What are the different meanings of the word ‘wicket’ in Cricket?

What are the different meanings of the word ‘wicket’ in Cricket?

Surprisingly, in cricket the word ‘wicket’ is used in different contexts.

Wicket is either of the two targets at which the ball is bowled. The batsman defends it with his bat. Each wicket is made up of three stumps fixed to the ground, and tow bails are placed on top of it. The whole structure measures 28 inches (71.1 cms) high by 9 inches (22.86 cms) wide. The two wickets are opposite and parallel to each other and have a distance of 22 yards (20.12 mts) between the centres of the two middle stumps. The ball is bowled from one wicket, which is the bowler’s wicket, to the other one which is the batman’s wicket. After each ‘over’, the bowler’s and batsman’s wickets interchange.


The term wicket is also used to denote the area of the ground in between the two sets of stumps. This measures 22 yards (20.12 mts) and 10 feet (3.04 mts) wide.


Wicket is also something that the batting side tries to keep, and which the fielding side attempts to take. While the batsman is in, the wicket remains ‘standing’ and when he is out or dismissed, the wicket ‘falls’ or is ‘taken’. When ten of its eleven wickets fall, a team is ‘all out’ and the ‘innings’ is completed.