All three sit in the same place — tap a batter's name on the scoring screen — which is exactly why they get mixed up. Here is the difference in one table.
The short version
- Retired hurt — not a wicket. The team score is unchanged, the batter keeps their runs as not out, and they can bat again later in the innings.
- Retired out — a wicket. The batter's innings ends for good and they cannot return. Use it when someone has to leave, or for the gully convention where a batter who passes a score retires to give others a bat.
- Timed out — a wicket. For the batter who was due in but never arrived. Only offered when there is a batter waiting to come in.
Retired out and timed out both add a wicket to the team total and cannot be reversed by sending the batter back in. If you picked the wrong one, use Undo straight away.
What each does to the bowler
None of the three is credited to the bowler. A bowler's figures only count wickets they actually took — bowled, caught, LBW, stumped and hit wicket. Retirements, run-outs and timed out never appear in a bowling analysis.
What each does to the batting average
Retired hurt is not a dismissal, so it does not divide into a batter's career average — the innings counts as not out. Retired out and timed out are dismissals and do count.