Cricket Skills Circuit

Overview

In this first of two Year 4 cricket lessons, students develop introductory batting, bowling and fielding skills through safe, modified activities. They practise selecting strategies, collaborating with others and persisting when a skill feels challenging. Lesson 2 will build these skills into simple game play.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• develop the basic techniques for batting, underarm bowling and fielding
• apply safety rules and cooperate in small groups
• use feedback to refine a skill
• identify a strategy that helps them persist when learning a new skill

Success criteria

• I can hold and swing the bat safely, watching the ball.
• I can bowl underarm towards a target using a controlled action.
• I can move into position, stop or catch a rolling ball and return it safely.
• I can encourage others, listen to feedback and keep trying.

Curriculum links

• Health and Physical Education: selecting, using and refining personal and social skills to establish, manage and strengthen relationships.
• Personal and Social Capability: strategies that support persistence and adaptability during challenging situations and change.
• Personal and Social Capability: the benefits of collaboration and criteria for evaluating collaboration skills.
• Health and Physical Education: strategies that contribute to personal and others’ health, safety, relationships and wellbeing.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–7 min · Welcome, hook and safety. Teacher gathers students in a clearly marked space, opens the cricket hook and safety slides and asks, “How can one player help a whole team improve?” Demonstrate the safety rules: bats remain on the ground until instructed, students wait behind cones, balls are collected on signal, and students look before throwing. Students show the safe ready position and explain one rule to a partner.

2. 7–15 min · Movement warm-up. Teacher leads a jog, side steps, skipping and changes of direction, adding “ready, move, stop” calls and gentle stretches. Students move into open spaces, practise balanced athletic positions and respond to signals without colliding. Finish with partner mirror movements to reinforce attention and cooperation.

3. 15–27 min · Teacher demonstration and guided practice. Teacher uses the skill demonstration slides and models three fundamentals: batting from a stationary position with eyes on the ball and a controlled follow-through; underarm bowling with the opposite foot forward and the arm swinging towards the target; and fielding by moving behind a rolling ball, getting low, stopping it with soft hands and returning it safely. Students shadow each action without equipment, then practise each movement with a partner using a soft ball and plastic bat.

4. 27–48 min · Three-station skills circuit. Teacher divides the class into five groups of four and directs rotations every seven minutes using the station instruction slides. At the batting station, one student rolls or gently underarm tosses while the batter hits into a marked zone; students retrieve only on the signal. At the bowling station, students bowl underarm through a gate or towards a cone target, collecting their own ball. At the fielding station, students roll balls to a partner, who stops, gathers and returns them along the ground. At the fourth station, students combine a short bowl, field and return sequence; the fifth group repeats its preferred skill or practises target accuracy. Each group has rotating roles: performer, feeder, retriever and coach. Coaches give one specific positive comment and one helpful suggestion.

5. 48–55 min · Collaborative challenge. Teacher sets up a “score the target” challenge: groups earn a point for a controlled bowl through a gate, a hit into a safe target zone or a clean field-and-return. Emphasise that points are for teamwork as well as accuracy. Students choose one skill to improve, agree on a team strategy, attempt it several times and adapt after discussing what worked.

6. 55–60 min · Cool-down and reflection. Teacher leads slow walking, breathing and stretches, then returns to the reflection and plenary slides. Students complete an oral exit reflection with a partner: “Today I improved at…”, “When it was difficult, I…”, and “A teammate helped by…”. Invite several responses and preview that the next lesson will use these skills in modified cricket games.

Resources

• Soft cricket balls or tennis balls
• Plastic cricket bats or short-handled bats
• Cones and marker spots
• Bowling gates or target cones
• Hoops or marked batting target zones
• Coloured bibs for groups
• Whistle and stopwatch
• First-aid kit and drinking-water access
• the cricket skills and activity deck

Assessment

• Observe each student during the circuit using the success criteria: safe bat control, underarm bowling action, effective fielding technique and constructive communication.
• Question students during rotations: “What are you changing to improve?” and “How is your group making the activity safe and fair?”
• Use the final partner reflection to identify students needing further support with a particular skill in lesson 2.

Differentiation

• Support students with larger, softer balls, shorter distances, stationary feeds, wider targets and a peer or teacher demonstration. Use the prompts “Ready position”, “Eyes on the ball”, “Low hands” and “Step towards the target”.
• Allow students who are not ready to catch to stop rolling balls with two hands before progressing to gathering and returning.
• Extend confident students by increasing the target distance, adding a bounce before fielding, using a non-dominant hand for controlled practice or asking them to coach with precise, respectful feedback.
• Pair students thoughtfully, provide visual demonstrations and repeat instructions with gestures for EAL learners. Ensure students with mobility, sensory or coordination needs can participate through adapted distances, roles, equipment and pacing.