Wicket Rules
RULES OF THE GAME OF WICKET.
1st. – The ball shall be from 3 ¾ to 4 inches in diameter and weigh from 9 to 10 ounces.
2d. – The wickets shall be 75 feet apart.
3d. – The wickets shall be six feet long.
4th. – The tick marks shall be six feet from the wickets.
5th. – The ball shall strike the ground on or before it reaches the center, to be a bowl.
6th. – The bowler must start from behind the wicket and pass over it in bowling.
7th. – The bowler shall be within ten feet of the wicket, when the ball leaves his hand.
8th. – A throw or jerk, is in no case a bowl, but the arm in bowling must be kept perfectly straight.
9th. – In ticking, the bowler must stand astride or back of the wicket striking it off from the inside, retaining the ball in his hand.
10th. – When the bowler has received the ball, it shall be bowled by him before it is passed to the other bowler.
11th. – The striker shall in no case molest the ball when it is being thrown in, so as the hinder the bowler from ticking him out.
12th. – There shall be no crossing the alley when the ball is being bowled.
13th. – There shall be no unnecessary shinning.
14th. – In catching, flying balls only are out. A ball caught before striking any other object but the catcher is out.
15th. – In crossing, the striker shall tick his bat down on or over the tick. Mark to have a cross count except when caught or ticked out.
16th. – No striker shall strike a ball more than once except in defense of his wicket, neither shall he stop the ball with his bat and then kick it.
17th. – No one shall get in the way of a striker to prevent his crossing freely.
18th. – Lost ball may have four crosses run on it.
19th. – No one but the judge may cry “no bowl”.
from Bristol, Connecticut: In the Olden Time New Cambridge; 1907, page 294-305.
