STOOLBALL. Of the ancient game of stoolball very little indeed is known, and it has nothing whatever in common with the modern game which, since 1916, has made astonishing prog ress. During the war a simple but not strenuous outdoor game was very badly needed for wounded officers, soldiers and sailors; and the idea occurred to Maj. W. W. Grantham, who was stationed at Brighton, that the old game of stoolball adapted to modern re quirements, would be suitable for the purpose. The game was soon played in scores of hospitals and convalescent homes, in England and France. He made a few simple rules adapted from cricket, and the first public match took place on the County cricket ground of Hove in 1917.
In 1924 a Stoolball Association was formed at Lord's, and by the end of 1927 it was estimated that nearly 3,00o clubs had become members. In Sussex alone the game is played in hun dreds of villages, and by large numbers of schools of all kinds, women's institutions and girl guides associations. It has been intro duced into Iceland, Japan, Siberia, Switzerland and Finland.
The materials required for the game are very few and very simple; and although with the exception of the ball they can be easily and quickly made by any carpenter they may now be ob tained from most of the outfitters. Two bats, a ball, and two wickets comprise the materials. The bats are wooden, made like a racket, the diameter of the round part being not more than 721n., and, including the handle, the bat must be not more than i8in. in length. The ball is usually known as "best tennis No. 3," but a hard lawn tennis ball will serve the purpose. Each of the two
wickets consists of a board Ift. square fastened to a stout post which must be firmly fixed in the ground in such a way that the top of the board is 4f t. 8in. above the ground ; a tripod is often substituted for the post.
The wickets must be fixed at a distance of i6yds. from each other, and a bowling crease not more than 'yd. in length must be marked at a spot 1 oyds. from each wicket, for this is where the bowler stands. The bowling is underhand, and the number of balls to an over, originally ten, has been reduced to eight. A bats man may be bowled, caught, or run out (the ball hitting the face of the board), or may be given out "body before"; runs are made just as in cricket. In order that the batsman shall be out, "bowled," the ball must hit the face or edge of the wicket (but not the stump), without having previously touched the ground— in other words the ball must be a full pitch. On all points for which there are no special rules, the laws of cricket, as far as possible, hold good for stoolball. The game can be played on any piece of ground which is fairly level and not so rough as to be dangerous; the minimum space required would be about half the size of an ordinary cricket ground.
The ancient form of the game was once very popular in Eng land, and was commonly considered to be the ancestor of cricket. Writing in 1801, Joseph Strutt gives a description of it.
See W. W. Grantham, Stoolball Illustrated and How to Play it.