The tale of cricket bails that can leave you stumped

By K.R. Nayar

Cricket bails have a history dating back to the 16^th century. In 1911, on this day June 29, it created history when it flew a distance of 67 yards and six inches after a ball from the bowler hit the stumps. The bails also exerted its importance in the 2015 and 2019 World Cups by remaining unmoved despite the ball hitting the stumps. Read the interesting tale of these small bails which are hardly given any importance.  

UAE's Amjad Javed hits Ireland's Ed Joyce stumps but the bails refused to fall off during  the 2015 World Cup. Image source:  Cricket Australia 

On June 29, 1911, a Worcestershire pacer Robert Burrows created a record by sending the bail flying from the stumps for a distance of 67 yards and six inches.  As per the Association of Cricket Historians and Statisticians, this is the longest a bail has travelled in a first-class game in England. Historians say that in 1928-29, England pacer Harold Larwood too sent the bail flying the same distance during an Ashes tour match.

In cricket, the bails have never been given any importance. Batsmen are told by coaches to protect their stumps, while bowlers aim mainly at the stumps with their delivery. Strangely, no mention is made about bails! Bowlers have only been heard saying 'I am aiming for the stumps' and the bails are never mentioned.

It looks like it is this neglect that got the bails to decide to make their presence felt during the 2015 and 2019 World Cups. On both occasions, though the deliveries hit the stumps, the bails refused to fall off, and as per the laws of cricket, a batsman can be declared out only if the bails fall off. Thus bails became the point of discussion among journalists and commentators, and with a vengeance, the bails proved how powerful they were even though they are merely two pieces of wood 4.3 inches long.

In the 2019 World Cup, soon after  Australian batsman David Warner escaped being out after he had edged India's fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah on to his leg stumps during the match India-Australia match, I wrote a column from Manchester on the strange ways of these small wooden pieces narrating five instances of bails not falling off during the 2019 World Cup.
  
In the 2015 World Cup, I was fortunate to have been able to talk to a bowler on his disappointment over the refusal of the bails to fall off. UAE’s pacer Amjad Javed had bowled Ireland batsman Ed Joyce, and even though the bail shuffled from its groove it refused to fall off. This incident was described by many as the ‘Luck of the Irish’. Incidentally, the origin of this phrase is traced to the second half of the 19th century when during the gold and silver rush years, a number of the most famous and successful miners were of Irish and Irish American birth. Over time, this association of the Irish with mining fortunes led to the expression 'luck of the Irish.'

After that match, Javed, while speaking to me about that strange incident, said that the rule was an injustice to bowlers as the stump lights had come on indicating that the stumps were hit. He then narrated how he'd reacted to the incident: “Joyce and I laughed at what happened, and that was best we could do as sportsmen.”

Since we are discussing bails, let us also try to understand more about its simple appearance and the importance it holds. Bail is an old word of French origin that initially meant a crossbar or crosspiece. In the 16^th century, it entered the English language. Interestingly, the birth of two bails dates back to a 1775 incident. In those days, cricket was played with only two stumps with no middle stump, and there used to be only one six inches long bail placed above like a crossbar between the two stumps. It was after a match in 1775 between Kent and Hambledon when one bowler bowled three balls through the two stumps without hitting the stump or disturbing the bails that the middle stump was introduced and the second bail came into existence.

So the next time you see a bail, remember never to underestimate its power. It has a reputation of being unpredictable, and as history tells us, it could either fly off too far or remain unmoved.