Short of the Crease

Short of the Crease Original Oil on Board 38cm x 31cm

In the sport of cricket, the crease is a certain area demarcated by white lines painted or chalked on the field of play, and in the rules of cricket they help determine legal play in different ways for the fielding and batting side. They define the area within which the batsmen and bowlers operate. The proper way to execute a run is for the batsman to run from one popping crease to the other popping crease, with the other non-striking batsman running from the opposite crease. In order for the run to be registered, both batsmen have to put any part of their body or bat behind the line of the popping crease. In this painting the batsman is short of his crease….so he is OUT.  Every painting has a story, but Max is a painter of “yarns”, Australian vernacular for a story with a moral and a laugh.

Original Oil on Board by Max Mannix