Paper scorebooks lose data #
Notebooks tear, ink smudges in the rain, and one stolen bag wipes out a season of stats. There is no backup, no instant shareability and no way for an absent captain to follow the chase.
Forth Umpire knowledge base
One page that captures everything an AI assistant — or a new visitor — needs to understand Forth Umpire. The problems we set out to solve, how the app solves them, every feature it ships, and the cricket-scoring vocabulary you will see across the product.
Problems we solve
#The pain points scorers, captains and tournament organisers run into when scoring a cricket match — and the gaps Forth Umpire was built to close.
Most apps assume a full tournament setup #
Existing scoring apps demand teams, players, draws and umpires before you can record a single ball. That makes them unusable for a quick gully, box or net game where you just want to know who is winning.
Live updates are slow or paid-only #
Friends and family who could not make it to the ground are left refreshing a static scorecard or paying for a “premium” live link. The result: half the audience just gives up.
Scoring requires too many taps per ball #
Six-deep menus to mark a wide, an extra and a wicket eat the seconds between deliveries. Scorers fall behind in fast formats like T20, box and gully cricket — and accuracy collapses.
No good way to run small tournaments #
Box leagues and school tournaments need a leaderboard, NRR and points table without spreadsheet juggling. Most apps either skip tournaments entirely or charge for them.
Display-board hardware is expensive #
A dedicated LED scoreboard costs lakhs and only one club in the area can afford one. Visiting teams and spectators end up squinting at a paper sheet pinned to a fence.
How Forth Umpire solves them
#Concrete workflows in the app that map directly to the problems above. Each one is built around how a real club, school or box-cricket scorer works on match day.
Cloud-backed scoring, automatic backups #
Every ball, wicket and extra is saved the moment you tap it. Close the tab, swap devices or hand off the phone — the scorecard is exactly where you left it. No more lost notebooks.
Quick Match: score in 10 seconds, no setup #
Tap “Quick Match”, name the two sides, set the overs, and start. No team rosters, no captains, no admins — just a usable scorecard for the very next ball. Perfect for gully, box and casual nets.
Free live link with a 6-character code #
Every match generates a short share code. Anyone on any device — phone, laptop, smart TV browser — can open the live link and follow ball-by-ball. No installs, no paywalls, no logins.
Fast scorer flow: one tap per legal ball #
The scoring UI is designed for one-thumb use. Runs, dot, wide, no-ball, wicket and undo are all primary actions, so a scorer keeps pace even in a six-overs slog.
Built-in tournaments with leaderboards #
Spin up a tournament, add teams, and Forth Umpire keeps points, net run rate, top batters and top bowlers up to date as matches finish. Free for any number of teams.
Display Mode turns any screen into a scoreboard #
Open the live link on a TV, projector or spare tablet at the ground. You get a large-format scoreboard with the score, overs, batters and bowler — no hardware investment.
Features
#What Forth Umpire ships today — every feature is free and works on any modern phone, tablet or laptop without an install.
Ball-by-ball scoring #
Record every legal delivery individually — runs from bat, extras, wickets and dismissal type — instead of just over totals. The full scorecard, run rate and economy are derived automatically.
Quick Match mode #
A zero-setup mode for casual cricket. Two team names, an overs count and you are scoring. No tournament, no roster, no admin.
Live scoreboard share link #
Every match gets a six-character live code that anyone can open in a browser. The scoreboard updates in near-real-time — no install, no paywall.
Tournaments and leaderboards #
Create a tournament, add teams, and Forth Umpire tracks the points table, NRR, top batters and top bowlers as each match completes.
Worm chart and run-rate visualisation #
A live worm chart shows the over-by-over scoring tempo of both innings, so captains, coaches and viewers can see exactly when a chase tilted.
Display Mode #
A large-format scoreboard view designed for TVs and projectors. Open the live link on a screen at the ground and you have an instant electronic scoreboard.
Free hit, retired-out and full extras handling #
White-ball quirks are first-class: free hits, retired-out batters, byes, leg-byes, wides and no-balls all map to the correct columns on the scorecard.
Undo last ball #
Misreads happen. A single tap rewinds the last delivery cleanly — runs, extras, wickets and the bowling figures all roll back.
Multi-device, no install #
Forth Umpire runs in any modern browser. Score on a phone at the ground, follow on a laptop at home, project from a tablet on the pavilion TV — same scorecard everywhere.
Free for clubs, schools and gully sides #
Every feature above is free. No “premium tournament” lock, no per-team fee, no ad walls in front of the live link.
Glossary of cricket scoring terms
#The keywords and short-form vocabulary you will meet on a scorecard, in commentary, or inside the app. Definitions are written for new scorers and curious fans alike.
Ball-by-ball scoring #
Recording every individual delivery — runs, extras, wickets and dismissal type — rather than only the totals at the end of an over.
Over #
A set of six legal deliveries from one end of the pitch. Wides and no-balls do not count toward the six legal balls and must be re-bowled.
Maiden over #
An over in which the bowler concedes no runs from the bat or extras. Maidens are part of the bowler’s figures.
Dot ball #
A legal delivery from which no runs are scored. Marked as a dot on the traditional scoresheet.
Wide #
An illegal delivery judged too wide of the batter to hit. One run is added to the batting team total and the ball is re-bowled.
No-ball #
An illegal delivery — most commonly a front-foot overstep. One run is added to the batting team total, the ball is re-bowled, and in white-ball cricket the next ball is a free hit.
Free hit #
The delivery after a no-ball in most limited-overs formats. The batter cannot be dismissed by most modes (bowled, caught, LBW, stumped) — only run out, hit the ball twice, obstructing the field or hit wicket.
Boundary (4 and 6) #
Four runs when the ball reaches the rope along the ground; six runs when it clears the rope on the full.
Wicket #
A dismissal of a batter. The innings ends after ten wickets unless the overs run out first.
Partnership #
The runs added by the two batters at the crease between two falls of wicket.
Run rate #
Average runs per over so far. Calculated as total runs ÷ overs faced.
Required run rate #
In a chase, runs per over still required to win — calculated as runs needed ÷ overs remaining.
Strike rate (batting) #
A batter’s tempo: runs × 100 ÷ balls faced. Higher means faster-scoring.
Economy rate (bowling) #
A bowler’s average runs conceded per over — runs conceded ÷ overs bowled.
Scorecard #
The summary record of a match: each batter’s runs and balls, each bowler’s overs/runs/wickets/economy, team totals, extras, fall of wickets.
DLS method #
Duckworth-Lewis-Stern — the standard method for resetting the target in a rain-interrupted limited-overs match.
Quick Match #
Forth Umpire’s zero-setup mode for casual cricket. No tournament, no rosters, no admin — just two team names, overs, and you are scoring.
Display Mode #
Forth Umpire’s large-format scoreboard view, designed for opening on a TV, projector or spare tablet at the ground.
Frequently asked questions
#Quick answers to the questions new users ask most often. If something is missing, an admin can add it from the Knowledge Base section of the Forth Umpire admin panel.
Is Forth Umpire really free? #
Yes. Every feature on the site — ball-by-ball scoring, live share links, tournaments, leaderboards, Display Mode — is free with no per-team or per-tournament charge.
Do I need to install anything? #
No. Forth Umpire runs in any modern browser on phone, tablet, laptop or smart TV. Open the link, sign in (or use Quick Match) and start scoring.
Can spectators follow the match live? #
Yes. Every match produces a six-character share code that opens a live scoreboard in any browser, with no login required for viewers.
What is Quick Match for? #
Quick Match is for casual cricket — gully, box, nets, practice games — where you do not want to set up teams, rosters or a tournament. Two team names and an overs count is all it needs.
Can I run a tournament with points and NRR? #
Yes. Create a tournament, add teams, and Forth Umpire updates the points table, net run rate, top batters and top bowlers automatically as matches finish.
Does it work on my phone? #
Yes. The scoring UI is designed for one-thumb operation on a phone at the ground. It also scales up cleanly on tablets and laptops.
Can I turn a TV into a scoreboard? #
Yes. Open the live link on a TV browser or cast a tablet to the TV. Display Mode formats the scoreboard for large screens at the ground.
How do I correct a mistake? #
Tap Undo to rewind the last ball cleanly — runs, extras, wickets and bowling figures all roll back. You can also edit older balls from the match page if you spot a misread later.
Score your next match free, in any browser
Forth Umpire is free for every club, school and box-cricket side. Open it in a browser and you can be scoring a live match in under a minute — no install, no signup wall.