Tony Becca - FROM THE BOUNDARYTO THOSE who love cricket, there is nothing like the sweet sound of bat hitting ball.
Sometimes, however, that sound is few and far between, not because of the skill of the bowler, or lack of skill by the batsman but instead the pitch.
On a good pitch, an easy paced pitch with a nice, even bounce, the sound of bat hitting ball will go on and on throughout the day.
However, on a bad pitch of variable bounce and vicious movement, the sound of bat hitting ball will be few and far between. Instead of attempting to strike the ball, batsmen will be busy fighting for survival in a bid to protect their wicket.
Listening to some commentators, writers and spectators these days, there is no such thing as a pitch. As far as they are concerned, and they include some of the greatest players the world has seen, the pitch is the wicket and no one can convince them otherwise.
That is a pity for the simple reason that just as how the batsman is not the bowler or the bowler the batsman, the popping crease is not the bowling crease or the bowling crease the popping crease, the wicket is not the pitch and should not be called so.
The pitch, as set out in the laws of the game, is something different, very different, from the wicket.
Law 7 deals with the pitch: "The pitch is a rectangular area of the ground 22 yards in length and 10 ft in width. It is bounded at either end by the bowling creases".
UMPIRES THE FINAL JUDGES
Law 8 deals with the wickets: "Two sets of wickets shall be pitched opposite and parallel to each other at a distance of 22 yards. Each set shall be nine inches wide and shall consist of three wooden stumps with two wooden bails on top. The top of the stumps shall be 28 inches above the playing surface".
The pitch is not the wicket, and according to the law, this is obvious. Law 7 goes on to say "the umpires shall be the final judges of the fitness of the pitch for play", and "before the match, the ground authority shall be responsible for the selection and preparation of the pitch", and that "during the match, the umpires shall control its use and maintenance".
Law 8 goes on to say, among other things pertaining to the wickets, "umpires must check that the wickets are aligned from end to end and parallel to each other", and "the stumps are driven firmly into the ground".
Although the pitch is commonly called the wicket, the wicket is not the pitch.
When a batsman, for example, is defending his wicket, he is not defending the rectangle of 22 by 10 yards before him. He is defending the three stumps and the two bails behind him.
When he loses his wicket, that is what he has lost, not the clay that is watered and rolled and sometimes trimmed in an effort to provide a surface on which, if he is good enough, he can cut, hook, pull and drive and send the sweet sound of bat hitting ball echoing around the ground.
