Keep wicket
Ready when: Catch and field (b4) done.
What you are learning
Wicketkeeping: crouching behind the stumps and catching every ball the batter misses, staying low until the ball bounces and catching with soft hands. Keepers also take high catches and stump batters.
Words on this card Stumps, Batter, Wicketkeeper, Over, Off side, Half-volley
- Stumps
- The three upright sticks at each end, with two small bails on top. A bucket can stand in for them.
- Batter
- The player with the bat.
- Wicketkeeper
- The fielder who crouches behind the batter's stumps and catches the balls the batter misses.
- Over
- Six balls bowled by one bowler.
- Off side
- The two halves of the field. For a right-handed batter the off side is to the right of the bowler's view, the side the batter faces; the leg side is behind the batter's legs.
- Half-volley
- A ball that bounces just in front of the batter or the keeper.
Set up
A tennis ball; a large cone as the stumps; a bat; a wall.
Weather: dry ground
Show it first for the one teaching
- Crouch behind the cone, feet a shoulder-width apart, weight on the front of the feet.
- Hands down near the ground, little fingers together, palms open toward the ball.
- Stay low until the ball bounces, then rise with it and let the hands give as you catch.
Your part while they practise
Bounce half-volleys from 12 m; lob high balls.
Step by step
- Crouch behind the cone, hands down, palms open.
- 10 half-volleys down the off side, 10 down the leg side.
- High balls over the head: turn, call, sprint, catch. 10.
- Wall: catch angled bounces off a wall from 5 m.
How much: 10 of each, then wall catches 15 min a session 2 days a week
Say one thing Pick one line from "What you will see" for today and say only that.
The game: Stumping
The ball is bounced off a bat on the ground; the keeper stays low, catches it and completes the stumping.
Who plays: 2 to 4: a feeder and a keeper; swap after 6 balls.
How to play, turn by turn
- Turns
- Lay a bat face down about 3 m in front of the cone
- The feeder throws the ball to bounce off the bat, so the bounce is hard to guess
- The keeper stays low, catches it and touches the cone with the ball in the hand: a stumping
- 6 balls each, 3 rounds
- Fair play
- A younger keeper gets gentler, straighter feeds.
- Points
- 1 point for a clean catch; 1 point for a stumping with the ball still in the hand.
- Fouls
- No points for that ball
- Standing up before the bounce
- Snatching at the ball and dropping it
- Touching the cone without the ball in the hand
- Winning
- More points after 3 rounds each.
- 4 points for 1 star
- 7 points for 2 stars
- 10 points for 3 stars
Easier or harder
Gentle, straight feeds.
Start face down or kneeling for high balls.
What you will see, and what to say
- the keeper stands up early
Stay low until it bounces
Rise with the ball, not before it. - snatching
Soft hands, give with it
The hands move back as the ball arrives. - not calling
Call it, then go
A loud call before running for a high ball.
Self-check
8 of 10 half-volleys taken cleanly each side.
Stop and get a coach when
Finger pain; use proper gloves with a hard ball.
Fitness for this
Warm up first: how to warm up, at workonfitness.com. For strength and stretching, its exercise library shows each exercise step by step, with an easier version.
This card trains wicketkeeping, catching.
awiseathlete.com/sports/cricket/cricket-i5