What are the Stage 2 rules for Under 12 and Under 13?

Stage 2 is for children who have developed their skills and are ready for more competitive cricket, with all players batting, bowling and fielding in a 2 to 3 hour match.

• Teams: 9 players a side is recommended, with a minimum of 7 and a maximum of 11 allocated to a team
• Overs and time: one innings of 20 to 30 overs (120 to 180 balls) per team
• Pitch and boundary: 18 m hard or turf pitch (stumps can be brought in to the front crease lines, 17.7 m, for simple measuring) and a boundary of 45 m maximum
• Ball: 142 g hard or leather
• Batting: a batter retires after a set number of balls (for a 20-over innings, 20 balls with 7 to 9 players and 15 balls with 10 or 11; for a 30-over innings, 30 balls with 7 to 9 players, 25 with 10 and 20 with 11). Retired batters can return when everyone else has batted, in the order they retired. The innings closes after 6 wickets (7 players), 7 wickets (8 players) or 8 wickets (9 to 11 players)
• Bowling: 6 balls an over, with up to 8 balls in an over where wides and no-balls are re-bowled (the last over must have 6 legal balls). Maximum 4 overs per bowler in a 20-over match and 5 in a 30-over match. Bowlers change ends at 10 overs
• Fielding: no fielder within 10 metres of the bat, except regulation off-side slips, gully and the wicket-keeper. Keepers can change after 10 overs
• Dismissals: all modes count

Source: Cricket Australia Stage 2 Junior Rules, 20 to 30 over match day rules (play.cricket.com.au, May 2026).