Index

Interval, Drinks

Unlike an interruption, an interval is a scheduled, planned, break in the play.

Unless there are playing conditions that say otherwise, the usual intervals in a cricket match are for lunch, tea, drinks, the ten-minute break between innings and the time between the close of one day's play and the start of play on the subsequent day

To prevent the proliferation of breaks in play, if a wicket falls within two minutes of an interval, or an innings closes or is halted by the weather within ten minutes of the scheduled lunch break, or within 30 minutes of the tea break, that interval is taken immediately. Similarly if one side is nine wickets down within two minutes of the scheduled tea interval, play will continue for another thirty minutes or until the last wicket falls

To prevent subsequent misunderstandings, the number and duration of intervals should be agreed between the umpires and captains before the match begins. After play starts the timings may change or the captains can decide to forego intervals by agreement. This will often occur if the match has been interrupted by rain or poor light