Wicket (sport)

Wicket or wicket ball was a historical American form of cricket played until the late 19th century.^[2][3][4]

Wicket came to America from England most likely during the late 17th century.^[5] George Washington playing a match in 1778 during the Revolutionary War,^[6][7] the sport was regularly played by soldiers as a way to maintain physical health.^[8]

The 19th-century rise in popularity of baseball, which had a far shorter playing duration than contemporary forms of cricket, saw cricket’s decline as the most popular bat-and-ball sport of America. In response, cricket fans sought new ways to keep the sport relevant; with wicket pursued as a shorter and higher-scoring version of cricket. Rejected by many traditional cricket fans, the turn of the 20th century saw wicket disappear even from its stronghold of Connecticut.^[5][9]

Wicket used a wicket which was much wider and shorter than a cricket wicket, and a bat that resembled a spoon. There were up to 30 fielders and 3 innings, making the game finish in an afternoon.^[5]

The creases that batters had to run across to score runs were called "Tick Marks", scoring a run (which happened when the batters crossed each other running to the other wicket) could be called a "cross", and the cricket pitch where the ball was bowled was 75 feet (23 m) long^[5] and called an alley. Run outs were known as "ticking [out]" the batter.^[10] In some forms of wicket, a batter could be out in a way resembling leg before wicket if the ball hit them on the body (known as a "sham" or "shinning") thrice under certain circumstances.^[11]

• Town ball
• Old cat

• Chronology:Wicket - Protoball