O T West Wing, Sticky wicket Options

[Downunderman]

I was watching an old episode the other day and two of the actors used the term "sticky wicket", which struck me as quite odd, or is this in common usage in US/Can. So tell us what you think it means and where it came from.

[sgomes]

Google is your friend. From takeourword.com:

QUOTE

The word wicket can mean a number of things.  Primarily, it is a small door or gate, especially one which is set into a larger gate, allowing passage by travelers on foot when the larger gate is closed.  It comes from Anglo-French wiket and is related to the Modern French guichet.  That, however, is not where our answer lies. A sticky wicket is a cricketing allusion so here is a very sketchy outline of the game purely for etymological purposes.  (Cricket fans, we realize that there is a lot more to the game so please forgive us.).  In cricket, a wicket is composed of three upright sticks (the "stumps") with two small pieces of wood (the "bales") resting across their tops.  There are two such wickets, 22 yards apart, and a batsman stands by each one.  The bowler tries to hit one of the wickets with the ball and the batsman's task is to protect his wicket (and score runs) by striking the ball with his bat. So, now I think we all understand what wickets are.  But we are not quite there yet.  The word wicket is also used to mean the turf between the two wooden wickets and, by extension, the condition of that turf.  Thus, if the turf is well trimmed and rolled and is neither too wet nor too dry, one may be batting on a good wicket.  If, on the other hand, the turf is waterlogged and muddy it is known as a sticky wicket. Phew, almost there.   When one is batting on a sticky wicket the ball, which usually strikes the ground in front of the batsman, behaves unpredictably.  In such conditions, it is harder for the batsman to defend his wicket (the wooden one).  Therefore, to be on a sticky wicket means to be in a situation where it is difficult to succeed.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/dead horse.gif)