Cricket: The Batter Who Guards the Wicket

An introduction to cricket batting focused on defending the wicket: the batter guards the stumps with a vertical bat against bouncing deliveries. Students meet a sport hugely popular in the UK, India, Australia and many other countries.

How to play

1. Quick intro: the wicket is three stumps topped by two bails; the bowler delivers with a straight arm and the ball bounces before it arrives; the batter guards the wicket (3 min).
2. Groups of four or five per wicket: the bowler delivers from 10 m with one bounce; the batter blocks with a vertical bat, not trying to hit hard (6 min).
3. Block and push: as well as blocking, the batter guides the ball softly into the ground to one side (5 min).
4. Over challenge: six deliveries in a row; if the wicket is still standing, a point for the batter; each knockdown is a point for the bowler. Rotate roles (4 min).
5. Final rotation and clean-up (2 min).

Rules

• The batter stands beside the wicket, never in front of it blocking with the body.
• The bowler only bowls when the batter is set and says "ready."
• Everyone else waits behind the bowler or off to the sides at a safe distance.

Variations

Adaptations

• Students with low vision: a large bright ball and rolled deliveries they can hear.
• Wheelchair users: guard a lower wicket holding the bat with both hands from the chair.
• Hesitant students: start as the bowler or as the wicketkeeper, standing well back.

Learning goals

• Guard the wicket with a vertical bat.
• Read the ball's bounce.
• Learn about a bat sport from other cultures.

Equipment for a class of 25

• plastic cricket bats: 6
• tall cones: 18
• poles: 12
• tennis balls: 12

Teacher tip

No cricket bats? A large wooden paddle or a flat bat made from stiff cardboard works. Build the wicket from a tall cone with a pole laid across the top; knocking off the pole counts as a hit.

More main activities for Middle School