Back Garden Cricket
From ARFOPEDIA
Back Garden Cricket is a popular summer activity for bored students who often jump on the cricket bandwagon whenever it looks like England might win something. Poor imitation of the Australian game 'Back Yard Cricket'.
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[edit] Equipment
The Ball Like corridor cricket, a tennis ball is usually the ball of choice, although some more committed players may opt for a real cricket ball. This allows for the use of swing and spin deliveries, although the extent of these is often limited by the size of the garden, and the frequency that the balls are hit over the fence.
The Bat For back garden cricket the bat is usually taken from a children's play set bought on the cheap from Toys'R'Us or similar. These bats are obviously smaller than proper cricket bats and, as such, it sometimes proves more difficult to consistently hit the ball. It does however allow for enormous satisfaction when you slog a delivery for six over the roof of the house.
Stumps The stumps are often taken from the same children's play set as the bat, if such an item is used. Dustbins, plant pots or Little Brothers are also acceptable alternatives.
[edit] Rules
Rules can vary depending on the size of the garden. In larger gardens a game can quite closely resemble a real cricket match, with nudges for quick singles often the preferred option when the field is spread (ie, the other fielder is at long-on expecting the slog). In small gardens running between wickets is usually dismissed, and runs are made up entirely of fours (ball travelling to the garden fence along the ground) and sixes (ball hitting fence on the fly or arrogantly soaring over the roof of the house into the road beyond, occasionally causing car accidents). If a ball is hit over the fence into a neighbour's garden, six runs are awarded but the batsman's wicket is forfeit.
[edit] Bowling styles
- Pace - similar to corridor cricket in that, on shorter wickets, you can beat the batsman for pace simply for the fact that the ball is already past him by the time he can react to it. In larger gardens pace bowling is more of a skill, and less talented bowlers often hilariously send the ball in all directions in their attempt to unsettle the batsman.
- Swing - somewhat easier when there is a strong crosswind to assist the movement of the ball through the air, although can yield even more hilarious results than pure pace bowling in the hands of uncoordinated morons.
- Spin - due to the uneven, unpredictable garden surfaces the game is usually played on, spin bowling can simultaneously be the most effective way of getting wickets due to comedy bounces, or being smashed out of the garden due to the lack of comedy bounces.
