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Wicket orwicket ball was a historical Americanform ofcricket 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 theRevolutionary 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 popularbat-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 ofConnecticut.[5][9]
Wicket used awicket 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]
Thecreases that batters had to run across to score runs were called "Tick Marks", scoring arun (which happened when the batters crossed each other running to the other wicket) could be called a "cross", and thecricket 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 resemblingleg before wicket if the ball hit them on the body (known as a "sham" or "shinning") thrice under certain circumstances.[11]