What Is A Cricket Sight Screen?
Written by: Durant Cricket Admin
Date Published: 16.07.24
Introduction
Cricket is a game that is often steeped in tradition and precise rules. One such essential element of cricket grounds is sight screens. If you’ve ever watched a cricket match, you’re likely to have noticed these tall, often white screens positioned behind the bowler’s arm at both ends of the pitch. They play a crucial role in ensuring fair play and optimal viewing conditions for both players and spectators.
In this article, we will be discussing exactly what purpose sight screens are for, and how they achieve that.


What Is A Sight Screen In Cricket?
At its core, a cricket sight screen is a large, black or white coloured board or mesh placed on the boundary line of the cricket field or fixed to the netting. It should always be directly behind the bowler’s arm.
A cricket sight screen’s purpose is to provide a solid, clear background for the batsman so they can focus on the balls being delivered by the bowler. With a direct line of sight on the bowler, uninterrupted by background distractions, the batter can better gauge the speed, trajectory, and spin of the ball more accurately.
It also helps to improve general visibility of the ball, as black sight screens are used for white balls, and white sight screens are used for pink or red balls.
What Is A Cricket Sight Screen Made From?
Standard cricket sight screens are made from a multitude of different important components that ensure its full effectiveness. The main component in sight screens for cricket is a sturdy and durable frame, made from aluminium or steel in most cases. This helps it to endure in harsh weather conditions, or stay standing strong in windy weather.
The screen itself, on the other hand, with either be made from a fabric or mesh, or some form of PVC material. The material it is made from will always be durable and weather resistant, as it needs to keep up with the metal frame, especially since cricket is an outdoor sport.
Some sight screens may even have additional components, such as wheels for portability, or eyelets to allow them to be fixed to wall surfaces, like netting.

What Types Of Cricket Sight Screens Are There?
There are many different types of sight screens for cricket, each one fulfilling a slightly different purpose.
In general, the type of sight screen you will need depends on what cricket equipment you have in place and your budget.

Wooden Cricket Sight Screen
One of the more traditional options to choose. Made exactly as it is named, a wooden cricket sight screen is made up of multiple wooden slats – usually around 12. The slats have small gaps between them to allow wind to pass through, reducing the risk of them blowing over or becoming unstable.
Depending on what type of requirements you have, timber sight screens can either be painted black or white. The addition of paint helps to prevent and slow down the weathering process. It also builds up the board’s resistance to any fading and can easily be restored with additional coats of paint where required.
Overall, quite an old-school choice, and one of the more expensive options given it’s made from solid and high-quality wood.
Mesh Cricket Sight Screen
Mesh cricket sight screens are a much more affordable option when compared to the wooden alternative. Made from a simple metal frame for stability, and a thin, breathable fabric mesh. This makes them very lightweight and much easier to transport and move about as opposed to other types of sight screens.
These features make them a popular and sustainable choice for schools or small-scale clubs, since mesh is cheap and easy to replace. Mesh is also available in the standard black and white options, meaning you can customise the screen to your needs, as with the other options.
Mesh screens can also be fixed directly to cricket cages, rather than needing their own separate panel, unlike alternative sight screens. This makes them one of the more popular and flexible options available.


PVC Cricket Sight Screen
More of a middle-ground between wooden and mesh sight screens. They offer better durability than a wooden sight screen, with a much lighter weight, like a mesh cricket screen. However, they still require breathable slats to ensure wind doesn’t topple them entirely.
The PVC slats also come in black and white colourations, like all the other options so far. Most sight screen suppliers will offer small bundlers of slats if replacements are ever required, making them a very sustainable and cost-effective choice.
It is worth noting that the typical PVC cricket sight screen is made up of around 12-15 slats.
However, it should be kept in mind that these sight screens are still considerably more expensive than mesh sight screens, costing roughly the same amount as their wooden counterparts.
Rotating Cricket Sight Screens
Rotating, or reversible, sight screens are one of the most versatile options for your cricket pitch and matches. They work best for environments where red, pink, and white balls are regularly used, such as training grounds.
Much like the name suggests, rotating cricket sight screens are black on one side, and white on the other. This gives you the ability to rotate them around depending on what sight screen you need at the time. These screens can save a lot of money, given you then only need to buy one screen instead of two.
It isn’t just their colouring that makes them versatile, though, as they are also available in mesh and PVC materials. This gives you full control over your cricketing needs, though at the cost of slightly more unpredictable prices, depending on your requirements.


Advantages Of Cricket Sight Screens
The benefits of using sight screens in cricket extend beyond their role of just improving visibility for batsmen. More often than not, they can help change the atmosphere of a match, contributing towards the professionalism often seen during these games.
A clearer background also helps to eliminate potential distractions of anything in the line of sight of the batsman.
Most sight screens for cricket will also be mounted on wheels, which adds the benefit of easy transport and adjustments when required. Better yet, when they aren’t in use, they can simply be wheeled off the pitch into storage.
Installation And Maintenance
Installing a cricket sight screen involves careful planning and making sure you follow cricket regulations when it comes to measurements and placement. Typically, cricket sight screens are placed at both ends of the field, providing an unobstructed view for batsmen from all angles.
Maintaining sight screens is relatively simple, although essential for keeping them in prime condition and guaranteeing longevity and the best possible performance from them. It is good practice to regularly check both the frame and screen material for any sports of wear and tear.
By doing this, you help to effectively prevent any crucial issues from occurring during a match.

What Is A Cricket Sight Screen?
In conclusion, a cricket sight screen is more than just a background for the cricket field – it is a vital part of the game that helps to ensure fair play, improves visibility, and even contributes to the atmosphere of game environments.
By providing a clear background for the batsmen to see the ball, sight screens play a crucial role in shaping the dynamics of cricket matches. As cricket continues to evolve, so will the technology and design of sight screens, ensuring they remain an indispensable part of the game.
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