The wicket is the ground in the middle of the cricket oval … kinda the equivalent of the diamond in baseball. Because the ball bounces after being bowled, before getting to the batter, it means the type of ground it is effects how the ball will bounce, and one must compensate.

The dullness in Caribbean wicket is due to the humidity, which means a less dry ground, which dampens the bounce of the ball. Swing and seam-attacks (which are the equivalent of different pitching types in baseball) depend on speed and bounce coming off a hard dry wicket, so with the slower wicket you need bowling techniques that use that as a strength, hence the slower balls and off-cutters (the latter being a bowl that swerves in a particular direction at the last minute after a close-in bounce).

The Cricket World Cup uses the 1-day version of the game (approx. 8 hours for a game) and is really exciting. Watching your opponent and how they perform on similar wickets is a really good idea.

I am a kiwi living here in the US, so I do miss the game a lot … and again, Go New Zealand!!! Kill those Brits!!

They mean that you will be bored stupid if you watch cricket