Stoolball is a striking-and-fielding sport from Sussex, England. Two teams of up to eleven players bowl underarm at a wooden wicket raised on a stake, batting and running between two wickets to score. It's often called 'cricket in the air' because the ball reaches the batter on the full, with no bounce.
The wicket is a one-foot-square wooden board fixed at chest height (4ft 8in / 1.42m) instead of stumps in the ground. Bowling is underarm from ten yards and the ball must arrive without bouncing. Matches are 14 eight-ball overs per side, so a game is shorter and more direct than cricket.
Stoolball has been played since at least 1450 — more than a century before cricket. Legend has it Sussex milkmaids used their three-legged milking stools as wickets, which is where the name comes from. Shakespeare even mentions 'playing stool ball' in The Two Noble Kinsmen.
Pretty much anyone. Children typically start around 8 or 9 and plenty of players keep going into their 70s. There are ladies' leagues and mixed leagues, and in mixed games a man and a woman often bat together. You don't need any prior cricket experience.
Up to eleven players a side, the same as cricket. Teams can play with fewer if needed.
Each side bats for fourteen overs of eight balls. A typical league match takes two to three hours including the changeover.
Runs are scored by running between the two wickets after the batter hits the ball, exactly as in cricket. Boundaries also count: four for reaching the boundary along the ground, six for clearing it.
The main ways are bowled (the ball hits the wicket), caught, run out, body-before-wicket (the stoolball equivalent of LBW), and stumped. Hitting your own wicket also counts.
A stoolball bat (round-faced, paddle-shaped, sprung handle), a hard leather ball roughly the weight of a cricket ball, and the wickets themselves. Most clubs provide kit for newcomers, so you only need flat-soled trainers and clothes you can run in.
ERTSL clubs play across East Sussex — from Eastbourne and Hailsham through Herstmonceux, Pevensey, Wartling and the surrounding villages. Home grounds are listed on the team directory.
Use the Join a team form and tell us roughly where you are. We'll put you in touch with a club nearby that's looking for players. You can also browse the team directory to see who plays where.
The ERTSL league season runs from mid-April to late July — fourteen weeks of Tuesday evening matches, with a few Cup weeks woven in. Some clubs also play indoor stoolball in winter sports halls.
The Eastbourne Red Triangle Stoolball League is a ladies' league. Mixed stoolball is played in other leagues across Sussex and Kent — the Join form covers both.
Match fees are usually £1–£3 a game, and an all-day Sunday tournament can cost as little as £1. Clubs typically charge a small annual subscription on top to cover ground hire and kit.
Yes — the site is completely free to use, with no ads and no account needed to browse fixtures, results, the rules, or the team directory.
The home guide and rules work offline once you've loaded them. Live fixtures and results need a connection so they can update.
Fixtures come from the official ERTSL season schedule. Results are entered by team captains through the captains' portal after each match.