Cricket’s LED Stumps; Sparkling Tech Meets Tradition!

The new LED-embedded flashing wickets are eye-catchers in major cricket matches. They were introduced to the game in 2013. The International Cricket Council (ICC) sanctioned the use of flashing wickets in international matches in July 2013. Since then they are in use in hundreds of domestic and international matches.

Traditionally, the stumps and bails are made of wood. But these flashing wickets are composed of composite plastic.

This innovation was developed by South Australian company Zing International’ under the direction of mechanical industrial designer Bronte EcKermann. It was named ‘Zing Wicket System’.

Flashing wickets were first used in an Adelaide club game. They were put to use in the 2012 season of the ‘Big Bash League’ in Australia after Cricket Australia was persuaded to replace the wooden stumps by them for night matches.

After three years of rigorous testing, this innovative technology was granted permission for use in cricket matches.

The ICC deployed it for the first time during the semi-finals and final of the 2014 Under-19 Cricket World Cup held in the UAE.

The umpire finds it challenging to determine when a conventional bail gets “fully dislodged.”

The flashing stumps are powered by Low voltage batteries. They use a microprocessor that can tell when the bails and stumps are no longer in contact with one another. The bails lighten up within 1/1000th of a second of getting detached from the stumps.

According to Eckermann, “They can be knocked, vibrated, or rained upon, but will only flash when both ends are totally detached from the stumps.”