Wicket

From ArticleWorld

A wicket is a physical object used in the sport cricket, and can be found at each end of the cricket pitch. Batsmen protect the wicket with a variety of shots, but are instantly dismissed if a single bowl hit’s the wicket.

Definition

A wicket is made up of 3 vertical poles called stumps, which stand 28 inches high and collectively create a width of 9 inches with gaps between each. On top of the stumps sit two smaller horizontal poles which are known as bails. To get a batsman out the wicket must be struck and the bails must be removed, if the wicket is hit but the bails remain in tact then it does not count as a wicket. If the wicket is struck whilst the batsman are in the process of running or have for some reason strayed away from the creases, this counts as an instant dismissal. If for some reason the wicket is struck by someone on the fielding team and not the ball there can be no dismissal. This is most common when a wicket keeper attempts to stump the wickets, but strikes the bails with his gloves or another part of his body rather than the ball.

Alternative uses of ‘wicket’

Wicket is also used as a term in the colloquialisms of the sport of cricket. The phrase ‘wicket’ is used as a way of denoting when a player is out, a commentator may say that ‘the batsman has lost his wicket’ meaning that he has been dismissed by any means and not necessarily by way of having his wicket hit. Each dismissal is called a wicket and with the fall of each wicket the score is usually described something like ‘100 for 4 wickets’, which basically means 4 batsmen have been dismissed. The term wicket can also be used to describe the state of the pitch, phrases like ‘a sticky wicket’ refers to moisture on the pitch, rather than the literal physical wicket.