The cricket ball
What a cricket ball weighs and measures in men's, women's and junior cricket, who controls the ball during a match, and the rules on taking a new ball after 80 overs.
Overview
A cricket ball is a leather-covered sphere with a raised stitched seam around its circumference. Almost everything a bowler can do to it — swing, seam movement, spin — depends on that seam and on how the two halves of the surface wear as the match goes on.
Law 4 gives three specifications, not one. For men's cricket the ball weighs between 5.5 oz (155.9 g) and 5.75 oz (163 g), with a circumference between 8.81 in (22.4 cm) and 9 in (22.9 cm). The women's ball is lighter and smaller at 4.94–5.31 oz (140–151 g) and 8.25–8.88 in (21.0–22.5 cm). The junior ball for under-13 cricket is lighter again, at 4.69–5.06 oz (133–144 g) and 8.06–8.69 in (20.5–22.0 cm).
The umpires, not the fielding side, own the ball
Umpires must have all the match balls in their possession before the toss, and they retain control of them throughout. The umpire takes the ball at the fall of a wicket, at the start of an interval and at any interruption of play.
This is a quiet but important safeguard. Because what a bowler can do with the ball depends so heavily on its condition, the Laws remove the ball from the players' hands at every natural break rather than trusting that nothing will be done to it.
New balls, and what happens when one is lost
Either captain may demand a new ball at the start of each innings unless it has been agreed otherwise beforehand. In matches of more than one day, the fielding captain may ask for a new ball once 80 overs have been bowled with the old one, and the umpire must tell everyone concerned.
If a ball is lost or becomes unfit for play, it is not replaced with a new one. It is replaced with a ball that has had comparable wear, and the umpire informs the batters and the fielding captain. Handing a side a fresh ball because the old one went into a hedge would change the game; matching the wear keeps it the same.
Good to know
- A men's ball weighs 5.5–5.75 oz (155.9–163 g) with a circumference of 8.81–9 in (22.4–22.9 cm).
- Women's and junior balls are separately specified and are both lighter and smaller.
- Umpires hold and control the match balls from before the toss onwards.
- The fielding captain may take a new ball after 80 overs in a multi-day match.
- A lost or unfit ball is replaced by one with comparable wear, not by a new one.
Where it’s used
Sports that use the cricket ball:
Related equipment
Cricket bat
A flat-fronted wooden bat used by batters to hit the ball in cricket, with a curved back that concentrates weight behind the hitting area.
Wickets, stumps and bails
The three stumps and two bails a bowler aims at and a batter defends — their exact height, width and shape, and what the Laws say about when bails may be dispensed with.
Sources
The rules, dimensions and specifications on this page were read from these documents.
- The Laws of Cricket — Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), 2017 Code, Law 4 — The ball (read 2026-09-12)
How it connects
The meaning-bearing relationships that place The cricket ball in the wider knowledge graph — each one with the reason it exists.
Foundation of
These build directly on this one.
Frequently learned together
Taught side by side in the same stage of a learning path.
- Cricket batBoth are taught in the “What you’ll need” stage of the Cricket learning path.
- Wickets, stumps and bailsBoth are taught in the “What you’ll need” stage of the Cricket learning path.
- The cricket pitchBoth are taught in the “What you’ll need” stage of the Cricket learning path.
- The cricket field and boundaryBoth are taught in the “What you’ll need” stage of the Cricket learning path.
- Artificial turfBoth are taught in the “What you’ll need” stage of the Cricket learning path.
Explore across the knowledge base
Follow the threads that connect The cricket ball to the rest of SocialSportHub.
Techniques
- Swing bowlingHow a cricket ball is made to curve in the air — the seam position and surface asymmetry behind conventional and reverse swing, and why swing is a property of the ball as much as the bowler.
- Seam bowlingMovement off the pitch rather than through the air — how landing the ball on its seam deviates it at the bounce, and why seam and swing are different skills that look alike.
Facilities
- The cricket pitchThe 22-yard strip at the centre of a cricket field where the bowling and batting happen — its exact dimensions, how it is bounded, and who decides whether it is fit to play on.
- The cricket field and boundaryHow the edge of a cricket field is defined and marked, what scores four and what scores six, and why the Laws set no boundary distance while international playing conditions do.
Learning paths
Rules
- Innings and oversHow a cricket match is structured — what an innings is, why an over is six balls, how the bowling end alternates, and which parts of the structure the Laws fix and which a competition sets.
- Double dribbleA basketball violation for dribbling with two hands at once, or for dribbling again after picking up the ball.
- Handball offenceA foul in football committed when an outfield player deliberately handles or controls the ball with the hand or arm.
Go deeper with The cricket ball
Everywhere else on the platform that covers The cricket ball — assembled from what actually references it, so nothing here is a dead end.
Learn it
Structured courses and paths on the platform that cover this directly.
Take it away
Open data and the whole-platform view of this subject.
How this page is maintained
- Content type
- Equipment
- Provenance
- Tier A — evergreen educational
- Verified external sources
- 0
- Content updated
- 2026-09-01
Evergreen, first-party explanation — it makes no claim that needs an external source. How we handle sources and reviews.