Wicket (sport)

Wicket or wicket ball was an American bat-and-ball game similar to cricket played up until the 1800s.[1][2][3]

For other uses, see Wicket (disambiguation).

George Washington played it once.[4]

Rules

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 a day. [5]

The creases that batters had to run across to score runs were called "Tick Marks", scoring a run (cricket) (which happened when the batters crossed each other and to the other wicket) could be called a "cross", and the cricket pitch where the ball was bowled was called an alley. Run outs were known as "ticking [out]" the batter.[6] In some forms of wicket, a batter could be out LBW if the ball hit them on the body (known as a "sham" or "shinning") thrice under certain circumstances.[7]

References
  1. https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/the-old-time-game-of-wicket-c3c40f2e0b8e"Wicket is a vanished game that for more than a century was the dominant game of parts of New England, notably Connecticut, and the Western Reserve, extending to Ohio and what is now termed the Midwest. Not baseball and not cricket, it may be understood as a primitive form of cricket, one no longer played in England by the middle of the 18th century."
  2. https://www.ctexplored.org/the-old-connecticut-game-of-wicket/"Wicket, or wicket ball, was a popular bat-and-ball game played by Americans in the years before baseball. Wicket lacks a definitive origin, though most historians of the game believe it developed from some early form of cricket imported to New England. "
  3. https://www.wethersfieldhistory.org/articles/wethersfields-glorious-baseball-history/
  4. https://blog.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org/?p=627"On two occasions in May, 1778, soldiers stationed at Valley Forge recall playing wicket. The latter game involved George Washington himself, who played wicket with his men after dining with General Henry Knox. "
  5. https://www.wnpr.org/post/there-was-baseball-there-was-wicket"But there are big differences between cricket and wicket, starting with the wicket itself. In the game of wicket, the wicket was long: six feet, and low, only inches above the ground, making it easy for the bowler or pitcher to knock the wicket off its stumps. But the wicket batsmen had an answer to the long exposed wicket: a big paddle-like bat that resembled an oversized spoon. Another big difference was the duration of the game. With as many as 30 people fielding the ball, and only three innings, a wicket game can wrap up in an afternoon, unlike cricket matches that can last for days."
  6. https://www.friendsofvintagebaseball.org/PDF/wicket.pdf
  7. https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/an-old-yankee-ball-game-1231b6983086"The “sham” was when a player dropped on his knees before the wicket and, failing to hit the ball, blocked it with his thighs. It wasn’t an attitude that allowed hard hitting, but it tired out the best bowlers. This plan drove the opponents of the “sham” team to their wits’ end [...] subsequently a new rule, “three shams out,” broke up a practice which, if continued, would have wrecked the sport."
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