Cricket rules hit sticky wicket, so here's ours  By Heather
McCracken  A New Zealand tourism body, in a survey of more than
1000 people, has established the generally accepted rules of
backyard cricket.  It seems to me that having the rules defined
like that sort of defeats the point - one of the best things
about backyard or beach cricket is that the rules can and should
be negotiated according to conditions and location.  For
instance, if you've got a neighbour with a nasty dog then you
ban any shots that might send the ball in that direction.  If
you need to even up the odds between players, you give the
younger kids several "outs" before they have to leave the
wicket, but more experienced players have to bat with one hand
behind their back.  The rules set out by Tourism Bay of Plenty
contradict themselves too - if you get bat to ball you have to
run, but running between wickets is optional?  Where else would
you run?  For your information though, should you need it in the
backyard this summer, here's Tour