All you need to know for the indoor national championships

What is the Indoor Cricket National Championships? 

Australia’s most talented indoor cricket players will return to the national stage for the first time since 2019 when the 2022 Indoor Cricket National Championships commence at Casey Stadium in Victoria this Sunday.

More than 800 players and officials will take part in the championships from 25 June to 9 July, with 48 teams to compete for national titles across five open age divisions and five junior divisions across the two weeks.

The ten divisions include: Open Men, Open Women, 22&U Men, 22&U Women, Taveners division for players with an intellectual disability, U14 Boys, U15 Girls, U16 Boys, U18 Girls, U18 Boys.

W/BBL contracted players Sarah Coyte (NSW captain-coach/Melbourne Renegades), Meagan Dixon (QLD captain/Adelaide Strikers), Clint Hinchliffe (WA/Melbourne Stars), and Tegan McPharlin (SA/Adelaide Strikers) will all be in action at the championships.

The championships first started in 1985, and have been played every year since, except for 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

Queensland are the most successful state, having won 21 Open Men's championships and 18 Open Women's, and the Maroons are the defending champions in both the Open Men and Open Women divisions, with the women's team looking to make it four in a row.

Indoor cricket's rules explained, for newbies

It can take a bit to wrap your head around this if you're used to only playing the traditional game outdoors, so let's break it down.

The game is played inside a netted area that is divided into a front court (where the striker faces) and back court (where the ball is bowled from).

Each team has a maximum of eight players, and every player participates equally. By that we mean every player bats the same number of overs, and every player bowls two overs.

Each innings last 16 overs (six balls per over, like usual). There must be four fielders, including the wicketkeeper in the front court, and the rest in the backcourt.

Teams set their batting order in pairs, and each pair will stay in for four overs, regardless of how many times a batter gets 'out' like in outdoor cricket. So instead of a team losing wickets and that batter not being able to bat again, there's a runs deduction for a dismissal.

'Skin' in the game

We'll get to how individual runs are scored in a bit, but first we need to talk about the extra level of strategy involved in indoor, which is the 'Skins' scoring system that helps determine the ladder position of teams in the championships.

Firstly, a win by scoring more runs in your 16 overs will net the team three points (or 1.5 points for a tie, and 0 for a loss).

Then there is a skin available for each batting pair, so four in total. The batting pairs go head-to-head with the corresponding pair on the opposing team (ie, 1v1, 2v2 etc), and the pair that has scored more runs in their four-over block wins that skin for their team.

The idea is to provide additional levels of strategy and interest in matches regardless of the total score. So a team could in theory lose a match by a hefty margin, but if the defeated team had three of their pairs outscore their rival pairs, they would still collect three points for the ladder.

How batters score their runs

Runs are scored by either completing a physical run – but for indoor cricket, the non-striker starts at the 'running crease' that divides the court in half, and the striker only has to make this line to avoid being run out.

Bonus runs are scored by hitting the ball into the net, with different parts of the net worth different amounts, and the bonus is in addition to any physical runs.

Hitting the ball into the side net in the front court gets you one run, hitting the side net in the back court is worth two runs. You'll get four runs for hitting the back net (behind the bowler) on the bounce, and six if you get it on the full.

The top net is neutral, so a ball hit via the top net onto the back net on the full still scores six bonus runs.

If your shot hits the side, then the back net, that's worth three bonus runs.

Remember, this bonus is in addition to any physical runs you make, so the aim of the game is to hit and run – a five or a seven is a huge boost for your team.

Wides are worth two runs, but the delivery is not re-bowled, unless it is in the final over of the batting pair, and then it's up to the batters to decide if they want it bowled again or not.

No balls are also worth two runs, and any bouncers over the batter's shoulder, or full tosses over the waist, are deemed illegal deliveries.

How the bowling side takes wickets

In much the same way as outdoor cricket, but with a few twists of course!

So bowled, stumped, and hit wicket dismissals are the same as outdoor cricket. You can also be out LBW, but only if the batter does not offer a shot, while there's no rule about the ball pitching outside leg stump, or impact outside the line. And obstructing the field is called interference, and much the same.

Run outs operate the same as outdoor cricket as well, but remember the batters only have to run half the distance of the pitch in this format.

And, joyfully, the Mankad dismissal is fully embraced as legitimate mode of dismissal, again remembering the non-striker is halfway down the pitch at the running crease.

The netting brings a twist for caught dismissals: they are basically the same, but a rebound off net behind the batter, the top net, or either side net can be caught to dismiss the batter. The exception is balls that hit the back net – you can't be caught out off a ball rebounding of that.

Every dismissal sees five runs rubbed off the batting pair's score, and it is possible for a pair to finish with a negative score.

Got that? Ok, here's a twist: Third Ball dismissals. In indoor cricket if you face three successive dot balls, that counts as a dismissal and the team is docked five runs. Got to keep the game moving!

What else is different about indoor?

The bats players use are often shaved down to be much lighter than the outdoor versions. Wicketkeepers often wear just one glove to ensure they can throw down the stumps at the bowlers end.

The umpire stands in an elevated stand at the back of the court, behind the batter and wicketkeeper.

The colour of the ball is yellow and is slightly softer and lighter than an outdoor cricket ball, meaning swing bowling is a huge factor.

Alright, I'm ready when does this start?

The open age divisions will start on Sunday, June 26, with finals to be played on July 2. The junior divisions will commence on July 2, with finals to be played on July 9. There is also the Taverners Shield - a division for players with an intellectual disability.

From this championships, there will be four Australian teams (Men, Women, U22 Men, U22 Women) selected for the Indoor Cricket World Cup which will be held in Melbourne from October 8-15.

Schedule of matches

A full schedule of the matches and scores can be found online here.

How can I watch online?

Select 'round' matches will be streamed live on the Cricket Australia YouTube channel.

All finals will be live streamed on the CA YouTube channel and Facebook page. You can also follow the CA Indoor Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts for all the news, scores and highlights.

I want to go and see this live!

Spectators are welcome to all matches at Casey Stadium. There will be plenty of bump-in grandstand seating to enjoy the action!

Who are the key players to watch?

New Melbourne Renegades recruit and former Australian women's team star Sarah Coyte will be returning for the first time since 2014. She'll be wearing NSW colours in a captain/coach capacity and will also coach the NSW U15 Girls team.

Former Hobart Hurricanes cult hero Clive Rose will be in action for Victoria alongside his brother Brendan. He's played for Victoria at every championships over the past decade. Interestingly, he bowls medium pace in indoor cricket.

Australian Indoor young guns Josh Dreaver (QLD men) and Samantha Dixon (QLD women) are stars of the sport and will be important players for Australia at the forthcoming Indoor Cricket World Cup.

Image Id: 131A117863A242CC85119F34F26FE3A0 Image Caption: Clive Rose is an indoor regular for Victoria // CA

Did you know indoor leads to outdoor too?

Indoor cricket continues to play a key role in the cricket pathway, with players such as Amanda Jade Wellington, Josh Philippe, Hannah Darlington, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Jhye Richardson, and more having played at the Indoor Cricket National Championships in recent years.

This is a blockbuster year for the game in Australia, with the Indoor World Cup to held in Melbourne from October 8-15. Australia has never lost a men's or women's Indoor World Cup since its inception in 1995.

Over 100,000 Australian's play indoor cricket annually, with the fast-paced social participation option providing opportunities to play all year round. Matches lasting about 90 minutes and every player bats, bowls and fields an equal amount. If you're keen, find your local centre at playcricket.com.au.