Street cricket

Street cricket or backyard cricket, commonly referred to as Gully (Hindi:गली, meaning Alley) Cricket, is an informal version of the game of cricket.

It is played in many countries by people of all types and ages. It is played in gardens, back yards, on the street, in parks, car parks, beaches and other places. The rules get adapted to local conditions. They play with bat or bat like wood and use any kind of ball like plastic, sponge, paper and others. [1][2][3]

Overview

Street cricket sometimes uses rules from similar games, like baseball. For example, a batter who is out of his/her ground (safe area, like a base) can be touched by an opponent holding the ball to be tagged out,[4] or the opponent might put a foot on the wicket while holding the ball to run out a batter,[5] which is similar to a force out.

South American versions

Bete-ombro

Bete-ombro, also known as tacobol, bets, or pau na lata, is a Brazilian form of street cricket. There are two teams of two players, one which has the bat, and the other having the ball, and there are two wickets (often bottles). There are no 4s or 6s, and only the bat can be used to avoid runouts and stumpings. A player from one team throws the ball from one wicket to the other, while a player from the other team holding a bat stands at the other wicket. The batter can hit the ball and then run between the wickets to score runs, while his partner does the same but crossing him. If the ball is thrown at a wicket before a player from the batting team gets to it, then the teams swap.[6]

Plaquita

"La plaquita" or "la placa" is a similar game from the Dominican Republic. It involves two teams of two players, and two wickets (which can be license plates, known as "placas" in Spanish). Players from one team run between the wickets to score runs, but can't score anymore if the wicket is hit with the ball when that team's players are too far away from the wicket.[7]

Bat-en-bal

Bat-en-bal is played in Suriname, with only one set of stumps.[8][9]

References

  1. Glover, Richard. "The rules of backyard cricket". Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  2. Waugh, Steve. "Backyard cricket: the official rules (by Steve Waugh)". Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  3. JAYARAMAN, SUBASH (May 2015). "Taking it to the Streets". The Cricket Monthly. Retrieved Dec 7, 2016.
  4. "What cricket can learn from baseball's review system". www.espncricinfo.com. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  5. Mahajan, Gautam (2013-01-29). "The official rulebook of Galli cricket". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  6. "O Jogo de Bets: aprendizagem, regras e fundamentos". EFDeportes.com. Retrieved 2020-09-06.
  7. "DR1.com - Dominican Republic News & Travel Information Service". dr1.com. Retrieved 2020-09-06.
  8. "International Cricket Council". www.icc-cricket.com. Archived from the original on 2020-08-08. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
  9. Suriname. "Suriname - Paramaribo". www.suriname.nu (in Dutch). Retrieved 2020-09-10.