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In the sport of cricket, the term stump has three different meanings:
Part of the wicket
The stumps are three vertical posts which support two bails. The stumps and bails are usually made of wood, and together form a wicket at each end of the pitch. The overall width of each wicket is 9 inches (22.9 cm).
Each stump is 28 inches (71.1 cm) tall with maximum and minimum diameters of 1 inches (3.81 cm) and 1 inches (3.49 cm). They have a spike at one end for hammering into the ground, and the other end is domed with groove to provide a resting place for the bails.
Each stump is referred to by a specific name:
- Off stump is the stump on the off side of the wicket (the same side as the batsman's bat).
- Middle stump is the stump in the middle of the wicket.
- Leg stump is the stump on the leg side of the wicket (the same side as the batsman's legs).
In modern professional play, the stumps are often emblazoned with a sponsor's logo. Although they are too far away from spectators to be seen, such logos are visible on television coverage.
For professional matches, often one or more of the stumps is hollow and contains a small television camera. This is aligned vertically, but can view through a small window on the side of the stump via a mirror. The so-called stump-cam gives a unique view of play for action replays, particularly when a batsman is bowled.
Manner of dismissing a batsman
End of the day's play
Stumps is used as a term to mean the end of a day's play, e.g. "The umpires called stumps" means that the umpires declared play over for the day. At the end of a session, i.e. before lunch or tea, the umpires will remove the bails; at the end of the day's play, the umpires will remove the stumps.
See also
"Stump (cricket)"