Hit the fence it's 4, hit the fence without bouncing it's 6, over the fence it's out. Any attacking shot that doesn't get you out or hit the fence scores 1. Each innings lasts 18 overs, and you have ten wickets. A good score is around the 200 mark. Hit any of the bushes (or chairs or upright spades or anything else we scatter round the yard) you're out caught. We play with a trampoline turned on its side to stop the ball if the batsman misses - edge it onto the black bits of the trampoline and you're caught behind. If the ball hits the trampoline without an edge and you were beyond the flat skipping rope (crease), you're out stumped. LBW applies no matter where the ball pitches, as long as it would have hit the stumps. Hit wicket, bowled, handled ball and hit ball twice as normal. Only spin bowling or slow-medium seam is allowed: we play with real balls and bowl from only 12 yards due to garden size limits. Six of the 18 overs must be bowled with the weaker hand. "Caught and dropped" - seen as me and BC mates are so utterly hopeless at catching, if you spill a caught and bowled chance the batsman is out anyway, as most decent cricketers would have caught it. Makes no sense I know! After every six overs players take a fag break. If light becomes too bad, we dont' care. It's the perfect formula for BC. Playing the BBC Cricket theme on a continuous loop is optional.