Why is a Cricket Pitch 22 Yards in Length?
According to Wikipedia and other definitions I stumbled upon on the web, it appears that the cricket pitch is set to “1 chain“. A chain is a unit of measurement popularly used in England and other English countries.
1 Chain = 22 yards = 66 feet = 100 links.
Although it make sense to have an easy memorable measurement term called “chain”, I still wonder why not 1.2 chains or 0.8 chains? Was a chain invented just for cricket? Or was it just convenient to use 1 chain? When the 22 yards is increased by even a yard, it makes a tremendous difference in the bowling speed and the angle, and complicates the ability of bowlers to pick up wickets. When the pitch size is reduced, it makes it harder for batsman to face the pace of the ball from deadly fast bowlers. Maybe during the invention of the game back in, some say, even the 13th century, the Englishmen perhaps tried with various measures and agreed to 1 chain. Wish they had a better historical record of those events.
It would be interesting to see what our readers think. Post your comment if you have other explanations.
Nice article. Good post
Is it measured with a metal chain?
Only kidding.
Then is the pitch longer in summer than in winter?
On the serious note,
I always wondered about the 22 yards. And it seems so optimal and appropriate.
Would be interesting to know if the the founder fathers of cricket experimented on different lenghths before settling for the 22.
Hello!
Very Interesting post! Thank you for such interesting resource!
PS: Sorry for my bad english, I’v just started to learn this language
See you!
Your, Raiul Baztepo
insignificant typo : 22yard = 66ft
Fixed. Thanks Vibe.
I always have an arguement with my friends that the standard length of a wicket is 22yards=66feet but they don’t agree. I guess this is bcoz when we play cricket near our houses we just count 22steps which is around 15-18yards.
The 66-foot surveyor’s chain was a standard surveying tool in the English empire going back many centuries. It forms the basis of many common units of measure in the English system (e.g. – one acre equals 10 X 10 chains, one mile equals 80 chains, etc.). In 1785 the United States made surveys performed with the chain the only legally acceptable method of measuring land. Nearly the entire US was subsequently measured and divided into units based upon 66 foot increments.
The use of the chain as the basis of the cricket pitch was a result of convenience. You’d be able to find a chain in every city and town in the empire so you could always obtain a chain and lay out a standardized field anywhere you wanted to. There was nothing magical about it’s use for the cricket pitch. It just happened to be the easiest way to standardize the field all around the world.
(Note that American baseball field is also based on the chain for essentially the same reasons.)