Can a Bowler Bowl Two Consecutive Overs? (Rule Explained)

Here are different rules that need to be followed when it comes to certain sports. Such rules may end up being unique to the point that those who are new to those sports end up don’t understand them. One such term is the over, which is when a bowler bowls six deliveries to an opposing batsman. But is it even possible for one bowler to bowl two consecutive straight overs?

Law 17 of the laws of cricket says that every bowler should only be able to bowl six deliveries per over. When the umpire calls an over, it is mandatory for the bowling team to change the bowler. This essentially means that bowlers are not allowed to bowl in consecutive overs.

The thing about cricket is that it tends to hold on to its rules quite strictly and that this game is different compared to other games that allow their bowlers or pitchers to bowl or pitch two consecutive times. In this case, you need to understand what is an over in cricket and why a bowler can’t bowl two consecutive overs.

What is an over in cricket?

There are different types of jargon used in different sports, and that is where you need to know some of the words and jargon that are used in a sport such as cricket. Even though cricket is one of the world’s most popular sports, not everyone in the world, especially in western countries actually plays the sport or knows a lot about it.

One such word that is often thrown around in cricket is over. This can confuse some people, especially if they don’t know a thing about cricket. So, with that said, what is an over in cricket?

An over in cricket is when the player from a fielding team has already bowled six delivers to the opposing team’s batter. In simple terms, every over is described to be six legal deliveries or throws made by a team’s bowler or the one throwing the ball over to the opposing team’s batsman.

When the over has been completed, and the bowler has bowled six times, the umpire will signal to both of the teams that the over has been completed by yelling ‘over.’ From there, what the team will do is to select another bowler who should now play in the next over as the fielders move and rotate to different positions out on the pitch. 

So, what you need to know is that there hasn’t always been six delivers per over. There were times when different countries actually implemented their own rules in relation to how many delivers are there per over.

It has only been since the 1940s when it was established that there should be six delivers per over. Of course, the reasons why the overs varied from one country to another were due to how some countries wanted to increase the speed of the game or probably make the game lasts for an entire day with longer overs.

There were also other countries that could play longer overs in a single game, especially when the climate is a bit cooler. Meanwhile, countries like India tend to be warmer and were not capable of playing longer overs out in the open.

How many overs are there in a game of cricket?

Speaking of overs, you might be wondering how long a game of cricket is based on the number of overs there are. Basically speaking, every game of cricket is determined by how many overs are played. And different cricket formats have a different number of overs.

The shorter T20 game or Twenty 20 has only 20 overs per team. This basically explains why the game is named as such and why this is the shortest cricket format.

On the other hand, the popular ODI or One Day International has a total of 50 overs per team. This game can last for up to 9 hours because of how many overs it has.

Finally, Test cricket is simply an unlimited format of cricket that doesn’t have a definite number of overs per game. There are unlimited overs until the batting team is finally bowled out of a game. This is why Test games can last for days.

Can a bowler bowl two consecutive overs?

All that said about what an over is let’s now look at how many consecutive overs each bowler can play. In that regard, is a bowler allowed to bowl two consecutive overs in a single game?

Because cricket is a game that relies on equal opportunities and on strategies regarding who to pick to bowl at certain periods of the game, the captain of a team needs to make a wise decision in relation to his choice of bowlers. So, even if you do have a star bowler who is far better than anyone on the team, that bowler can only bowl one over a time and cannot bowl two consecutive overs.

It is expressly stated in Law 17 of the laws of cricket that every bowler can only bowl six delivers at a time. This means that a bowler is no longer allowed to bowl in the next over after the umpire has signaled that an over has been completed.

Furthermore, Law 22 also states that it is mandatory for a new bowler to be chosen right after an over has been completed.

This all leads to the conclusion that you are not allowed to bowl two consecutive overs and that a bowler needs to be replaced by a new bowler after an over.

As such, strategy becomes essential in a game of cricket because the captain needs to decide when to field his best bowlers and when it is best to go with certain bowlers during specific periods in each game.

How many overs can a bowler bowl in a game?

While we did say that a bowler cannot bowl consecutive overs in a game, how many overs can a bowler bowl in an actual game? Well, this depends on the format.

The shorter T20 format requires that every bowler should be able to bowl four times but not in consecutive overs. On the other hand, One Day cricket bowlers can bowl ten times in a single game. And because of the unlimited format of Test, every bowler can bowl unlimited times.

Essentially, the important thing to remember here is that the bowler should not be bowl consecutively. He can bowl multiple times in a single cricket game depending on the format, but there is no format that allows a bowler to bowl consecutively.

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