Among the several crease markings on cricket pitches, one that makes an occasional appearance is between the set of stumps and the wide lines at both ends.
During the first ODI between Australia and India at the Optus Stadium in Perth, vibrant blue-coloured markings between the wide lines and the stumps caught the eye as India collapsed on a rainy afternoon. Similar, but yellow-coloured markings were visible during the first Bangladesh-West Indies ODI in Mirpur a day ago.
1st ODI, Australia vs India
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- Ball by ball Over
What is this extra set of lines on the pitch for?
ICC’s playing conditions for ODIs and T20Is provides an exhaustive set of guidelines for all types of markings that are made on the cricket pitch.
The return crease runs parallel to the edge of the pitch and is the outermost line you can see at either end. These lines are drawn at a distance of 4 feet 4 inches from the middle stump on either side. The wide lines are then marked 17 inches from the inside edge of the return crease. These act as a guideline to the umpires for calling wides.
The extra set of lines that are sometimes painted between the wide lines and the stumps are indicators for the “protected area” of the pitch. These are marked at a distance of one foot from the middle stump on either side.
What’s the protected area of the pitch?
According to Article 41.11 of the ICC men’s ODI playing conditions, “the protected area is defined as that area of the pitch contained within a rectangle bounded at each end by imaginary lines parallel to the popping creases and 5 ft/1.52 m in front of each, and on the sides by imaginary lines, one each side of the imaginary line joining the centres of the two middle stumps, each parallel to it and 1 ft/30.48 cm from it.”
This is basically the center part of the pitch which players try to avoid entering unless absolutely necessary. When bowlers are warned for “running on the danger zone” in their follow-through or batters are warned for running through the middle of the pitch while taking a run, they are guilty of entering this well-defined “protected area”.
The extra set of markers that were painted on the crease in the Perth and Mirpur ODIs serve to provide umpires with a clear indicator of the boundaries of this “protected area”.
Unlike the other more important lines in and around the crease, these aren’t mandatory, which is why they are not always painted all the way through between the bowling crease and the popping crease. Sometimes, they are just extended behind the bowling crease as small markings not always noticeable to the naked eye unless you look closely.
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