Free Standing Cricket Wicket with Flexible or Detachable Stumps

Abstract

A free standing cricket wicket deployable without penetrating a playing surface is described. In a preferred embodiment, the wicket has three stumps that mimic the behavior of traditional cricket stumps. The stumps are movably joined to a support-mount so that when a ball strikes a stump with sufficient velocity, the stump moves sufficiently to dislodge a bail. A sufficient velocity is one greater than 10% of the maximum velocity typically achieved in a game. The mechanism may also be a detachable mechanism, configured so a ball travelling with sufficient velocity strikes a stump, the stump separates from the mount. A sufficient velocity for this may be a velocity equal to half the maximum velocity attained in an average game. The mechanisms may include a ball-and-socket element and/or rare-earth magnets.

Description

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims priority to U.S. Ser. No. 13/652,634, filed on Oct. 16, 2012 and U.S. Ser. No. 61/660,899 filed on Jun. 18, 2012 entitled “Free standing wicket system to enable playing cricket on different surfaces”, the contents of which are fully incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a free standing cricket wicket, and more particularly to a free standing cricket wicket that may be used on any reasonably flat surface, and in which the stumps of the wicket flex, or become detached from the supporting base, in a manner that may mimic the behavior of a traditional wicket.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The game of Cricket is a traditional British past time, having roots that go back as far as King Edward II (1307-1327), although the earliest definitive reference to cricket occurs in a 1598 court record mentioning that “creckett” was played on common ground in Guilford, Surry by school boys. The first recorded accounts of adults playing cricket occur in the early 1600's, with one account being a coroner's court record of the death of a cricket player, Jasper Vinall, who was killed while fielding when he was struck on the head by a ball. The verdict was death by “misadventure”.

Cricket is now the primary summer sport in most of the countries that constituted the Victorian British Empire, including Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, the West Indies, South Africa and the British Isles.

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game in which a batsman attempts to defend a wicket using a bat, against a bowler who “bowls” a ball towards the wicket. The wicket shape, size and its behavior when struck by a ball are of great significance to the game. Since its formation in 1787, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has been recognized as the sole authority for drawing up the governing rules of cricket, known as the Laws of Cricket.

Law 8 of the Laws of Cricket and Appendix A govern the structure and nature of the wicket, and Law 28 governs the circumstances under which the wicket is said to be “down”, and the defending batsman, therefore, declared “out”, ending their “innings”. The currently applicable edition of the relevant laws are attached as Appendixes I, II and III, and are all hereby incorporated by reference into this application.

These laws state, amongst other matters, that a wicket 100 consists of three wooden stumps 105 with bails 120 on top, as shown in FIG. 1, and that a traditional cricket wicket 100 is 9 inches (22.86 cm) wide. Each stump is 28 inches (71.1 cm) high.

The wooden stump 105 in a traditional cricket wicket 100 typically has a spike 125, of unregulated dimensions, rigidly attached to the base of the stump. A traditional cricket wicket 100 may set up by hammering the stump so that the spike penetrates the playing surface, and maintains the stump in an upright position until the stump is struck sideways by a sufficient force, in which case it may lean over or be dislodged from the playing surface.

When three stumps are in an upright position, a pair of bails may be balanced on top of the stumps, each bail straddling one pair of stumps. The bails rest in shallow grooves on the top of the stumps. A batsman's wicket is said to be down when one of the bails is completely removed from the top of the stumps.

Cricket is traditionally played on a grass covered playing field, a surface on which it may be easy to setup the wicket by hammering the end-spike into the ground. Grass playing fields are, however, expensive and time consuming to maintain, especially in more arid countries such as India, Pakistan and Australia, where cricket is popular but which do not enjoy the frequent rain found in England. Non-professional cricket in these and other countries, is, therefore, often played on very hard surfaces, including concrete surfaces. It would also be desirable to play cricket on synthetic surfaces of the type commonly used for tennis or track-and-field. Spiking a stump into such surfaces is not feasible so the wickets used in these informal cricket games tend to be solid obstacles, having the right dimensions but lacking the ability to behave like a traditional wicket of stumps and bails.

In addition to regulation cricket, the game is also played by children and adults in informal situations in which the rules and the equipment used may differ from those of regulation cricket. There are countless variations of informal cricket, such as, but not limited to, indoor cricket, street cricket, backyard cricket and modified cricket such as continuous cricket.

Indoor cricket is played in an indoor “court” that contains a cricket pitch of standard dimensions, covered with artificial turf. A regulation cricket bat and a modified regulation cricket ball are typically used. The modified ball may have a leather cover but a softer filing and is typically colored yellow for greater visibility. Indoor cricket may be played in organized amateur competitions or as a casual sport amongst groups of friends. The organized indoor cricket competitions are typically governed by the rules promulgated by the World Indoor Cricket Federation. These stipulate, for instance, that the stumps should be “Wilkins” style collapsible stumps and that the bails must be wooden or plastic and must be tied to the stumps. Wilkins style stumps are spring loaded stumps. Outside of organized tournaments, however, the equipment used may be at the discretion of the players.

Street cricket is a form of cricket played informally, generally by children, in which a street (or school playground, or park) forms the pitch and the playing area. The game is typically played with a tennis ball instead of a cricket ball, though older children or adults may play with a tennis ball covered in plastic tape, to make it harder, or even half-covered with tape, allowing the ball to “swing”, i.e., move sideways in the air. Bats used may range from regulation bats to hand fashioned planks of wood. Although boxes and crates are often substituted for the stumps, most children like to make their street cricket as authentic looking as possible and often use plastic stumps such as the stumps used in Kwik Cricket.

Backyard cricket is an even more informal form of cricket, usually played by adults during the early stages of a barbecue when the fire is just warming up. The equipment used is similar to that used in street cricket.

The present invention provides a wicket that may be deployed on any flat surface, regardless of whether a spike can easily penetrate that surface, but which has flexible or detachable stumps that behave like traditional stumps when struck by a ball, and may also be self-righting. These flexible or detachable stumps may be used with bails that may fall off when the stumps are struck by a ball, mimicking the behavior of a traditional cricket wicket.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

The relevant prior art includes:

South African Patent ZA 1999/04605 published on Mar. 29, 2000 by W. Wright and J. Hutton entitled “Wickets for Cricket”” that describes a cricket-wicket set which having a base and three wickets with two bails. The base has “V” shape formations on its forward edge facing the bowler during play. Each “V” has a spring clip in it which elastically retains the stump upright and the “V” formations set the stumps in a straight row at the regulation spacing. The bails are put on top conventionally. The stump can be knocked out, or over, individually or the bails disturbed in closely similar ways to traditional wickets.

South African Patent ZA 2001/08107 published on Jun. 26, 2003 by P. R. Peterson entitled “Cricket Wicket Assembly and Portable Playing Surface”” that describes a wicket assembly which includes a base portion having three connecting formations and three stumps configured to weakly engage the connecting formations so that when the stumps are struck by a cricket ball (not shown) during a game of cricket, the stumps fall over and disengage from the base portion. The invention furthermore includes a playing surface (not shown) for a game of cricket, the surface being capable of receiving at least one wicket assembly.

South African Patent ZA 2001/07759 published on Apr. 30, 2003 by S. J. Naude entitled “Cricket Wicket Assembly” that describes a cricket wicket assembly having three elongate stumps, a separate support for holding the stumps in an upright position relative to a cricket playing surface, and a means such as magnets for releasably securing the stumps to the support.

Various implements are known in the art, but fail to address all of the problems solved by the invention described herein. Various embodiments of this invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be described in more detail herein below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns a free standing cricket wicket that may be deployed without needing to penetrate the playing surface. The stumps may be flexible, self-righting, detachable, or some combination thereof. The free standing wicket stumps may, therefore, mimic the behavior of a traditional cricket stump by, when struck by a ball, being knocked askew or completely dislodged from the support base. The stumps of this invention may, therefore, allow the dislodging of bails supported on the stumps to determine when a wicket is down, as in traditional cricket.

In a preferred embodiment, the free standing cricket wicket may include three flexible stumps, a support mount, a flexible mechanism connecting the stumps to the support mount, and a pair of bails. The stumps are preferably uniformly cylindrical and at least 5 times as tall as their diameter. The support mount may include one or more lower support elements and preferably has a width, length, shape and weight sufficient to support the stumps in a vertical orientation when the wicket is placed with its lower support elements resting on a substantially horizontal playing surface.

In a preferred embodiment, the flexible mechanism may be constructed so that when a game ball travelling with sufficient velocity strikes a stump, the stump flexes sufficiently to dislodge a bail. The stump may also then return to an upright position. A sufficient velocity for this purpose may, for instance, be a velocity greater than 10% of the maximum velocity typically achieved in a game being played with the game ball.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the flexible mechanism may be constructed as a detachable mechanism and configured such that when a game ball travelling with sufficient velocity strikes a stump, the stump separates from the supporting mount. A sufficient velocity for this purpose may, for instance, be defined as equal to half the maximum velocity attained in an average game played using that particular ball.

The detachability of the stump may be further quantified by requiring that the ball detaching the stump must strike the stump from any incident angle 305 within +/−45 degrees of a theoretical horizontal plane bisecting the height of the stump.

The flexible or detachable mechanisms may, for instance, include one or more magnets, such as, but not limited to, a powerful rare-earth magnet. The mechanisms may also include one or more magnet pole-pieces.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the flexible or detachable mechanisms may include a ball-and-socket element. This may also include magnets or may also, or instead, include spring leaf elements shaped to provide temporary capture of a ball element by a corresponding socket element.

Other temporary binding elements include, but are not limited to, a hook-and-loop type temporary binder.

Therefore, the present invention succeeds in conferring the following, and others not mentioned, desirable and useful benefits and objectives.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a cricket wicket that may be used on any playing surface.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cricket wicket that may be deployed without having to penetrate a playing surface.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a wicket having stumps that mimics the performance of stumps in a traditional cricket wicket.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a wicket that may be used with balls other than a traditional cricket ball.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 A shows a perspective view of a traditional cricket wicket.

FIG. 1 B shows a front view of a traditional cricket wicket.

FIG. 2 A shows a rear perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a free standing cricket wicket having flexible or detachable stumps of the present invention.

FIG. 2 B shows a front perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a free standing cricket wicket having flexible or detachable stumps of the present invention.

FIG. 3 A shows a front-top perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a flexible or detachable wicket of the present invention.

FIG. 3 B shows a front-top perspective view of a flexible or detachable wicket of the present invention having been struck by an object. FIG. 3 C shows a front view of a preferred embodiment of a flexible or detachable wicket of the present invention.

FIG. 3 D shows a side view of a preferred embodiment of a flexible or detachable wicket of the present invention.

FIG. 3 E shows an exploded front view of a preferred embodiment of a flexible or detachable wicket of the present invention.

FIG. 3 F shows an exploded side view of a preferred embodiment of a flexible or detachable wicket of the present invention.

FIG. 3 G shows a close-up exploded front view of a preferred embodiment of a flexible or detachable wicket of the present invention.

FIG. 3 H shows a close-up exploded side view of a preferred embodiment of a flexible or detachable wicket of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a close up rear perspective view of a lower portion of a free standing cricket wicket having flexible or detachable stumps.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic, perspective view of a setup for defining a detachability of a free standing cricket wicket stump.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic front view of a lower portion of a free standing cricket wicket having a ball and socket type flexible or detachable connection between a supporting mount and a flexible or detachable stump.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic front view of a lower portion of a free standing cricket wicket having a further embodiment of a ball and socket type flexible or detachable connection between a supporting mount and a flexible or detachable stump.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Identical elements in the various figures are identified with the same reference numerals.

Various embodiments of the present invention are described in detail. Such embodiments are provided by way of explanation of the present invention, which is not intended to be limited thereto. In fact, those of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate upon reading the present specification and viewing the present drawings that various modifications and variations can be made thereto.

FIG. 1 A shows a perspective view of a traditional cricket wicket 100. The traditional cricket wicket 100 may be made up of three wooden stumps 105 that may be hammered, or otherwise inserted, so that a spike 125, located at the bottom of the stumps 105, penetrates into the ground. In this way, the stumps may be held upright and positioned to support two wooden cricket bails 120. The bails 120 typically rest on a groove 135 located at the top of the stump 105. When one or more of the stumps are hit sufficiently hard by a cricket ball, they move or flex and one or both of the bails may be dislodged. A batsman whose bails are dislodged may be declared “out”, ending his inning, i.e., his turn at bat.

FIG. 1 B shows a front view of a traditional cricket wicket 100. Certain of the dimensions and materials of manufacture of a traditional cricket wicket 100 are specified by the Laws of Cricket, the relevant ones of which are appended hereto and are incorporated by reference in this application. As discussed previously, a law compliant stump must have a height 110 above the playing surface that is 28 inches (71 cm) and must be made of wood. The distance 130 that the bails project above the top of the stump is limited to a maximum of 0.5 inches (1.3 cm). When the three stumps are set up as a wicket, they must be equally spaced, with a total width 115 of 9 inches (23 cm). The spikes 125 of the stumps are typically conical, but their dimensions are not specified by law.

FIG. 2 A shows a rear perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a free standing cricket wicket 200 of the present invention that may have flexible or detachable stumps.

The free standing cricket wicket 200 may have a supporting mount 235 and three stumps 230 that may be flexibly, or detachably, connected to the supporting mount 235 by a flexible mechanism 245 near the lower end 250 of the flexible stump. The supporting mount 235 may be sufficiently rigid and heavy to remain substantially stationary when the stumps are disturbed. The mount 235 may, for instance, have a weighted portion 265 to help ensure this. The free standing cricket wicket 200 may also have two bails 120 that may rest on top of the equally spaced stumps.

When a game ball 225, travelling with sufficient velocity 255, strikes a stump, that stump may move, or become detached, as shown by moved stump 230. When this occurs, the bails may be dislodged which may be used as a signal to declare the current batsman “out”.

Stumps are typically identified by their position relative to a batsman about to strike a ball. In FIG. 2, for instance, if a right-handed batsman were batting, stump 215 may be deemed to be the “off” stump and stump 220 the “leg” stump. The nomenclature would be reversed for a left-handed batsman. Stump 210 would be the “middle” stump for either batsman.

FIG. 2 B shows a front-bottom perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a free standing cricket wicket 200 having flexible or detachable stumps of the present invention. The height 260 of the flexible or detachable stump on its support, i.e., the distance from the bottom of a lower support element 240 to the top of a stump may be the same as in traditional cricket, i.e., 28 inches. The three stumps, the flexible and detachable “middle” stump 210, “off” stump 215 and “leg” stump 220, may all be equal in length, equally spaced and dimensioned such that a game ball may not pass between any of the stumps without skewing the stump and dislodging one or more of the bails.

FIG. 3 A shows a front-top perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a flexible or detachable wicket 351 of the present invention.

The flexible or detachable wicket 351 may include three flexible stumps 349 mounted vertically on a base-plate 380. The flexible stumps 349 may be equally spaced so as to support two informal-cricket bails 350.

FIG. 3 B shows a front-top perspective view of a flexible or detachable wicket 351 of the present invention shortly after having been struck by an object. The flexing stumps 353 may have been struck by the object and knocked askew. Because of this the dislodged bails 346 may have left the stumps and are falling to the ground. The flexible stump 349 may not have been impacted by the object, and may be left standing undisturbed.

In one preferred embodiment, the flexing stumps 353 may be self-righting and may return to their original position after been knocked askew.

FIG. 3 C shows a front view of a preferred embodiment of a flexible or detachable wicket 351 of the present invention.

In a preferred embodiment, the flexible or detachable wicket 351 may include three flexible stumps 349 flexible or detachably joined, at their lower end, to a base-plate 380 by one or more flexing mechanisms 382. The stumps may be called flexible not because they themselves are flexible but to draw attention to the fact that when joined to base by the flexing mechanism 382, they may be flexed relative to the base-plate 380, i.e., they may be temporarily skewed with respect to the baseplate when struck by an object with sufficient force. When undisturbed, the three flexible stumps 349 may be held vertical and stationary. In this undisturbed configuration, the flexible stumps 349 may support one or more bails 350, which may be informal-cricket bails made of non-regulation materials such as, but not limited to, plastics, metal alloys, or some combination thereof. The informal-cricket bails 350 may also be of non-regulation dimensions.

The base-plate 380 may have one or more base feet 385. In a preferred embodiment, the base-plate 380 may have three base feet 385 so as to sit stationary on a slightly undulating surface.

FIG. 3 D shows a side view of a preferred embodiment of a flexible or detachable wicket 351 of the present invention. As before, the informal-cricket bails 350 may balance on the top-end of the flexible stumps 349. The flexible stump 349 may, in turn, be supported by a flexing mechanism 382 that may flexibly or detachably join them to the base-plate 380. The three base feet 385 may be arranged in at the vertices of an imaginary triangle, as may be inferred from FIGS. 3 C and 3 D.

FIG. 3 E shows an exploded front view of a preferred embodiment of a flexible or detachable wicket of the present invention.

As seem in FIG. 3, the three flexible stumps 349 may be hollow stumps 360. The hollow stump 360 may, for instance, be hollow, cylindrical tubing made from a material such as, but not limited to, a plastic such as, but not limited to, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) , low-density polyethylene (LDPE) polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), high impact polystyrene, polyamides (PA) (Nylons) , acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polycarbonate (PC), polycarbonate/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene blend (PC/ABS), polyurethanes (PU), or some combination and/or blend thereof. The hollow stump 360 may also, for instance, be hollow tubing made from a material such as, but not limited to, a metal or metal ally such as, but not limited to, stainless steel, steel, aluminum, iron, copper, bronze, brass, magnesium, magnelium, titanium, zinc or some combination thereof. The hollow stump 360 may also, for instance, be hollow tubing made from a material such as, but not limited to, a composite material such as, but not limited to, fiber glass, carbon fiber, Kevlar, fiber reinforced plastics, or some combination thereof.

The stump caps 355 may be made to be a push fit to the hollow stump 360 or may be dimensioned to be glued, welded or otherwise bonded, into the hollow, cylindrical tubes making up the bulk of the stump.

The informal-cricket bails 350 may be dimensioned to balance on top of the stump caps 355, and span adjacent stumps.

Both the stump caps 355 and the informal-cricket bails 350 may be made of one or more of the materials itemized above in reference to hollow stumps 360.

At the bottom of the hollow stump 360 there may be a magnet-holding stump-base 365. This may be machined or molded from any suitable non-magnetic material such as, but not limited to, a plastic, aluminum, copper, or some combination thereof.

In a preferred embodiment, the magnet may, for instance, be a rare-earth permanent magnet such as, but not limited to, a neodymium magnet that may be made from a suitable alloy of neodymium, iron, and boron or a samarium-cobalt magnet that may be made of an alloy of samarium and cobalt. Rare earth magnets may be compact yet extremely powerful and are therefore well suited to use in this application.

The magnet-holding stump-base 365 may be dimensioned to be a push fit to the hollow stump 360 or to be inserted into the stump and held in place by suitable glue, the composition of which may depend on the materials chosen for the stump-base and the hollow stump, or by welding or some combination thereof.

The bottom of the magnet-holding stump-base 365 may be suitably shaped to rest on top of a stump holding metal post 370. The stump holding metal post 370 may be made of a suitably magnetic Ferro-metal such as, but not limited to, iron, cobalt, nickel or some suitable alloy or combination thereof.

The stump holding metal post 370 may be fixedly attached to the base-plate cover 375 by some fastening technique such as, but not limited to, gluing, welding, bolting, screwing or some combination thereof.

The base-plate cover 375 may be made of a suitably rigid and durable material such as, but not limited to, plastic, stainless steel, wood, aluminum or some combination thereof.

The base-plate cover 375 may have a suitable protective coating, or may be covered by a base-plate cover 375 to protect it from the elements and wear and tear.

One or more base feet 385 may be fixedly attached to the underside of the base-plate 380. These base feet 385 may, for instance, be molded or machined from any suitable plastic such as, but not limited to, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), low-density polyethylene (LDPE) polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS),high impact polystyrene, polyamides (PA) (Nylons), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polycarbonate (PC), polycarbonate/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene blend (PC/ABS), polyurethanes (PU), or some combination and/or blend thereof.

FIG. 3 F shows an exploded side view of a preferred embodiment of a flexible or detachable wicket of the present invention.

From the combination of FIGS. 3 E and 3 F, the preferred cylindrical shape of the stump caps 355, the hollow stump 360, the magnet-holding stump-base 365, the stump holding metal post 370 and the base feet 385 may be inferred. Similarly, the preferred planar or sheet shape of the base-plate 380 and any base-plate cover 375 may also be inferred from the combination of FIGS. 3 E and 3 F.

FIG. 3 G shows a close-up exploded front view of a preferred embodiment of a flexible or detachable wicket of the present invention.

The informal-cricket bails 350 may be a single piece having an outer bail-support 352 and an inner bail-support 354 rigidly and fixedly joined by a bail bridging element 348. As shown in FIG. 3 G, the outer bail-support 352 may rest on top of the stump caps 355 that is fitted to the top-end 362 of an outer hollow-stump, i.e., on top of a “leg” or an “off” stump.

FIG. 3 G also shows how the magnet-holding stump-base 365 may be sized to fit into the bottom-end of hollow-stump 364, but may also have a lip 369 that may stop the stump-base from completely entering the hollow-stump.

The stump-base 365 may also have a concave lower surface 367. The concave surface may be shaped to be a complementary match to the rounded-top 374 of the stump-holding post 370. These concave surfaces may allow the stump to pivot round a center point of these concave surfaces when stuck by an object, yet remain attached by the attractive force between the embedded magnet 366 in the insert 368 of the stump base and the stump holding metal post 370.

These concave surfaces may for instance both be shaped as complementary surfaces of a truncated elliptical paraboloid. Such a shape of the surfaces may help facilitate the self-righting of the stump, as the embedded magnet 366 will be closest to, and therefore in the lowest energy state, i.e., most attracted to, the base of stump-holding post 372 when the stump is vertically upright if one or both of the surfaces is a truncated elliptical paraboloid, or a close approximation thereof.

As shown in FIG. 3 G, the base feet 385 that are attached to the base plate 380 may have an underside 386 made of a suitable gripping or non-slip material such as, but not limited to, a suitably embossed or patterned rubber or plastic. Such a lower surface may, for instance, better hold the wicket stationary on a playing surface.

FIG. 3 H shows a close-up exploded side view of a preferred embodiment of a flexible or detachable wicket of the present invention.

As seen in FIG. 3 H, the stump cap 355 may have a lip 356 that may be positioned adjacent to the top rim of the top-end of hollow-stump 362 when the stump-cap insert 358 is pushed into the hollow stump. This may ensure that when the bail support rests on the bail holding groove 390 that the informal-cricket bails 350 may be positioned at the correct height, i.e., the height specified by the laws or rules pertaining to the game being played using the flexible or detachable wicket 351.

FIG. 4 shows a close up rear perspective view of a lower portion of a free standing cricket wicket in a further preferred embodiment of the invention.

In this further preferred embodiment of the invention, the connecting element 270 is located partly in the base 285 of the stump and partly in the lower support element 240.

In the base of the stump there may, for instance, be a magnet 275 and in the lower support element 240, there may be a magnet pole piece 280. In this way the movable stump 205 may be maintained vertically and located above a specific position on the upper portion 290 of the supporting mount. When struck by an object, such as the game ball traveling at a sufficient velocity, the movable stump 205 may move sufficiently to dislodge a bail balanced on top of the stump, or the stump may be completely separated from the upper portion 290 of the supporting mount.

The force required to move the stump sufficiently to dislodge the bail may, for instance, be the force exerted by a game ball travelling at a velocity that is greater than 10% of the maximum velocity typically achieved in a game being played with said game ball.

The strength of the detachable connection between the bottom of the stump and the upper portion 290 of the supporting mount may be controlled by factors such as, but not limited to, the type and size of magnet used, the distance the magnet may be embedded above the bottom of the stump, the type of material that may be used for the magnet pole piece 280, and the distance that pole piece may be embedded below the upper portion 290 of the supporting mount.

One of ordinary skill in the art will, however, appreciate that the position of the magnet and pole piece may be reversed, and that another magnet may be used instead of the preferably ferro-magnetic pole piece.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic, perspective view of a setup, or framework, for defining a detachability of a free standing cricket wicket stump.

In the framework of FIG. 5, the force to move the stump sufficiently may be defined as the force exerted by a game ball 225 travelling at a predefined velocity 255 and striking the movable stump 205 at the point at which a theoretical horizontal plane 310 bisects the height of the stump, when the ball approaches the stump from any direction that is outside the theoretical cone generated by a line that passes through a vertical axis 311 of the stump at a point bisecting the stump, and oriented at an incident angle 305 to the theoretical horizontal plane 310 bisecting the height of the stump.

For instance, the sufficient velocity may be a velocity such as, but not limited to, a velocity equal to half the maximum velocity attained in an average game played using the game ball and the free standing cricket wicket.

The required minimum force may, for instance, be defined as a force such as, but not limited to, a force exerted by a ball travelling at a sufficient velocity that strikes the stump from any incident angle 305 within +/−45 degrees of the theoretical horizontal plane 310 bisecting the height of the stump, the incident angles being within a space defined as being excluded by a theoretical cone 315.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic front view of a lower portion of a free standing cricket wicket having a ball and socket type flexible or detachable connection between a supporting mount and a flexible or detachable stump. The lower support element 240 is resting on the playing field 330.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the connecting element 270 may include a ball element 320 that may be rigidly connected to a lower end 250 of the movable or detachable stump, and a socket element 325, shaped to be complementary to the lower surface of the ball element 320, and rigidly attached to the upper portion 290 of the supporting mount 235.

The connecting element 270 may further include a magnet pole piece 280 that may be embedded in the ball element 320 and a magnet 275 that may be embedded in the supporting mount 235, beneath the socket element 325.

With a sufficiently strong magnet such an arrangement may be self-righting so long as the wicket is not dislodged completely.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic front view of a lower portion of a free standing cricket wicket having a further embodiment of a ball and socket type flexible or detachable connection 270 between a supporting mount 235 and a flexible or detachable stump 250.

In such an embodiment, the connecting element 270 may have a ball element 320 that may be fixedly mounted to the lower end of a detachable stump. The connecting element 270 may also include a socket element 325 that may have one or more spring leaf elements 335.

The ball element 320 may have an outer surface that may be a portion of a sphere and dimensioned to be complementary to the inner surface of the socket element 325. The socket element 325 may be made from a suitable material, and have suitable dimensions, including thickness, so that the spring leaf elements 335 allow the stump to move enough to dislodge one or more of a set of bails balanced on top of the stumps when the stump is struck by a sufficient force.

A sufficient force may, for instance, be the force exerted by a game ball travelling at a velocity that is greater than 10% of the maximum velocity typically achieved in a game being played with said game ball.

The connecting element 270 may also make use of other temporary bonding mechanisms. The ball element 320 may for instance have an upper temporary bonding surface 340 fixed to its lower surface, and the socket element 325 may have a lower temporary bonding surface 345 attached to its inner surface. The upper and lower temporary bonding surfaces may be placed so as to be opposite each other when the stump is positioned vertically. The temporary bonding surfaces may, for instance, be parts of a hook and loop fastener, of the sort commonly referred to as VELCRO™.

Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of illustration and that numerous changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A free-standing cricket wicket, deployable in an upright orientation without penetrating a playing surface upon which it is deployed, comprising:

at least one flexible stump, said flexible stump being uniformly cylindrical and having a height that is at least 5 times its diameter;

a supporting mount;

a flexible mechanism flexibly joining a lower end of said flexible stump to an upper portion of said supporting mount; and

wherein said supporting mount comprises at least one lower support element, and wherein said supporting mount has a width, length, shape and weight sufficient to support said stump in a vertical orientation when said supporting mount is placed such that said lower support elements rest on a substantially horizontal playing surface.

2. The free standing cricket wicket of claim 1 wherein said flexible mechanism is self-righting.

3. The free standing cricket wicket of claim 2 wherein said self-righting flexible mechanism comprises:

a rare-earth magnet embedded within a stump-base in proximity to a concave lower surface of said stump-base; and

a stump-holding Ferro-metal post having a convex shaped rounded-top shaped to substantially be a complementary fit to said concave lower surface of said stump-base.

4. The free standing cricket wicket of claim 3 wherein said rare-earth magnet is of a strength such that when one of said flexible stumps is struck by a game ball travelling at a velocity that is greater than 10% of the maximum velocity typically achieved in a game being played with said game ball, said struck flexible stump moves sufficiently to dislodge a bail resting on a bail holding groove located in a vicinity of a top end of said flexible stump.

5. The free standing cricket wicket of claim 3 wherein said concave lower surface of said stump-base and said convex shaped rounded top of said stump-base are both truncated elliptical paraboloids.

6. The free standing cricket wicket of claim 1 wherein said flexible mechanism is configured to be a detachable mechanism such that when said vertically supported stump is struck by a game ball travelling at a sufficient velocity, said struck flexible stump detaches from said supporting mount.

7. The free standing cricket wicket of claim 6 wherein said sufficient velocity is a velocity equal to half the maximum velocity attained in an average game played using said game ball and said free standing cricket wicket.

8. The free standing cricket wicket of claim 7 wherein said game ball strikes said stump from any incident angle 305 within +/−45 degrees of a theoretical horizontal plane bisecting the height of the stump, said incident angles being within a space defined as being excluded by a theoretical cone.

9. The free standing cricket wicket of claim 6, wherein said detachable mechanism comprises at least one magnet and one magnet pole piece.

10. The free standing cricket wicket of claim 6 wherein said detachable mechanism further comprises a ball element and a socket element, and wherein said connecting element is fixedly connected to said lower end of said detachable stump, and said ball element is fixedly connected to said upper portion of the supporting mount, and wherein said ball element and said socket element are detachably connected to each other.

11. The free standing cricket wicket of claim 10 further comprising a rare-earth magnet fixedly attached to said socket element or to said supporting mount and a magnet pole piece fixedly attached to said ball element.

12. The free standing cricket wicket of claim 10 wherein said socket element further comprises at least one spring leaf element shaped to provide temporary capture to said ball element.

13. The free standing cricket wicket of claim 10 further comprising an upper temporary bonding surface and a lower temporary bonding surface, said upper temporary bonding surface being fixedly attached to said ball element and said lower temporary bonding surface being rigidly attached to said socket element.

14. The free standing cricket wicket of claim 13 wherein said upper temporary bonding surface and said lower temporary bonding surface comprise complementary elements of a hook-and-loop type temporary binder.

15. A free-standing cricket wicket, deployable in an upright orientation without penetrating a playing surface upon which it is deployed, comprising:

at least one flexible stump, said flexible stump being uniformly cylindrical and having a height that is at least 5 times its diameter;

a supporting mount;

a flexible mechanism flexibly joining a lower end of said flexible stump to an upper portion of said supporting mount;

wherein said supporting mount comprises at least one lower support element, and wherein said supporting mount has a width, length, shape and weight sufficient to support said stump in a vertical orientation when said supporting mount is placed such that said lower support elements rest on a substantially horizontal playing surface;

a rare-earth magnet embedded within a stump-base in proximity to a concave lower surface of said stump-base; and

a stump-holding Ferro-metal post having a convex shaped rounded-top shaped to substantially be a complementary fit to said concave lower surface of said stump-base.