CRICKET 



1635 



CRICKET 



sides, consisting of eleven players each. At a 

 distance of twenty-two yards apart two wickets 

 are erected. These wickets corfsist of three 

 stumps, twenty-seven inches in height, with 

 two pieces of wood, called bails, placed across 



Long Slip 



Short Slif 

 Third Man 



Cover Point 

 Point 



Long Leg 







Wicket Keeper 



"Batsman 



Mid Off 



, HLBatsman 

 Bowler* * 



Umpire 



Mid On 



Long Field 



THE CRICKET FIELD 



the top. The stumps are placed sufficiently 

 near each other to prevent the ball, which 

 weighs five and one-fourth ounces, from pass- 

 ing between them. 



How the Game Is Played. The two sides 

 determine by lot which shall take the bat, and 

 which shall field. The fielding sides are placed 

 in positions most suitable for stopping or 

 catching the ball when struck by a batsman. 

 Two men with bats are posted, one to each 

 wicket. The bat is thirty-six inches in length, 

 twenty-two inches being taken up by the blade, 

 which is four and one-half inches wide. The 

 handle, about the thickness of the handle of 

 a baseball bat, is fourteen inches long and 

 made of pieces of cane spliced together. Two 

 umpires are appointed, one standing near each 

 wicket, to watch the game and give decisions 

 when appealed to. Unlike baseball, the rules 

 of cricket demand that no umpire shall call a 

 man out or give any decision except in answer 

 to a direct appeal. The bowler, or pitcher, as 

 he might be called, takes the ball and bowls 

 it against the wicket opposite him, in front 



of which stands a batsman. The object of the 

 bowler is to make the bail hit the stumps, 

 which the batsman defends by merely stopping 

 the ball with his bat or by driving it into a 

 distant part of the field. 



The umpire, standing near the bowler, counts 

 the balls delivered. When that number reaches 

 six he calls, "over." Then the bowler at the 

 other end takes the ball and the game pro- 

 ceeds in the same way. A batsman is "out" 

 (1) if the bowler delivers a ball which passes 

 his bat and strikes the wickets; (2) if he 

 strikes a ball and it is caught on the fly; 

 (3) if while he runs from wicket to wicket the 

 ball is thrown to the base, as it were, and the 

 stumps are disturbed before he reaches safety. 

 He may also be put out if he leaves, for any 

 purpose, a certain portion of ground in front 

 of his wicket, marked off by white lines called 

 creases. The creases also serve as a box for 

 the bowler. If the ball is delivered from out- 

 side the crease the batting side may claim a 

 penalty of one run. Runs are made by the 

 batsmen, running backward and forward be- 

 tween the wickets after a ball has been struck. 

 Also it is possible to score runs if the wicket 

 keeper, who acts as the "catcher," standing 

 behind the batter, fails to stop a ball that has 

 passed the bat without disturbing the wicket. 

 The wicket keeper protects his legs with pads 

 and his hands with gloves. The batsmen do 

 likewise, but those in the field, whether infield 

 or outfield, must catch or stop the ball with 

 their bare hands. 



If a batsman places any part of his person 

 in front of the wicket, allowing a ball which 

 would otherwise have hit the stumps to hit 

 him, he may be declared out. When all the 

 batsmen of one side have been declared out, 

 the opposing side takes the bat. A complete 

 game consists of two innings for each side; 

 whichever scores the largest number of runs 

 is declared the victor. The game is so slowly 

 played that it is seldom possible to complete 

 the two innings in the time allotted; in this 

 event the game is usually awarded to the 

 highest score in one inning. In important 

 matches such as those between counties, three 

 days are allowed for a game to insure its com- 

 pletion. 



Ethics of Cricket. The utmost ceremony is 

 observed in the progress of the game. The 

 opponents must be given fair play, and noth- 

 ing whatever that could put a player off his 

 game or embarrass him would be tolerated. 

 Many appeals have been, made to the leading 



