Cricket. A player stationed behind the wicket to stop the ball if it passes it, and if possible to put the batsman ‘out’ by ‘stumping’ or ‘catching’ (see STUMP v.1 8. CATCH v. 24 c).
17[?]. Laws of Cricket, in Grace, Cricket (1891), 15. The Wicket Keeper shall stand at a reasonable distance behind ye Wicket, and shall not move till ye Ball is out of ye Bowler’s Hands.
1875. ‘Stonehenge,’ Brit. Sports, III. I. i § 4. 671. The office of Wicket-keeper is second only to that of the bowler.
1910. Times, 5 Feb., 6/3. David Hunter … is retiring after having been 21 years wicketkeeper for Yorkshire.
So Wicket-keeping, the occupation of a wicket-keeper (also attrib.).
1836. Jesse, Angler’s Rambles, 297. One or two prided themselves on their wicket-keeping.
1851. Lillywhite, Guide Cricketers, 62. Box has … improved very much upon the wicket-keeping glove.
1861. Dickens, Gt. Expect., xxvii. It demanded … a constant attention, and a quickness of eye and hand, very like that exacted by wicket-keeping.
