About Gully Cricket
Gully Cricket is a free 3D street cricket game set in Gali No. 4, Krishna Nagar: a lane two and a half cars wide with plastered houses, iron gates, balconies of drying clothes, desert coolers, black water tanks on the roofs and a tangle of wires overhead. Three versus three, Tigers XI against Strikers XI, with bricks for stumps and a forty-rupee red ball.
It plays by gully rules. Hit it into somebody's house, onto a balcony or through a window and you are out. Caught on the full is out, and so is a one-handed catch after one bounce: one tip, one hand. Chalk lines down the road give 1 and 2, along the ground over the 4 line is a four, over the 6 line on the full is a six, and past the keeper is four at the back. Hit a side wall, a door or a gate on the bounce and the wall gives you a run on top of whatever you run. One batter at a time, running to the bowler's chappal and back.
The story, "Count It", is Chotu's summer. He is twelve, the youngest in the gully: he gets to play, but his outs do not count. His brother Ankit, who once hit the ball out of the lane and over the main road, has gone to college in Pune. Then the residents' association bans cricket in the lanes, and the only way to keep the gully is to win the Krishna Nagar Colony Cup, three a side. Nine chapters, each told by one of the six kids and each turning on Chotu, go round four away grounds with their own streets and their own rules about what is out: the Railway Colony with the tracks behind its wall, a gated society in Sector 9, Pipeline Road with its stacks of concrete pipes, and the old-city lane under the red Lal Kothi. Most chapters are full matches of 2 to 5 overs a side, and the final is played over two chapters: whatever the Royals make off your bowling is what you have to chase, with Chotu batting last. The scenes are short, one line at a time, with flashbacks and a photo for every chapter you win. There is also a versus mode where you pick a side, the overs and the difficulty, and a practice mode: the nets, where you bat or bowl as any of the six kids for as long as you like. Cars, scooters, the sabzi cart and Kaalu the dog stop play now and then, like they always did.
How to play
- Bat (classic PC cricket controls, camera behind the bowler): the arrows only aim, as you see it (down is straight back past the bowler, left and right are his left and right, up is fine behind you). Then, as the ball arrives, S plays off the front foot, W off the back foot and D steps down the road to it; hold Shift to loft any of them. No arrow is a block, A leaves it. Before the ball is bowled, hold left or right to move across the crease. A red ring shows where the ball will pitch.
- Play straight: the gully is narrow. Along the ground the ball bounces off the walls and stays alive; in the air at an angle it goes into a house and you are out.
- Loft it straight over the 6 line on the full for a six. At an angle in the air it lands in a house and you are out.
- Run to the chappal at the far end and back, a run each way. You can only be run out at the end you are running to.
- Bowl: pick the delivery first (stock, inswinger, outswinger, off-cutter, leg-cutter or slower ball for the quicks; the stock turner, doosra or googly, arm ball or flipper and top-spinner for the spinners), choose over or around the wicket, put the marker where it should pitch (at the feet is a yorker, short is a bouncer), then hold to run in while the speed bar fills and let go to bowl. Past the line is a no-ball.
- Field: move your free fielder close, mid or deep, and tap the ring in time when a catch comes.
Controls
| Arrow keys (hold) | Shot direction (8 ways); none is a block |
|---|---|
| S | Front-foot shot |
| W | Back-foot shot |
| D | Step down the road (after a hit: run) |
| Shift (hold) | Loft the shot |
| A | Leave (after a hit: go back) |
| Left / Right (before the ball) | Move across the crease |
| R or Space | Run |
| 1 to 6 | Pick the delivery |
| Q | Over or around the wicket |
| Mouse or arrows | Where the ball pitches |
| Space (hold, let go) | Run in, bowl at the speed reached |
| F | Move your fielder |
| C | Camera |
| Esc / P | Pause |
| Phone | Direction pad, FRONT, BACK, STEP, LOFT and LEAVE to bat, RUN to run; delivery buttons, OVER, tap the road to aim, hold BOWL and let go, FIELD, tap CATCH! for catches |
FAQ
Is Gully Cricket free?
Yes. It runs in your browser on computers and phones (in landscape), with nothing to install.
What are the gully rules?
Into a house, onto a balcony or through a window is out. One tip, one hand: a one-handed catch after one bounce is out. Past the keeper is four at the back. Chalk lines give 1, 2, 4 and 6, and a side wall, door or gate on the bounce gives one more. No LBW. Three wickets a side, one batter at a time.
How many chapters does the story have?
Nine, across one summer and the Colony Cup: the last match before the ban, the trials, three league games away, a friendly, the semi-final and a two-part final at home, each told by one of the six kids. Win a chapter to unlock the next, and earn up to three stars for its goals. Most are full matches of 2 to 6 overs a side, so the whole story takes about an hour.
Can I play left-handed?
Golu, Happy and Tony bat left-handed; Happy also bowls left-arm fast. Pick their side in Versus.
How do I hit a six?
Loft a ball in your slot straight down the gully with good timing. Anything at an angle in the air tends to land in a house.
How do I get on the leaderboard?
Create a free account (18+). Versus matches score match points (runs, wickets, sixes and the result, fair for any number of overs) for the Best match board.
A parody and fiction inspired by real events. Not news or advice, and not affiliated with or endorsed by anyone in the game. Legal & privacy