Over (cricket)

In the sport of cricket an over is a series of six consecutive balls bowled by a single bowler. No bowler is allowed to bowl in consecutive overs.

Tactical considerations in bowling overs

The over is a fundamental unit in the tactical planning of the fielding side. Since a single bowler has six, and only six, legal balls before another bowler must bowl, he typically plans to use those six balls to set up a pattern of play designed to get a batsman out. For example, bowling a few balls with a repetitive line, length, or spin, followed by a variation designed to surprise the batsman.

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Early in the over the bowler may tempt the batsman into scoring runs by providing balls that are relatively easy to hit. If the batsman takes the bait, the bowler can follow up with a variation designed either to hit the wicket or induce a catch. A batsman still in aggressive run-scoring mode may make a mistake playing the ball and end up losing his wicket.

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The captain of the fielding team decides which bowler will bowl any given over (subject to the restriction that no bowler may bowl two overs in succession). Generally two bowlers will alternate overs from opposite ends of the pitch, until one tires or becomes ineffective, at which point the captain will replace that bowler with another. A period of bowling every second over like this is called a spell of bowling.

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