What Kind of Yard is Needed to Play or Practice Cricket?

Cricket is the national summer sport of England and is now played in many parts of the world, most especially in Australia, Pakistan, India, the British Isles, and the West Indies. Due to its popularity, a lot of people enjoy watching cricket games. In fact, some are even wagering with the hopes of winning money. If you want to try it, you can check this site for cricket betting.

The game of cricket is played with a bat and ball, and it involves two competing teams of 11 players. This sport is played in an oval field with a rectangular area in the middle, which is known as the pitch. There are wickets set in the ground at each end of the pitch, which are two sets of three sticks. And across the top, those wickets lie horizontal pieces called bails. The goal of each team is to break or hit the wicket with the ball so that the bails fall.

Professionally, cricket is played on a large grassy field. But if you want to try playing it casually or with your friends, you can also do it in parks or in your yard. To give you an idea, we are giving you information about what kind of yard is needed to play or practice cricket.

The Cricket Field

For professional games, such as national and international competitions, the game of cricket is played on a cricket field. It is a large grassy field that is generally oval in shape. But there’s also a wide variety within it. Some fields are almost perfect circles, others are elongated ovals, and some are entirely irregular shapes with little to no symmetry, but they will have entirely curved boundaries, almost without exception. There are actually no fixed dimensions for the field, but the diameter usually varies from 450 feet and 500 feet.

The game is unusual among major sports. That’s why there is no official rule for a fixed-shape ground for professional games. On most grounds, they just use a rope that demarcates the perimeter of the field, which is called the boundary. Within that boundary will be the square, which is generally as close to the center as possible. It is an area of carefully prepared grass where cricket pitches can be prepared and marked for the matches. The pitch is where the batsmen hot the bowled ball and run between the wickets to score runs, while the fielding team tries to return the ball to either wicket to prevent this.

For limited overs cricket games or also called one-day cricket, you will see additional field markings. A painted oval will be created by drawing a semicircle of 30 yards radius from the center of each wicket with respect to the breadth of the pitch. They will then be joined with parallel lines, which is 30 yards to the length of the pitch. This divides the filed into an infield and outfield. There are also two circles of 15 yards radius that are centered at the middle stump guard on the popping crease. These are marked by dots and define the close-infield. The outfield, infield, and close-infield are there to enforce fielding restrictions.  Be sure to check out great options like Western Sports Centre melbourne as well.

two men watching a game of cricket

Backyard Cricket

Just like any other sports, cricket can also be played casually and for fun. Backyard cricket can also be called street cricket and garden cricket. It is an informal variant of the game which can be played by people of all genders and ages in back yards, gardens, on the street, in parks, beaches, and other areas that are not specifically intended for the purpose.

Backyard cricket also has associations with the pastimes of South African, Australian, and New Zealander children who grew up in large backyards where they were able to play the informal game of cricket with their friends, family, and neighbors.

While backyard cricket is loosely based upon the game of cricket, there are many aspects that are improvised, including the playing ground. And most of the time, there are no teams at all. The players instead take turns at batting.

In backyard cricket, the pitch can be any stretch of ground that is reasonably flat. This means that you can play the game in the nearest park or in your backyard if you have enough space. In fact, garden and backyard cricket in South Africa and Australia is considered by a lot of people to be the pinnacle event of social and sporting excellence during summer. A lot of games are paired with barbecue, which often gives a carnival atmosphere. The game is extremely popular on Australia Day.

man playing cricket

Beach Cricket

Cricket can also be played on the beach. You can use the flat strip of hard-packed sand along the surf line as the pitch or by only bowling gentle full tosses to prevent the ball from bouncing off loose sand. If you cannot find true stumps around, you can use a bin, deckchair, boogie board, or a cooler as an alternative.

When you play beach cricket, the creases and the boundary are usually drawn in the sand in a line that extends well past the side of the agreed pitch to prevent them from being destroyed in the first over. Most of the time, the line needs to be redrawn. There are also times when the play is shifted along the beach to a new pitch as the packed sand of the original pitch is turned up. In beach cricket, the tide also plays a crucial part in the standard of the pitch. During low tide, the pitch is usually on the semi-wet sand, which is superior compared to cricket played in high tide.

These are some of the different places that you can play or practice cricket. It’s great to know that the game is not limited to be enjoyed only on a cricket field. So, if you are looking for a new sport to try with your friends and family, you can try to organize a game of cricket in your backyard or in the nearest park.