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Incricket, asight screen is an apparatus, often comprising wooden or poly-carbonate slats, orcloth sheeting, on a large frame made of wood or another material, that is positioned alongside thecricket field to provide thebatters a clear view of the bowler'sdeliveries, such that distractions including spectators do not disturb the batter.
Typically, two sight screens are actively deployed on a field during live play, each positioned a short distance behind theboundary rope.[1][2] From the perspective of abatter facing a delivery on thepitch, one sight screen is directly past thebowler's end, or at the straight boundary, while the other is directly behind the batter, or at the long stop boundary.[3]
In limited overs matches such asOne Day Internationals orTwenty20 Internationals, which are usually played with awhite ball, the sight screen is usually black, or otherwise dark. InTest matches, in which a red or pink ball is used for play, the sight screen is usually white.[4]
Sight screens have, on occasion, not been large enough to entirely cover the critical area for the batsman to effectively view the bowler's delivery.Groundskeepers may make such decisions to allow for more spectators into the ground. Similarly, sight screens have in the past been used fordisplay advertising, compromising their darkness (in limited overs matches) or whiteness (in Tests). On such occasions, batting sides have often expressed frustration, especially if particular batters experienced difficulty in effectively seeing the ball during a fast bowler's delivery.Jacques Kallis lost a wicket to anAndrew Flintofffull toss atEdgbaston Cricket Ground under these circumstances duringSouth Africa's tour of England in 2008, an incident that triggered much debate at the time.[5] In today's game, advertising inICC-sanctioned Test matches is only allowed on the sight screen behind thewicket-keeper, so that it must be removed every other over and then replaced again after the next over is played from the other end.[6]
The sight screen serves a similar function to thebatter's eye inbaseball.[7]
