The three stumps and two bails together form a wicket. The stumps from the bottom end are pointy so that they can be placed into the ground. From the top end, the stumps have a groove so that the bails can be placed easily. The height of every stump is 28 inches and the bails are placed on the top. The bails need to be only 0.5 inche above the stumps. The width of the wicket should be 9 inches wide.
Present scenario
Nowadays the wicket does not only have wooden bails and stumps. The stumps are equipped with LED lights as well as a camera usually in the middle stump. The wooden bails have also been replaced by ‘Zing Bails’. These zing bails have red LEDs and are light when they are dislodged from the stumps.
History
The first time the set of three stumps was used was in 1775. When the first laws of the game were written in 1744 then only two stumps used to be placed with one very long bail at the top. It was the three deliveries by Lumpy Stevens that brought along the middle stump in May 1775.
Stevens in a game once bowled three deliveries that went between the two with the stumps and bail remaining intact. This meant that the batter remained not out and won the game for his team. After this game the third stump that is the middle stump was brought into the game. This meant that there was the addition of one more bail.
The first LED stumps were used during the 2013 edition of the Australian Big Bash League. The first time these stumps were used in an ICC event was in the 2014 World Twenty20 in Bangladesh. The founder of the LED wickets was Bronte Eckermann.
The push to modern technology comes at a heavy cost as the stumps that were used in the 2022 T20 World Cup cost around INR 24 lakhs and the bails cost around INR 50,000. So a wicket costs around INR 25 lakhs and as there are two sets of wickets the cost will be doubled and reach INR 50 lakhs. Even for players the introduction of LED stumps and bails hasn’t been great. Before LED stumps and bails used to be in the game of crickets players of the winning team used to collect the stumps after the match. MS Dhoni used to always make a point of collecting the stumps after a game.
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During the 2015 World Cup in Melbourne after winning the game against their arch-rivals Pakistan captain Dhoni was going to collect stump when he stopped by the umpire Ian Gould. Eckerman in 2014 said that he is afraid of Lasith Malinga’s Yorkers as they will break the stumps into two pieces.
Also Read: How much umpires are paid in Pakistan Super League (PSL)?
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