Square

Published: 21 June 2022 at 19:51 Reading time: ~ 4 min. Comments: 0

The term Square in cricket has several meanings: the fielder’s position, a section of the cricket field, and an imaginary line that crosses the pitch. Therefore, in the speech of players, commentators or even fans, you can find this term in a variety of meanings. In order not to get confused about what is meant, it is necessary to understand the meaning of the word.

Square as a position on the field

An important part of the game of cricket is fielding. During the game, the bowler of the serving team throws the ball, and the batsman of the opposing team hits it, guarding his wicket. The more effectively the ball is hit, the more difficult it is to return it to the game, the more runs a batsman can make. And more runs – more points – more chances to win.

Fielding is the actions of the players of the pitching team (fielders), which are aimed at returning the ball to the game and not allowing the opposing batsmen to earn runs or take them out of the game.

At the same time, fielders’ positions are strictly defined and have their own name, for example, Wicket-keeper, Slip and others.

In the context of fielding, the term square, as well as the adjectives fine, silly, short, deep, long and others are added to the names of positions to accurately indicate the player’s position on the field. For example, there are square leg and fine leg positions in cricket.

The square position is the position that is located closer to the imaginary line passing through the axis of the popping crease at the striker’s end. The more a player moves away from this line towards Wicket-keeper, the stronger his position belongs to the fine sector.

What is square as part of a pitch

As a rule, the cricket field has an oval shape; its diameter ranges from 137 to 150 meters. In the center of the field is a pitch 22 yards (20.12 meters) and 10 feet (3.05 meters) long. The pitch surface is usually covered with short grass.

The rectangular area in the center of the field on which the pitch is located is called square. The peculiarity of this site is that players are prohibited during the match (which can last up to several days) to train on the territory of the field adjacent to the square.

Square: a line on the field

This term also refers to an imaginary line that stretches from the crease to the boundary along the leg side. A pitching team is prohibited from having more than two fielders outside the square.

It is possible to use the term square in cricket in different contexts, and in each case, different concepts will be implied.

What is a square cut?

The term square-cut should be distinguished from other meanings of the term. In cricket, the term cut refers to the batsman’s batted serve. This is a cross-batted shot executed if the bowler sent a short-pitched ball. In this case, the ball flies to the off side. To perform the cut, the batsman needs to make minimal physical effort because the ball is hit mainly due to the bowler’s forces invested in the throw.

A square cut is a type of kick that is directed towards the off side at an angle of about 90 degrees from the wicket. There are also such types of impact as late cut and mistimed cut.