Do you know how cricket wickets originated?
Love it or hate it, no Indian can avoid cricket. It’s an old game, believed to have begun as early as the 13th century in England. Country boys, mainly the sons of farmer, bowled at tree stumps or the gate of enclosures where sheep were kept. These gates were usually made with two upright sticks held in pace by two horizontal sticks. The boys tried to throw a ball (which was a stone) through the square gap of the sticks into the sheep pen. The bat was a crude piece of wood, something between a shovel and a hockey stick. By 1706, this evolved into cricket, complete with 22 yards of pitch. But we have 3 wickets, not 2. When did that happen? Let’s find out.
Wickets and 2 famous 18th century cricketers
The story of wickets revolves around John Small and Edward Stevens, regarded as the greatest batsman and bowler of the 18th century. Stevens was nicknamed Lumpy, and everyone called him that. They were not just good cricketers, but also brainy men who introduced certain technical changes in the game.
Small was the first batsman to popularise the straight bat. He pointed out that this shape gave more force and accuracy in hitting balls. Lumpy realised that the cricket ball turns as it flies. Before him, bowlers rolled the ball on the ground. Lumpy discovered that he could make the ball fly, and that flight could be controlled by the throw to decide the landing.
The third wicket was a result of a match between these two ace cricketers.
All about the match that started 3 wickets
On May 23, 1775, a match was played at the Artillery Ground in Finsbury, between Five of Kent and Five of Hambledon. This was a common format at that time, mainly because getting 11 good players together was not easy. Small was batting and Lumpy was bowling. By some strange urn of fate, Lumpy’s ball passed three consecutive times through the gap in the two wickets behind Small, who remained not out.
This made Lumpy disappointed and angry, and Small’s team won. Lumpy complained to the patrons of cricket and suggested that a third wicket is required. The cricket authorities of the day were English noblemen, many of whom were batsmen. Though they did not agree to begin with, they finally gave in. The 3 stump wicket was declared an option. Teams could choose to play 2 or 3 stump according to ability. In time, the 3 stump wicket became standard. And it was all because of Edward Lumpy Stevens.