Message Board - Cricket: Wicket width
11 Feb 2010 by gary poyner Last edited 11 Feb 2010
I am wondering whether it is possible to cut wickets at 9ft as opposed to the traditional 10ft.
The reason is that in the past we have over-lapped wickets leading to lines sometimes down the line of the stumps. I want to do away with this practice.
We only have a small square yet the club play a lot of games (*every sat & sun, at least one youth game per week, and up to ten touring fixtures) . The new skipper also wants a grass wicket to practice on.
Cutting at 9ft would allow me to have 12 wickets, 10 for games and two on the end for practice.
Do others cut at 9ft?
11 Feb 2010 by Steve63
Last year I measured at nine feet but mowed out ten feet tracks. This gave me an extra wicket and overlap lines were to the edge of the track.
Regards
Steve
Don't talk to me about Contractors Wonka, I am one myself......
11 Feb 2010 by The Moose
I cut nine on my first square to gain another pitch last year, and will continue to do so, I believe Bath does the same
Perfect Preperation Prevents P*** Poor Pitches
11 Feb 2010 by Charles Johnson
The laws regarding the pitch state that it should be 10ft wide, taken to mean the closely mown strip.
The marking could be laid out at 9ft centres, provided you still cut a 10ft wide strip.
This does increase the risk of damage to the adjacent playing area from follow-throughs etc
11 Feb 2010 by Grassman2011
I do have some 10ft pitches now, but prior to my current employment all my pitches were cut 9ft wide, even for Minor County games. Never ever was it or has it been questioned.
Does not make it right Gary, but i would get on and do it. At worst, do as suggested above, pitch your centre stumps at 9ft centres but cut 10ft wide. As mentioned, any overlap is then restricted to the edge of the prepared pitch.
Nice to know that they now want to practive on it as well Gary !
12 Feb 2010 by vid
How much you move a pitch each time is up to you 10', 9', 8' ....it doesnt matter. How wide you cut the pitch does matter as the width of 10' is part of the rules of the game. I believe it is something to do with shadows falling on the playing area or encroachment or some such. You may notice that some televised games the groundsman has marked the width with dotted lines or a small line indicating the edge is put on with the 5' marks and the popping crease.
12 Feb 2010 by Grassman2011
I dot the edge of mine Vid, but thats only so that i might mow the edge in a straight line. I tried strings once but kept cutting it.
12 Feb 2010 by barry glynn
I was wondering about doing this but cosmetically, does it look a bit naff as you are using a small part of the width of a wicket on either side twice? I know its only six inches either side. Also the fact that the wickets have always been marked at 10ft, although the end of season work is scarified at 2 strips at a time, hold on Im losing the plot here. I men Id be moving the place where the centre stump would be wouldnt I? Therefore some of the slightly barer areas near the batsman would be brought into play if I moved to 9ft?
Another strip would be very usefull though
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
12 Feb 2010 by jlawrence
Bath, I once (and only once) tried putting dots down the edge - it just made it even more obvious that I'd not cut in a straight line.
I have in the past used 'half' tracks in order to squeeze another track in towards the end of the season but I've been lucky and never had to use 9ft tracks. I don't think that the slightly different colouring at the edges would make even the slightest bit of difference, but you must ensure that the final 'cut' track is 10 ft wide - that's written into the laws of cricket.
Of course there's no bounce, bend your back and put some bloody effort in.
12 Feb 2010 by Steve63
Gary, with regards to "practice strips" could you have 5 feet strips to practice on? It would focus the bowlers line and give you extra strips.
Regards
Steve
Don't talk to me about Contractors Wonka, I am one myself......
12 Feb 2010 by barry glynn
Steve
Now thats a thought. I have one dedicated practice strip for the first team, one strip in from the end of the square. For some reason unnknownn to me, its a belter but get knackered by August.
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
12 Feb 2010 by mario
In South Africa I saw them cutting a strip on the edge of the square for practice/warm ups which was the width of two cuts with their pitch mower. I would guess about 4 feet.
Their international side practiced on it quite happily.
I know no boundaries.
12 Feb 2010 by Steve63
I believe it is something that the groundsman at St Annes does, the groundsman at Hove may be able to confirm that! 
and something the groundsman at Blackpool is thinking of doing this year.
Regards
Steve
Don't talk to me about Contractors Wonka, I am one myself......
12 Feb 2010 by jlawrence
That strikes me a a d4mn fine idea for practicing - I think I'll float it passed our skipper next time I see him.
Of course there's no bounce, bend your back and put some bloody effort in.
12 Feb 2010 by barry glynn
Im going to try that this year on my practice strip, if they complain, Ill show them how easy it is to bowl straight! 
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
12 Feb 2010 by Steve63
The groundsman at Blackpool is also the coach and ex player, so if thinks it is a good idea, and he does, it should be worth considering.
Regards
Steve
Don't talk to me about Contractors Wonka, I am one myself......
12 Feb 2010 by barry glynn
Its seems a no brainer, the simple solutions often are arent they?
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
12 Feb 2010 by jontaylor
For early season practice I cut a practice strip about 10' wide but move the stumps side to side a little from week to week. Dead simple and the bowlers smash out a different foothole each time. You can then also move the stumps forward (never backwards) four feet and get another set of practice areas. After all, it's usually the footholes that wreck the practice track before the pitch marks do.
The ciderman rolls
12 Feb 2010 by mario
I had two events up here last year. Scotland v Canada in July with Scotland v Ireland some six weeks later.
The format for each event was - Practice Day (3 hour sessions at different times for each side), a 4-Day International, a practice day followed by two ODI's on consecutive days.
All in this related to 16 full-blown practice sessions per event which does not include the unscheduled sessions at the end of each day.
My strategy was to prepare two pitches together at the edge of the square cutting, rolling etc., as if it were one block thereafter moving the stumps as necessary to accomodate wear and tear repairing as and when required.
As soon as the first event was over the "block" was overseeded and brought back for the second event six weeks later.
Worked ok for me!
I know no boundaries.
12 Feb 2010 by supersonic
For practice wickets I only mow and prepare a 4 ft wide strip on the edges of our square, my auto roller is 4 ft so you are not wasting precious time. If the bowlers can`t pitch it in the 4ft strip they shouldn`t be out there, our cricket coach says it helps with the coaching on how and where to pitch the ball as its a more concentrated area.
12 Feb 2010 by barry glynn
Im going to have a crack and getting 2 wickets, 5ft wide, out of my only real practice strip.
3rd x1 captain put a request in for a practice track for the sat 3rd and 4ths on a Monday evening
I explained the logistics ( perhaps I shouldnt have used a difficult word) of only having 10 proper strips and how it wasnt on. he then asked me to cut them a strip on the outfield each week and this when we have spent 18k 4 years ago on 2 state of the art artificial nets!
Dont know how he gets to work on his own.
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
13 Feb 2010 by panch
I also cut at 9 ft gary and have had no problems with umpires or players. I also saw highlights of a 1 day international last winter which had only been cut to 9ft. I did a little research into it after seeing those highlights and it would seem it is a bit of a grey area and it is not illegal to cut the pitch narrow or only cut to the batting crease provided the pitch markings are correct.
13 Feb 2010 by barry glynn
Panch
How do you know the ODI had been cut to 9ft?
Dont know about your umpires but I had one come out with a taape measure last year and complain that I was an inch out with the restricted area markings! He then proceeded to let a left arm bowler run all over the track for 17 overs!
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
13 Feb 2010 by vid
Guys....... you had to make me go and look didnt you!!
http://www.lords.org/laws-and-spirit/laws-of-cricket/laws/law-7-the-pitch,33,AR.html
and
http://www.wcb.org.uk/WCB%20News%20Headlines/Maintentance%20of%20pitches%20doc.pdf
this last one shows the 5 foot mark with a return showing the correct width of pitch at 10'
13 Feb 2010 by Grassman2011
Is that it Vid, a return mark on the five foot mark showing the width of pitch ? I did not think there was anything to say a pitch had to be cut to ten feet, accepting of course that in the first class game at least they do.
I always used to cut and prepare all wickets at nine ft, i have both now, purely to get the most use out of the square. Ten, ten ft pitches, becomes eleven nine ft ones. An extra 10% use of the square. Massive to little clubs.
If anybody is still unsure, i would set the stumps at every nine feet and cut to ten, small overlap at the edge.
14 Feb 2010 by mario
Let us all cut our entire squares to pitch cut height then no-one will be any the wiser! LOL.
I know no boundaries.
14 Feb 2010 by Grassman2011
Like in the carribean Ken ? Now i know why they white dot the edge of the pitch.
14 Feb 2010 by barry glynn
The 10 ft requirement is because of fielding player encroachment I believe..
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
14 Feb 2010 by vid
Sorry guys I didnt make the rules they are there in the 2 different official sources I have given. Thats the size of the prepared area which , if you talk to the umpires, is the area short cut mown and rolled and indicated by either marks down the entire length or by a right angle return at the 5 foot marks. Personally I would also mark the popping crease as this can be put on your template and then moved 5 feet up between the return creases and used again to mark the 5 foot marks. I dont think many non county umpires would bother much if the pitch was not mown or marked to this extent, however I like good pitch scores and I try to avoid any reason to deduct a point.
14 Feb 2010 by vid
By the way Mario, you would still have to indicate where the edge of the pitch is. When we mowed a pitch a bit too wide - just a couple of inches, I was asked to put the dotted lines on down the whole length for a 3 day County 2s match, so it does get considered
14 Feb 2010 by barry glynn
I think I am going try 9 foot this season to nick another track. But dont fancy dotted lines everywhere and you do get marked down if 10 foot isnt clear so will just cut it.
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
14 Feb 2010 by mario
You're absolutely correct, Vid. You obviously appreciated that my post was tongue-in-cheek!
I know no boundaries.
14 Feb 2010 by barry glynn
Maths not my strong point but I ve worked out that if I do 13 x 9ft strips, it will give me a 13ft wide practice strip on track 14 and still have my other colts wicket on the end taking up the 140ft.
So unless Ive cocked up my calculations ( quite possible) I will gain an extra wicket plus have a 13ft wide practice strip whcih I can just shuffle the stumps across and hopefully get 3 practice strips albiet narrow.
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
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