Cricket wicket

“ A crumbly wicket—that is, one more or less broken on the surface—enables the bowler to make the ball break prodigiously. To make runs on such a wicket the batsman must have an exceedingly quick eye, and an almost quicker wrist, if he is to show to advantage. The ball takes a break very rapidly after pitching: in order to extricate himself from a difficulty, a batsman must rely upon an instantaneous co-operation of eye and wrist. The ball breaks so much that it is impossible to play forward-strokes at the rising ball with any success; the ball is nearly sure to beat the bat. ”

“ It may be useful to state that a man is out leg-before-wicket if the ball hits his leg after pitching between the two wickets—that is, between two parallel straight lines drawn from the outer edges of one set of stumps to the outer edges of the other—and continues its course in such a way that it would have hit the wicket. An umpire must not imagine the subsequent course of the ball. Unless he distinctly sees it break or twist, he should give the man out. As a matter of fact, it is by no means an easy thing to bowl a ball pitching between the wickets so as to hit the stumps. ”

“ In the case of a hit-wicket, some part of the batsman's body or his bat must knock down the wicket while he is in the act of playing the stroke. If the batsman slips backwards in starting to run and breaks the wicket, he is no more out than if he had not done so.
An umpire should be on his guard against all kinds of tricks. There are stories of smart wicket-keepers taking the ball so close to the stumps, and at the same time unshipping one of the bails so cleverly, that apparently the man is bowled out. ”

“ Although fast balls are easy to play on good wickets, however, it is but seldom that a wicket which is good at the beginning of a match remains so to the close. The ground wears and cuts up with the continual pitching of the ball and the tramp of feet, and fast bowling on such occasions often becomes most deadly. Then, again, a fast quick delivery to a new-comer, even though the best of batsmen, may deceive him in the pace, and, before the eye gets accustomed to the light and the hand becomes steady, cheat him into playing back at a ball which ought to have been met with forward play. ”

“ When bowled from over the wicket the legbreak ball, being delivered in a direct line with the batsman's wicket, will naturally, if pitched on the leg-stump or between the legs and the wicket, not twist so much, thus making it more likely to hit the wicket if missed by the batsman. There is also a diiect advantage to be gained by bowling over the wicket if the batsman is inclined to get in front of his stumps, as there is always a better chance for the bowler to get an appeal for leg before wicket answered in his favour than when bowling from the other side. ”

“ But the evolution of the wicket has been very gradual, and the history of it is very obscure, since different types of wickets seem to have existed simultaneously. If early pictures are to be trusted, no wicket was required in primitive times: the striker was either caught out, or run out, the fieldsman having to put the ball into a hole scooped in the ground, before the batsman could put his bat into it. A single stump, it is supposed, was sometimes substituted for the hole to save collision between the bat and the fieldsman’s fingers. ”

“ But to throw hard at the wicket when there is no chance of running a man out is strongly to be condemned; it may produce an overthrow, and it is certain to inflict useless concussion on the hands of bowlers and wicket-keepers. No fieldsman is so apt to disregard this advice as the bowler; at least, it is a fact that many bowlers are particularly fond of returning the ball hard to the wicket after they have fielded it. It does not succeed in running a man out once in a thousand times, it often enables a run to be got by an overthrow, and it uselessly troubles the wicket-keeper. ”

“ Another wicket which is in the batsman's favour is a hard wicket wet on the surface. He can play forward on it as much as he likes with perfect safety, provided he looks out for balls that shoot or keep low. When the surface of a pitch is greasy with rain that has not made it in the very least soft, the ball is liable to skid along with extraordinary rapidity. It is rather amusing to hear what people say when, after a break of a few minutes owing to a shower, a player on resuming his batting is unfortunate enough to get out. ”

“ The sooner a wicket-keeper realises that he is what he is and not a long-stop, the better for his side. In order to hold catches and effect stumpings and runnings-out, a wicket-keeper must learn to take the ball, as we have said, cleanly and surely, and this as near the wicket as possible, standing so close that he can knock off the bails with ease, and so that the angle of deviation of a ball touched by the bat is as small as possible. The farther his hands are from the bat, the more will the ball have deviated from its original course. ”

“ Nowadays, if a ball is straight and the batsman misses it, it is a simple matter of cause and effect that the bails are sent flying and he is out. But with the wicket 2 feet wide, and no middle stump, this was by no means so inevitable. On the contrary, it must have been a very frequent occurrence for the ball to pass through the wicket without any disturbance of the timber. Even when the wicket was narrowed to 6 inches, there was still room for the ball to pass between the stumps, of which the fortune of the before-mentioned Small was a celebrated and flagrant instance. ”

“ But the change of tactics in not having a long-stop has had one effect that we regard as pernicious, and that is, that it has spoilt one part of the skill of wicket-keeping, and on the whole worked an enormous change for the worse in the fielding of short-slips generally. The longstop is not there, both wicket-keeper and short-slip are conscious of this, and they are aware that his place must be filled up by themselves. If a ball goes in the least to leg, even if it only just misses leg-stump, short-slip is usually to be seen backing up the wicket-keeper ”

“ It is instructive to notice that in the old days straight balls were considered the most difficult and dangerous, while those off the wicket were regarded as godsends to be promptly turned into runs; whereas now, batsmen delight in a straight bowler, and find it safer to hit straight balls than any others: it is the ball off the wicket that gives us most trouble.
The three changes in the style of bowling are landmarks in the history of cricket as a game of skill. The higher the arm is allowed to go, the greater the skill required in the batsman. ”

“ Here it is sufficient to remark that on slow wickets or dead wickets the ball comes slowly off the pitch, and therefore the commonest mistake on the batsmen's part is to hit too soon—that is, lift the ball—especially in playing forward; whereas mis-strokes behind the wicket are unlikely. Hence on such wickets the extra man, if there is one—that is, the man about whom there is some doubt as to whether he should be put in this place or that—should be in front of the wicket. ”

“ In England cricket is invariably played on turf wickets, but in the Colonies matting wickets are often employed, and sometimes matches have taken place on sand, earth and other substances. The oldest form of the game is probably single wicket, which consists of one batsman defending one wicket, but this has become obsolete, though it was very popular in the time when matches were played for money with only one or two, or perhaps four or five, players on a side. ”

“ Now it is no doubt an excellent thing to let no byes during a long innings, but it is far more excellent not to miss chances of getting men out. Unfortunately, under the influence of a widespread misconception as to the true criterion of good wicket-keeping, many wicket-keepers put before themselves as almost their sole object the preventing of all byes. They sacrifice all else to this, and consequently are always jumping about to stop balls to leg or on the off. instead of concentrating their attention upon taking the ball cleanly and surely near the wicket. ”

“ In like manner in back play the youngster puts his right leg up to his bat, and this is an innovation about which it may be said that cricket would be improved if it was no longer the fashion. In fact, the modern idea is that, failing the bat, the legs must protect the wicket; and we say most emphatically that this is against the spirit of the rules and practice of cricket. One hears a batsman who has been given out l.b.w. come away from the wicket and talk as if he were the victim of the greatest hardship. And why? Because he maintains that the ball pitched perhaps an inch off the off stump. ”

“ The "fiery" wicket has been included among those that favour the bowler, in spite of the fact that many large scores have been compiled upon such. At any rate, there is something to be done with the ball when, though apparently sound and true, the wicket has fire in it. The ball bumps and rises quickly; hence catches at the wicket or in the slips. Often, too, a good deal of break can be put on. Fast bowlers are generally very effective on wickets of this kind. ”

“ Many hundreds of times has a batsman standing in his ground prevented a wicket-keeper from catching him out; the mere fact that the player's body, being in a certain position, forces the wicket-keeper to run round him instead of straight at the ball will make an uppish ball as unreachable as the sun. The fieldsman is obstructed, but not wilfully, so no penalty is incurred. But if the batsman were to hit up a ball to point, for instance, and either strike at the ball with his bat or wilfully baulk the fieldsman in any way, he would be out, and deservedly so. ”

“ Umpires do not like being teased. Besides, appeals that are not bona fide are directly opposed to the spirit in which cricket should be played. The ball is not often taken cleanly on the leg-side, but when it is, it should be swept into the wicket at once, as most batsmen frequently drag their foot or jump about in playing to leg. It is not necessary to appeal every time the bails are knocked off. It is difficult to take leg-balls, so a young wicket-keeper is advised to pay more attention in his early practice to those that come over the wicket or slightly to the off. ”

“ A wicket that is greasy on the top does not cause the captain much difficulty. It is essentially a batsman's wicket, for it is in a way more true than one that is hard and dry. The ball keeps quite straight upon it, since it cannot possibly bite the ground, which offers the least possible frictional resistance. In addition to this, the bowler is probably much handicapped by the fact that the ball soon becomes wet and greasy itself, so that he cannot get a proper grasp of it to impart spin. ”

“ It is necessary in any work which professes to treat of cricket generally, that the laws and regulations of single wicket should be discussed, though the subject is not of much importance in these days; for, as far as first-class cricket is concerned, the game played with only one wicket has vanished altogether. Some few years ago, if an ordinary three-day match were over early, a scratch single-wicket match was sometimes improvised ”

“ That it is advantageous is regarded as an axiom of cricket. No one thinks of disputing it. A few considerations are sufficient to establish the point. The two chief are, that the side which goes in first is almost sure to get the best of the wicket, and that it is much easier to prevent runs than to make them. With regard to the first consideration, it is quite obvious that unless the weather plays tricks a wicket cannot but be truer and better in the first than in the second, and in the third than in the fourth, innings of a match. ”

“ On sticky or difficult wickets, in general, good slow or medium-pace bowlers are the most suitable, because they can bowl difficult balls with plenty of break, without sending down loose deliveries that give the batsmen chances of scoring without having to endanger their wickets. It is a great mistake to use a leg-break bowler much on a sticky wicket for this very reason. ”

“ Two quick active men, who are capable at times of bringing off smart one-hand catches, should be chosen for these places. They are by far the most likely men in the field to dismiss good batsmen on wet hard wickets; in fact, it is often difficult to see how two such batsmen are to be separated on these occasions except by a catch at one of these places, or at the wicket. A bowler should with this object keep bowling a good length on the off stump and just outside it, recollecting that good-length balls must pitch considerably shorter than usual on these very quick wickets. ”

“ As to the wicket, certain bowlers are more suitable than others on certain wickets. For instance, a fast bowler cannot do himself any justice unless he can get a foothold. He is best suited for hard wickets. On dead wickets slow bowlers are generally easy, because their deliveries come so slowly off the pitch that the batsmen can watch them. Medium-pace bowlers are the best upon dead and upon wet wickets, because they can generally manage to stand, and because they have enough pace to prevent the batsman stepping back and doing what he likes with good-length balls. ”

“ The wider the ball is, therefore, the more difficult it is to play as well as to reach. The mistake most beginners make in playing forward is that, no matter in what line the ball may be, they advance the left leg straight down the wicket. It will be found on experiment that if this is done, the wider the ball is from the wicket the more crooked will be the bat. Experience proves also that if the left leg be not thrown across so as to be almost in a line with the flight of the ball, there is a tendency to make an uppish stroke. ”