Free Sample
The Complete Handbook of Rounders
The practical reference for players, coaches, clubs, and suppliers—covering equipment, rules, strategy, and commerce.
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: Understanding Rounders
Rounders is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of up to nine players on a diamond-shaped field. Its most distinctive feature is the layout: a square with sides of 12 meters (40 feet), with a base (a post or mat) at each corner. The striking team lines up to bat, one player at a time, from a designated batting square adjacent to the fourth base. The fielding team positions players in the outfield and around the diamond. The objective is simple to state but richly tactical in practice: the batting team wants to score 'rounders' by hitting the ball and then running around the outside of the four bases, touching each one on the way. Upon reaching the fourth base, a rounder is scored for their team. The fielding team wants to prevent this, either by catching the batted ball in the air, or by 'stumping' a runner - that is, controlling the ball and touching the base a runner is advancing toward.
Understanding the game requires a firm grasp of its fundamental sequence. The bowler, a member of the fielding team, underarm-bowls the ball towards the batter. There is no pitch length specification in terms of a mound, but the bowler must release the ball below the hip and take no more than 1.5 steps in their delivery. The ball must be bowled so that it bounces on the batting square. A legal delivery is one that passes over the batting square, within reach