The aim of fast bowling is to bowl the hard cricket ball at high speed and to induce it to bounce off the pitch in an erratic fashion or move sideways through the air, factors which make it difficult for the batsman to hit the ball cleanly. A typical fast delivery has a speed in the range of 137–153 km/h (85–95 mph).

An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists. Some wicket-keepers have the skills of a specialist batsman and have been referred to as all-rounders, but the term wicketkeeper-batsman is more commonly applied to them. Among the greatest all-rounders have been Richie Benaud, Kapil Dev, Vinoo Mankad, Imran Khan, George Hirst, Wilfred Rhodes, Chris Cairns, Shaun Pollock, Keith Miller, Garfield Sobers, Ian Botham, Jacques Kallis, Richard Hadlee, W. G. Grace, Mushtaq Mohammad, Lance Klusener, Walter Hammond, Andrew Flintoff, Shahid Afridi, Sanath Jayasuriya, Angelo Mathews, Abdul Razzaq, Shakib Al Hasan and Alan Davidson.

In the sport of cricket, a wide is one of two things:

• The event of a ball being delivered by a bowler too wide or (in international cricket) high to be hit by the batsman, and ruled so by the umpire.
  
• The run scored by the batting team as a penalty to the bowling team when this occurs.

A wide does not count as one of the six balls in an over and it does not count as a ball faced by the batsman.

When a wide is bowled, one run is added to the runs scored off that ball, and is scored as extras and are added to the team's total, but are not added to any batsman's total.

A batsman cannot, by definition, be out bowled, leg before wicket, caught, or hit the ball twice off a wide, as a ball cannot be ruled as a wide if the ball strikes the batsman's bat or person. He may be out handled the ball, hit wicket, obstructing the field, run out, or stumped.

If the wicket-keeper fumbles or misses the ball, the batsmen may be able to take additional runs safely, and may choose to do so. The number of runs scored are scored as wides, not byes. These extra wides are all added to the bowler's score.

If the wicket-keeper misses the ball and it travels all the way to the boundary, the batting team immediately scores five wides, similarly as if the ball had been hit to the boundary for a four on a no ball. If a wide ball crosses the boundary without touching the ground, only five wides (not seven) are scored - according to Law 19.5, a boundary six can only be scored if the ball has touched the bat.

If a ball qualifies as a no ball as well as a wide, the umpire will call it a no ball instead of a wide, and all the rules for a no ball apply.

Wides are considered to be the fault of the bowler, and are recorded as a negative statistic in a bowler's record. However, this has only been the case since the early 1980s - the first Test to record wides (and no-balls) against the bowler's analyses was India vs Pakistan in September 1983.

Cricket clothing and equipment is regulated by the Laws of Cricket. Cricket clothing, known as cricket whites, or flannels, is slightly loose fitting so as not to restrict players' movements. Use of protective equipment, such as helmets, gloves and pads, is also regulated.

Nelson is a piece of cricket slang terminology and superstition.

The name, applied to team or individual scores of 111 or multiples thereof (known as double nelson, triple nelson, etc.) is thought to refer to Lord Nelson's lost eye, arm and leg; however, notably Nelson actually had both of his legs intact, and the third missing body part is mythical. Longtime cricket historian and scorer, Bill "Bearders" Frindall once referred to it online as "one eye, one arm and one etcetera", implying that Nelson's alleged third lost body part was "something else", however this is equally mythical. Umpire David Shepherd during a radio interview to mark his retirement explained it as "One arm, one eye and one lump of sugar in his tea."

It is thought by the superstitious that bad things happen on that score, although an investigation by the magazine The Cricketer in the 1990s found that wickets are no more likely to fall on Nelson and indeed, the score at which most wickets fall is 0 (a duck).[citation needed] It may be considered unlucky because the number resembles a wicket without bails (a batsman is out if the bails are knocked off their wicket).

The New Zealand cricket team Nelson played first-class cricket from 1874 to 1891. In both their first and last first-class innings they were dismissed for 111.

David Shepherd made popular the longstanding practice of raising a leg or legs from the ground on Nelson in an effort to avoid ill fate. When crowds noticed this, they would cheer his leg-raising.

The equivalent superstitious number in Australian cricket is 87, or the "Devil's Number". Many, including commentators and journalists, mistakenly think 87 is considered unlucky because it is thirteen shy of 100 however it came to be known as the "Devil's Number" after Ian Johnson was dismissed for 87 while playing grade cricket and Keith Miller commented "That's funny, I once saw Bradman dismissed for 87". It turned out that Bradman had actually been dismissed for 89 and the MCG scorers hadn't updates his last two runs before his dismissal however the superstition remained. Statistics have shown that more Australian batsmen are in fact dismissed on the numbers surrounding 87.

On 11 November 2011, in a match between South Africa and Australia with the time at 11:11 with South Africa requiring 111 runs to win, the majority of the crowd and umpire Ian Gould did Shepherd's leg raise Nelson for that minute with the scoreboard reading 11:11 11/11/11.

Mandatory powerplay (1-10 overs)
In an uninterrupted match (i.e. 50 overs), the first 10 overs of an innings will be a mandatory powerplay. During the mandatory powerplay only two fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle and there must be a minimum of two stationary fielders in catching positions (15 yards - 14 metres) measured from the striker’s end at the instant of delivery.

When a fast bowler is bowling the two stationary fieldsmen may be permitted to stand deeper than 15 yards (14 metres) provided only that they are standing in slip, leg slip or gully positions.

Batting powerplay
The second powerplay is a block of five overs: which will be at the discretion of either of the batsmen at the wicket. It is often referred to as the batting powerplay. During batting powerplay overs, only three fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard (27 metre) circle. There are no requirements about close catchers in a batting powerplay.

In an innings of scheduled duration of between 41 and 50 overs, the batting powerplay may not be completed later than the end of the 40th over. Should the batting side choose not to exercise their discretion, their powerplay overs will automatically commence at the latest available point in the innings (e.g. in a 50 over innings, this will begin at the start of the 36th over).

During the non-powerplay overs (35 overs in a 50 over game), no more than four fielders shall be permitted outside the fielding restriction area (the 30-yard, 27 metre, circle).

When the batting team's number of overs is reduced, the number of powerplay overs shall be reduced. In the event of an infringement of any of the above fielding restrictions, the square leg umpire shall call and signal ‘No Ball’.

The batting powerplay is not mandatory.