Wicket

Wickets are a fascinating things. Three stumps that form an integral part of Cricket. It is really intriguing how many different forms of wickets are in common uses today, thanks to the imagination of the youngsters. The official wickets, made of willow wood, are too expensive for common use. So the ordinary street cricketers all over India have adapted the wicket according to their own needs and their resources

Well, the most common form of wickets used by street cricketers is the wicket drawn on the wall by chalk or brick. Almost anywhere you go in India, you will surely come across walls covered with wickets of all shapes and sizes. I have often played with such wickets for we could not afford the real one.

The next most common form of wickets is the one made by pilling bricks one over the other. This is used mostly in open spaces and in the middle of the street. But the thing is that when the wicket falls, it takes time to set it up again. Also, there is the possibility of the bricks breaking. So, when the cricketers are more resourceful, they lay their hands on plastic cartons used for the transport of milk or cold drinks and pile them up to make a wicket. This has the advantage of less fragility. Wicket is also denoted by two pieces of bricks or slippers placed a little apart. This leads to a lot of confusion and fights.

Another form that I am very familiar with is the tree trunk. You choose a tree trunk and then just mark off the height of the wicket with a chalk or by any sort of marking. This often leads to confusion in the game. Serious debates arise about the authenticity of the batsman getting out when the ball hits the side of the trunk. From my experience, this sometimes leads to fist fights. Bamboos being available in plentiful in this country, some also fashion wickets out of them. Chairs are also used as wickets. We used them when we played Cricket in the balcony of our residence in college.

Laying your hands on a true trio of wickets is like a dream to most street cricketers. The wickets I have been talking about was the wicket for the batsman. Street cricketers use only a single piece of brick, slippers or anything else available to denote the wicket of the bowler. I will not say that I have enjoyed playing Cricket any less due to the absence of official wickets, and even though they were a fantasy, I never missed them. Actually, playing Cricket was more fun without the official wickets due to the various debates and arguments and the occasional fights that broke out as a result. Wickets – such an intriguing thing!