Catchy Shubby Cricket

Catchy Shubby Cricket is a game that was invented in Jamaica, a variation of cricket.

It is a faster moving version of cricket in which the roles change rapidly so every one gets a chance to bat and bowling within a short period. It is ideal for short games and for younger players who might get bored with the slow pace of the traditional game.

It also allows selectors to see the performance of the whole club in a short time and so they can make more rational selection of players, on the basis of their current form, than might otherwise be the case.

Rules of Catchy Shubby

Catchy Shubby evolved in Jamaica as an informal version of cricket without a set rule book. A game in an oral culture, It allows cricket to be played in many different spaces and numbers of players, both indoors and outdoors. It is a faster game, so can be played if a short time is available and, because of all these things, is popular with young people.

The following rules are a summary of a longer set of rules written by Tony Moody, in the process of gaining support from the English cricket establishment, in particular Surrey County Cricket Club at Kennington Oval, for his youth team Kennington United Cricket Club, based in Kennington Park. Tony Moody points out that Catchy Shubby can also be used as a method of selecting teams (The winning batter and bowler do the selection.) and for community integration along with Reggae music "in the key of C".

In short (assuming a knowledge of the basics of conventional cricket!):

# Players all have a marker with which they use to mark out a circular playing area in the space available. These are also their initial fielding positions. The players take it in turn to bowl until someone hits the stumps. That person becomes first batter and chooses a batting partner.
# The batter must run if he/she hits the ball (there are two batters and both must run). There are no boundary scores of 4 or 6. The batter is out if she is hit by the ball, as well as in the usual ways (Caught, stumped before completing a run or bowled out through the wicket). The bowler or fielder that takes the batter out replaces that batter.
# There are always three bowlers lined up and if a bowler hits the wicket they take the bat. (If a bowl hits the wicket then both batters are out and the new bowler chooses second batter). If a bowler misses the wicket, the fielder that gathers the ball joins the back of the bowling queue and the bowler that missed becomes a fielder.
# When a fielder takes a batter out or joins the bowlers then his/her space is filled on a first come basis. The layout of fielders will depend on the numbers of people playing...

Shortcomings in the short rules as above may be settled by an umpire.

References

* [http://www.patent.gov.uk/tm/t-journal/t-tmj/journals/6635/domestic/2416918.html UK Catchy Shubby patent]

External links

* [http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-2116509506633036358&hl=en-GB Video of Catrchy Shubby being played in Kennington London]