What is a wicket?

A metal practice wicket

The City of Victoria is well-known for its English traditions inherited from the Empire that colonized this region of Canada. As a result, hints of Britain pop up everywhere, despite locals not necessarily understanding their significance. I bring this up because of the word "wicket", which I've encountered numerous times at a very popular pub/restaurant in town and never connected to anything material.

Do you know what a wicket is?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a "wicket" is: A set of three sticks called stumps, fixed upright in the ground, and surmounted by two small pieces of wood called bails, forming the structure (27x8 in) at which the bowler aims the ball, and at which (in front and a little to one side of it) the batsman stands to defend it with the bat...

This week's cricket experience almost didn't happen. I almost didn't see a wicket up close and personal.

First, a little something we in Canada call the Stanley Cup Final cancelled the cricket games. Then, my friend hauled me out to Saanich for a team practice, only to find an empty field and a miniature horse. Luckily my friend is a good sport and he spent an hour teaching me some of the cricket basics.

We stood in the middle of the field and he showed me how to swing the cricket bat and explained the different ways to get out. I'm not a baseball player, but my basic knowledge of America's "favourite past time" helped me get a feel for cricket.

Here are some of the basics I learned this week:

1. There are 11 players on one team
2. There is a bowler (or what in baseball we call a pitcher)
3. There is a wicketkeeper (known to most of us as a catcher)
4. The field is a circle, with the "pitch" in the middle of the field for the batsman, bowler, and wicketkeeper

After my lesson this week, I think I better understand why Tricia told me I could have found a game with more complicated rules. More like, could there be more diverse names, positions, and rules?!

Next week I think I might be participating in a game. We'll see if this week's one-on-one sunk in.

I wasn't kidding... there was a mini horse!