AU2020103288B4

AU2020103288B4 - Sports Training Aid

Info

Publication number: AU2020103288B4
Application number: AU2020103288A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Bernard Geoffrey Evans
Original assignee: Grassports Australia Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Grassports Australia Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2016-09-23
Filing date: 2020-11-06
Publication date: 2021-12-16
Anticipated expiration: 2024-09-23
Also published as: AU2016101718B4; AU2020103288A4; GB201715281D0; AU2016101718A4; GB2555944A

Abstract

A cricket training aid for a practice cricket pitch including at least one visual indicator to indicate at least one length for a ball bowled on the practice cricket pitch.

Description

SPORTS TRAINING AID FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to an improved training aid for sports, particularly for cricket.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

[0002] The sport of cricket has been played for over 250 years and in this time there have been a number of developments to the game, including the present bats and helmets used and worn by batsmen. There also exists automatic bowling machines that dispatch cricket training balls towards a batsman. These bowling machines are used in training and can be set to different speeds and angles.

[0003] A standard cricket pitch is 10 feet, about 3.05 metres, wide and the distance between the wickets at either end of the pitch is 22 yards, about 20.12 metres. Each of the two bowling creases lies in line with one of the wickets. Each batting or popping crease lies 4 feet, about 1.22 metres, from the respective bowling crease towards the opposite wicket. The distance between each batting or popping crease is therefore, 19 and 1/3 yards, which is 58 feet or about 17.68 metres.

[0004] A bowler may bowl one of a number of lengths. A short length ball or delivery is one which lands or 'pitches' on the pitch a distance from the batsman and bounces up so that the batsman usually has to play the ball off his back foot. A good length ball or delivery is one which lands on the pitch closer to the batsman than a short length and in some cases leaves a batsman uncertain about how to deal with the delivery, i.e. whether to play the ball off his front foot or back foot. A full length ball or delivery is one that lands or pitches closer to the

18271221_1 (GHMatters) UIP1528AU01 batsman than a good length and which may provide the batsman with a chance to hit the ball on a half volley. A "yorker" is a ball or delivery that is going to hit the ground around the batsman's feet, and can also be difficult to play. A full toss is a ball or delivery that does not land before it reaches the batsman.

[0005] It has generally been accepted over the years that good length deliveries and yorkers are the most difficult for a batsman to score off, and also take most wickets. This has more recently been proven with electronic ball tracking devices that are now used by television stations to monitor the length of deliveries when televising international and other top cricket matches. It can however be difficult for a bowler to bowl a good length because if the bowler slightly overpitches, the delivery becomes a full length which is easier to score from or defend. Similarly, it can be difficult for a bowler to bowl a yorker, because if he slightly overpitches, the delivery becomes a full toss which is easier to score from.

[0006] It is therefore desirable to provide a cricket training aid which can be used to assist bowlers in delivering balls of different lengths when they practice. Such a training aid may also be used to assist batsmen in judging the length of a delivery when they are practising their batting.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] An aspect of the present invention provides a cricket training aid comprising: a practice cricket pitch having a longitudinally extending bowling surface formed from artificial turf of a first colour; and at least one visual indicator configured to indicate a plurality of lengths for balls bowled on the practice pitch, the at least one visual indicator being formed from a plurality of sections of artificial turf each having a different colour or shade of colour from the colour of the bowling surface to provide feedback to a batsman to assist with shot selection and/or feedback to a bowler to assist in aiming the ball to land at a particular location along the pitch; wherein the bowling surface and the at least one visual

18271221_1 (GHMatters) UIP1528AU01 indicator are formed from a single piece of artificial turf material, the artificial turf material comprising a plurality of different coloured yarn filaments extending from a substrate backing.

[0008] The cricket training aid may assist a bowler, batsman, coach or other person to quickly assess the length at which a ball has been delivered. The training aid may assist the bowler by providing feedback about the length they have bowled and may also provide a distance target to help the bowler to aim the ball to land at a particular length. The training aid may also assist a batsman to more quickly make an assessment of the length a ball has been delivered, which may aid them with shot selection.

[0009] In preferred embodiments, the at least one visual indicator is arranged to be positioned adjacent to the practice cricket pitch and does not form part of the bowling surface of the cricket pitch. This means that the visual indicator(s) will not be directly between the batsman and the bowler and may be less likely to distract the batsman or bowler. This may also prevent deviations of the ball that could be caused by the ball landing on a surface of the visual indicator or a seam defined by an end of the visual indictor.

[0010] Preferably, the at least one visual indicator includes at least one coloured section. The at least one coloured section is preferably of a different colour or shade of colour from the bowling surface of the practice cricket pitch.

[0011] In preferred embodiments, the training aid includes a plurality of visual indicators that indicate one or more of the following lengths for balls bowled on the practice cricket wicket: a short length; a good length; a full length and a yorker, respectively. The visual indicators for each of the lengths may be coloured differently from the others to aid distinguishing each length.

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[0012] Also described herein is a practice cricket pitch including a cricket training aid in accordance with the above description, wherein the practice cricket pitch is formed from artificial turf and includes a bowling surface of a first colour, and the at least one visual indicator is formed from a section of artificial turf provided at the side of the bowling surface and having at least one colour or shade of colour different from the colour of the bowling surface.

[0013] A further aspect of the present invention provides a method of cricket bowling training, comprising: providing a training aid with at least one visual indicator of the length of a delivery; bowling a cricket ball; and assessing the length the ball has been bowled based on the position the ball landed compared to the at least one visual indicator.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] The invention may be better understood by way of example only, with reference to the preferred embodiment as shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0015] Figure 1 is a top view of a standard cricket pitch; and

[0016] Figure 2 is a top view of a cricket training aid in the form of a practice cricket pitch with visual indicators.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0017] Figure 1 depicts a standard cricket pitch 10 without a training aid. The pitch 10 will include wickets 11, 12 at either end. Each wicket 11, 12 conventionally includes three vertical stumps and two horizontal bails which sit in grooves on top of the stumps. A bowling crease 13, is positioned along the line of each wicket 11, 12. A popping or batting crease 14 is positioned four feet, about

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1.22 metres, in front of and parallel to each bowling crease 13. The standard length of a cricket pitch, that is the distance between each wicket 11, 12 is 22 yards, about 20.12 metres, which is the same as the distance between each bowling crease 13. Standard cricket pitch markings also include a return crease , 16 on each side of each wicket 11, 12. The distance or width between the return creases 15, 16 is 8 feet, 8 inches (about 2.64 metres). The rectangle defined by the bowling crease 13, the popping crease 14, and the return creases ,16 at each end of the cricket pitch is the area in which at least part of the front foot of a bowler must land when he is bowling a ball to a batsmen at the other end of the cricket pitch. The popping crease 14 indicates the line behind which a batsman must have at least part of his body or bat grounded to avoid being stumped or run out. The batsman may stand outside the popping crease when receiving a ball delivered by a bowler, although it is usual for the batsman to stand on the popping crease.

[0018] The width of a standard cricket pitch, which corresponds to the closely mown surface on a turf wicket or the width of the strip of artificial turf in an artificial wicket, is 10 feet (about 3.05m) wide. This is wider than the distance between the return creases 15, 16. However, when a ball is bowled and lands outside a rectangle defined by the two popping creases 14 and imaginary line extensions 19 of the return creases 15, 16 between the popping creases 14, the ball will usually be called a wide delivery by the umpire, resulting in an extra delivery and a penalty of one run.

[0019] Figure 2 depicts a practice cricket pitch 20 including training aids 17 in the form of visual indicators. The practice cricket pitch 20 has markings for a bowling crease 13, a popping crease 14, and return creases 15, 16 at each end of the pitch corresponding to the standard markings of a cricket pitch as shown in Figure 1. In use, wickets 11, 12 are provided at the ends of the pitch. Practice cricket pitches are often provided with nets extending along the two longer sides and on one shorter side behind one of the wickets 11, which is designated the

18271221_1 (GHMatters) UIP1528AU01 batting end, with the other wicket 12 at the open end of the net being designated the bowling end.

[0020] The practice cricket pitch 20 has a central bowling surface 21 which extends between the two wickets 11, 12, and side sections 22 on each side of the central bowling surface 21. The central bowling surface 21 may have a width of approximately 10 feet (about 3.05m), similar to that of a standard cricket pitch, but more preferably as shown in Figure 2, the central bowling surface 21 has a width less than 10 feet (about 3.05m). In the embodiment shown in Figure 2, the central bowling surface 21 has a width of approximately 8 feet, 8 inches (about 2.64 metres), corresponding to the distance or width between the return creases 15, 16, although it will be appreciated that the width of the central bowling surface 21 may be even narrower, e.g. between about 1.8 metres and about 2 metres, to assist a bowler in bowling straighter deliveries closer to the line of the wickets. In one embodiment, the width of each side section 22 may be between about 0.9 metres and 1 metre.

[0021] The central bowling surface 21 preferably has a green colour, and in the case of an artificial turf cricket pitch, more preferably has a light green colour to simulate the colour of closely mown grass of a turf cricket wicket.

[0022] The training aids 17 are positioned in the side sections 22 of the practice cricket pitch 20. Each training aid 17 is split into four marked areas 23, 24, 25, 26 and each marked area is a visual indicator. Each area or visual indicator of each training aid 17 is differently coloured from the other sections. The four areas are: a first visual indicator 23, in this case coloured yellow; a second visual indicator 24, in this case coloured green; a third visual indicator 25, in this case coloured red; and a fourth visual indicator 26, in this case coloured blue. The second visual indicator preferably has a darker green colour than the light green colour of the central bowling section. In alternative embodiments, the colouring of each visual indicator 23, 24, 25, 26 could be different from the colours above.

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[0023] The visual indicators 23, 24, 25, 26 assist in assessing where a ball has pitched, which is where the ball has first landed or 'pitches' after being bowled. The visual indicators 23, 24, 25, 26 lie adjacent the pitch so that when a ball is bowled, the visual indicator adjacent to where the ball landed or pitched will indicate the length of the delivery.

[0024] According to the embodiment of Figure 2, the first visual indicator 23 is provided in the region of the popping crease 14 at the batting end, and relates to a ball which lands or pitches at a yorker length. The second visual indicator 24 relates to a ball which lands or pitches at a full length. The third visual indicator 25 relates to a ball which lands or pitches at a good length; in some cases this bowling delivery is called a good length ball which, along with a yorker, is normally regarded as the most difficult length delivery for a batsman to score from or defend. The fourth visual indicator 26 relates to a ball which lands or pitches at a short length; in some cases this bowling delivery is called a short ball or, for fast bowlers, a bouncer.

[0025] The training aid 17 according to this embodiment could be manufactured from the same material as the rest of the pitch. Particularly, for training cricket pitches where the pitch is not made of natural grass but is instead made from a synthetic material, the training aid 17 may be made from this same material. This material could be turf or artificial turf such as AstroTurf, synthetic turf or another kind of artificial turf. For example, the artificial turf could be a synthetic grass, such as the kind made from plastic or polymer or a monofilament yarn. The training aid 17 may require professional installation.

[0026] In one preferred embodiment, an artificial practice cricket pitch is made from a mat of artificial grass having a plurality of different coloured fibres secured to and extending above a substrate. The different coloured fibres may provide the different colours of the central bowling section 21 and the visual indicators 23, 24, , 26 of the coloured side sections 22. The central bowling surface 21 may include a mixture of green coloured fibres and brown coloured fibres to provide a

18271221_1 (GHMatters) UIP1528AU01 light green colour to simulate the colour of closely mown grass of a turf cricket wicket, as disclosed in Australian Innovation Patent No. 2011101368.

[0027] The training aid 17 could alternatively be formed from a material different to the pitch. The training aid 17 could be laid on top of the ground adjacent the pitch. This may provide a training aid 17 that is portable. The training aid 17 can be used with synthetic turf training pitches or pitches made from other synthetic non-turf materials. Alternatively, in some embodiments the training aid 17 could be used with grass cricket pitches.

[0028] The visual indicators 23, 24, 25, 26 of the training aid 17 could be formed as a single article. The training aid could be a single piece of material. Alternatively, each visual indicator 23, 24, 25, 26 could be made as a separate piece. The separate pieces can then be brought together to form the training aid 17. Alternatively, the training aid could be made from a number of pieces. In some embodiments these pieces may not be adjacent to one another forming a discontinuous training aid with spaced apart visual indicators. Alternatively, the visual indicators on the training aid 17 could be spaced apart, but formed on the same piece.

[0029] The size of the visual indicators may be selected to coincide with the desired length of bowling. For example, the length of the visual indicators may be dependent on the speed of bowling. Alternatively, the length of the visual indicators could relate to one or more properties of the pitch, such as the hardness of the pitch surface, "the material used for the pitch", the speed of the surface; or the height of bounce of a ball on the surface. In these discussions, the terms size and length in relation to the visual indicators are taken to mean the distance along the length of the pitch.

[0030] In a preferred embodiment: the length A of the first visual indicator 23 for a yorker length is about 2 metres; the length B of the second visual indicator 24 for a full length delivery is about 4 metres; the length C of the third visual

18271221_1 (GHMatters) UIP1528AU01 indicator 25 for a good length delivery is about 2 metres; and the length D of the fourth visual indicator 26 for a short delivery is about 2 metres. Thus the total length of the visual indicators 23, 24, 25, 26 is about 10 metres corresponding to approximately half the standard length of a cricket pitch, about 20.12 metres (22 yards). It is noted that these lengths A, B, C, D are approximate because the length of a cricket pitch is measured in yards and feet, rather than in metric metres.

[0031] In alternative embodiments there may be more or less visual indicators for each training aid 17 than the number shown in Figure 2. For example, a training aid could be provided with just one visual indicator. Such a training aid could be used for training a bowler to bowl at one required length, for example a good length delivery. Alternatively, the training aid could include a number of visual indicators, this number could be more or less than the four visual indicators depicted in the embodiment of Figure 2. In cases where it is desired to know an exact length a ball has been bowled, visual indicators could be provided at given intervals. For example, each visual indicator could be 1 metre in length. The visual indicators could run along the entire length of the pitch. Alternatively, the visual indicators may only run along a section of the pitch. The section of the pitch along which the indicators run could start or end at the bowling crease or the batting crease or could even be positioned at some other point along the pitch.

[0032] The practice cricket pitch of Figure 2 also includes a wicket indicator 28. The wicket indicator 28 may form part of the training aid 17 in alternative embodiments. The wicket indicator 28 may be formed by line markings extending longitudinally along at least part of the central bowling surface 21 between the positions of the wickets 11, 12 at either end of the practice pitch. The wicket indicator 28 can indicate where a ball has pitched compared to the line of the wickets. In conjunction with the visual indicators 23, 24, 25, 26 that show the length the ball is bowled, the wicket indicator provides additional feedback to a batsman or bowler or cricket coach.

18271221_1 (GHMatters) UIP1528AU01

[0033] In alternative embodiments the training aid may include part of the bowling surface itself. In some embodiments the training aid may include the entire pitch. The visual indicators of the training aid may in some embodiments span the width of the pitch such that the bowling surface, onto which the cricket ball is to be bowled, includes visual indicators. In embodiments where the training aid is formed on or includes part of the cricket pitch, the training aid will preferably be formed from a single piece of material. This would prevent the ball from bouncing unevenly from a seam between different pieces of the training aid or between the training aid and the rest of the pitch.

[0034] It is possible that the visual indicators may be the same colour or substantially the same colour. In such cases, the nature of the visual indication may be that the shade of the colour is different between visual indicators. Alternatively, the visual indicators may alternate in colour. Each visible indicator should at least be visibly distinct in some way from at least one other visible indicator. In cases where there is only one visible indicator, the visible indicator should differ visibly from an adjacent area or the pitch.

[0035] It is to be understood that, if any prior art publication is referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms a part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or any other country.

[0036] In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising" is used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention.

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Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A cricket training aid comprising: a practice cricket pitch having a longitudinally extending bowling surface formed from artificial turf of a first colour; and at least one visual indicator configured to indicate a plurality of lengths for balls bowled on the practice cricket pitch, the at least one visual indicator being formed from a plurality of sections of artificial turf each having a different colour or shade of colour from the colour of the bowling surface to provide feedback to a batsman to assist with shot selection and/or feedback to a bowler to assist in aiming the ball to land at a particular location along the pitch; wherein the bowling surface and the at least one visual indicator are formed from a single piece of artificial turf material, the artificial turf material comprising a plurality of different coloured yarn filaments extending from a substrate backing.

2. A cricket training aid according to claim 1, wherein the at least one visual indicator is positioned adjacent to the bowling surface such that it does not form part of the bowling surface of the cricket pitch.

3. A cricket training aid according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the practice cricket pitch comprises a central bowling surface and side sections on each side of the central bowling surface, and at least one visual indicator is provided in each side section.

4. A cricket training aid according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of sections of artificial turf forming the at least one visual indicator extend at least partly across a width of the bowling surface of the practice cricket pitch.

5. A cricket training aid according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the plurality of different coloured sections of artificial turf forming the at least one visual indicator indicate one or more of the following lengths for balls bowled on

18271221_1 (GHMatters) UIP1528AU01 the practice cricket wicket: a short length; a good length; a full length; and a yorker.

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Fig. 2 Fig. 1 1/1