Wicket (cricket)

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In the sport of cricket a wicket is a set of 3 stumps and 2 bails at the end of the pitch. The wicket is guarded by a batsman who, with his bat, attempts to prevent the ball from hitting the wicket.

When a bowler is able to dismiss a batsman he is said to have taken his wicket and the bastman has then lost his wicket. The number of wickets taken is the primary measure of a bowler's ability.

The origin of the word is from the standard definition of wicket as a small gate since the original cricket wicket had only two stumps and one bail and looked like a gate.

The word wicket is also used to mean the pitch but this is technically incorrect (see laws of cricket). The term sticky wicket comes from a situation in which rain has dappened the pitch. This makes the path of the ball more unpredictable thus making the job of defending the stumps that much more difficult.