Cricketing Terms 4

Wicket
This actually has three meanings.
1. Three wooden stumps, 9" (23cm) in total width, 28" (71cm) long (above ground) and with two bails atop. This is a 'wicket'. There are two wickets, placed 22 yards (20.12m) apart.
2. The area of the pitch between the wickets, 22yds long, 10' (3m) wide, is also called the 'wicket'. It is against the rules for bowler or batsman to run "ON" the wicket (it makes a mess if you are playing on grass).
3. If a batsman is "out" he is said to have "lost" his "wicket". When ten "wickets" have been lost, the innings is over. Also refers to how many dismissals a bowler has claimed.
This is a break taken about 4 o'clock in the afternoon of any day of a two innings match, or between innings of a one innings match which begins after 1 p.m. Cucumber sandwiches & hot strong tea all round. Love it.

Greg Chappell instigated the underarm bowling incident in the New Zealand–Australia One Day International on Feb 1st 1981. Chappell, the captain, ordered his brother Trevor Chappell, to bowl underarm along the ground to the New Zealander Brian McKechnie, thus ensuring the Australian team would win the match and avoid a tie. The New Zealand Prime Minister said it was "the most disgusting incident I can recall in the history of cricket", the Australian Prime Minister said it was "contrary to the traditions of the game", and the Chappells' decision was universally condemned. Both brothers have expressed regret and embarrassment over the incident.

There are two umpires involved at this level of cricket; they are the poor souls whose job it is to keep count of the balls and overs bowled, turn a deaf ear to the appeals make terrible decisions about who is and isn't out, and basically keep all the hotheads on the pitch under control. No easy task, trust me.
The 'main' umpire stands directly behind the wicket at the end from which the bowler is bowling, and the second umpire stands at “Square Leg” - hence the title "Square Leg Umpire".
Underarm