The three deliveries that changed the game of cricket: 250 years of the third stump

In the summer of 1775, at the height of his powers, the finest bowler in England was cheated by geometry. Edward "Lumpy" Stevens, a Surrey gardener turned cricketing legend, so accurate he was said to be able to land the ball on a chosen leaf, sent down three deliveries that passed clean through the wicket.

Not over it. Not around it. Through it.

Between the two stumps that made up a wicket in those days, under the single bail laid across the top, and out the other side, without so much as a rattle. The batter, John Small of Hambledon, the finest of the age, was not out by the letter of the law.

At Broadhalfpenny Down on Sunday 6 September, we mark the 250th anniversary of what happened next with a game of cricket, as it should be.

The wicket Lumpy was aiming at was a curious thing. Two stumps, a hand's width or so apart, with a single long bail balanced on top. It had done the job well enough while bowling stayed gentle, but the bowlers were getting better, Lumpy chief among them, and the gap between the sticks was starting to look less like a target than an open door. There is no record of what Lumpy said when the ball whistled through Small's stumps.

Aggrieved, Lumpy pressed for change. The debate was had over dinner and ale by the patrons who were busy inventing the rules of cricket more or less as they went along. The Hambledon Club conducted its business across the road from this ground, at the Bat and Ball Inn, and within a few months the matter was settled. A third stump was added in the middle, the gap was closed, and the wicket became the trio it has been ever since. The first game known to have been played with three stumps followed the next year, in September 1776. Two hundred and fifty years, near enough to the day.

It is a very Broadhalfpenny sort of story. This is the ground where the modern game grew up.

So the natural way to mark the moment is to bring the two old adversaries back together. The Broadhalfpenny Brigands host Chertsey CC, Lumpy's club, on Sunday 6 September, from 12:30pm to 5:30pm. Entry is free. Bring a picnic, bring the family, bring the dog, and find a spot on the boundary. There are refreshments in the ground and, of course, across the road at the Bat & Ball.

Come for the cricket. Stay for the small satisfaction of knowing that the wicket the players are aiming at looks the way it does because, one summer 250 years ago, a very good bowler could not get a very good batter out, and decided that something had to be done about it.

Broadhalfpenny Down, near Hambledon, Hampshire, PO8 0UB

Sunday 6 September, 12:30pm to 5:30pm. Free entry. All welcome.

www.broadhalfpennydown.com

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