS 7928:2013 (face protectors BS 7929-2:2009).
• Written parental consent to go without a helmet or box is not accepted. If there are exceptional reasons a child cannot wear one, the parents must write to safetyincricket@ecb.co.uk with evidence, and the child cannot do these activities until the ECB confirms they can.
• The helmet rules do not apply to soft ball cricket.

Under the ECB Recreational Cricket Safety Regulations (December 2025 update):

Open age cricket

• Juniors are not eligible until they are 12.
• An 11-year-old can play only in exceptional circumstances, if they have started school Year 7, are selected for a County Age Group squad or an Early Engagement Programme, have written approval from their County Talent Pathway Lead, and have written parental consent.
• Every junior playing open age cricket needs written parental consent, and the captain must tell the umpire about any juniors in the team.

Playing up or down an age group is allowed only if the county board or league permits it.

Before playing a junior up or in open age cricket, the club must consider whether:

• it is a positive step in their development, not a way to make up numbers;
• they have the skill, physical capability, confidence and emotional maturity to play safely;
• they have trained with, or know, the team;
• the club can follow Safe Hands, for example so the junior does not change or shower alongside adults, with thought given to social media groups and transport;
• appropriately DBS-checked adults will supervise them.

A junior's fast bowling limits, fielding distances and helmet rules follow their age, even in an adult match.

The ECB Recreational Cricket Concussion Guidelines (adapted from the UK Concussion Guidelines for Non-Elite Sport) say: If in doubt, sit them out.

Suspected concussion

• Remove the player from play immediately. They do not need to have been knocked out; loss of consciousness happens in fewer than 10% of concussions, and symptoms can take 24 to 48 hours to appear.
• They should be assessed by a healthcare professional (or by calling 111) within 24 hours.
• No cricket activity (training or matches) within 24 hours.
• Red flags such as loss of consciousness, deteriorating consciousness, repeated vomiting, a seizure, severe or increasing headache or severe neck pain mean immediate assessment at hospital A&E.

Confirmed concussion

• A graduated return to cricket activity.
• No competitive cricket for at least 21 days, and only once the player has been symptom-free for at least 14 days.
• If symptoms last longer than 28 days, seek further medical attention.

Children may be more susceptible to concussion and can take longer to recover. The ECB recommends that coaches complete its concussion e-learning course (concussionlearning.ecb.co.uk).

Yes. Coaching children is Regulated Activity, so the ECB requires:

• An ECB Enhanced DBS check (with a Children's Barred List check). A DBS from another organisation is not accepted.
• A recheck every 12 months. If you join the DBS Update Service the recheck is done online; otherwise you must reapply.
• Safeguarding Level 2, the ECB's 1-hour online course, which is required for coaches and valid for 3 years.

The ECB DBS check is free for volunteers; paid coaches pay £49.50 to the DBS (plus £16 a year for the Update Service). Your Club Safeguarding Officer starts the application. If you have lived outside the UK for 3 months or more in the last 5 years, you also need a certificate of good conduct from that country.

ECB guidance also sets coaching ratios, used alongside the Rule of Two (an adult is never alone or out of sight with a child without another DBS-checked adult present):