Ball Games We Played
Give a kid a ball and they can be entertained for hours, especially boys.
Everyone has heard "Ron The Manager" from The Fast Show, talk about "jumpers for goal posts" etc, and it's true, we did do that. We also marked garden walls with chalk to make opposing goals across the road which meant everything had to come to a halt when a car came by.
Below you'll find some of the other Ball games I remember playing in the road!
Click here to listen to Ron The Manager remminisce about football.
Use the "Email My Games" link on the Wet Weekend Page if you played other games not mentioned.
- French Cricket
- It's probably true to say that you wouldn't expect to find French & Cricket in the same sentence let alone finding a game called French Cricket, but that's the name we gave to an adaptation of the mainstream game.
French cricket has no wicket to play on, nor stumps and bails.
Toss a coin to decide on who goes first.
Agree the points awarded for various areas of the playing field, in this case our street!
A clean hit into one of the gardens was a 6. Hitting the ball into a garden with just one bounce was a 4!
8 runs were awarded for a hit that took the ball straight up the alley way between the houses opposite ours.
The batsman must stand on one spot, usually a trodden piece of old gum, feet together and bat held in front of them protecting their shins!
The bowler can only throw under-arm, from a stationary position, and is trying to hit the batsman's legs below the knee.
The batsmen mustn't move their feet in playing the shot or trying to avoid the ball.
The fielder retrieving the ball, becomes the next "bowler" and must bowl from wherever they pick up the ball.
If the bowler manages to hit the batsman's legs to get him out, the players change places and roles.
However, if the batsman is caught out, the catcher becomes the batsman and takes up play from where they catch the ball.
This worked well for us and was more fun the more players we could gather from the houses in the street.
It being an accepted unspoken rule that you could only hit the ball into the gardens of those playing the game!
There was one garden that we tried to avoid because the owner of this garden took exception at our frequent dashes over his flowerbeds to retrieve the ball.
- Kerb Football
- The standard rules of football apply to Kerb Football with the exceptions being that a tennis ball is used and the goals are the actual kerb stones.
Again marked with chalk the goals were three or four kerb stones wide but only as high as the kerb; about 4 inches.
Using a tennis ball made the game fast and frantic.
The main draw back with this game was having to move aside every time a car passed down the road. Luckily there was far less traffic about back then.
If you weren't careful, the ball could disappear down a drain which would lead to a sulky afternoon if a replacement couldn't be found.
- Spot Ball
- This is a game for 1 or more players.
All you need is a football and a wall!
Mark a target area, usually as wide as a goal, although in our street it was often the wall from gate pillar to boundary pillar.
simply kick the ball against the wall, ensuring it strikes the wall within the target area.
The next player must hit the rebounding ball back to strike the target area, but they aren't allowed to stop the ball or take more than the one touch!
Keep the ball moving but if a player misses the target or touches the ball twice, they lose a life; becoming an "S"
Lose 2 lives and you're an "sp", 3 = "spo" and 4 means you're a "spot" and out of the game. Keep going untill there is just one player left, the winner!.
- Catch Out
- This is a simple variation on catch.
You may play with as many players as you like, who all stand in a circle.
Just throw the ball to one another.
However, if you drop the ball, you have to take the following penalties;
Drop it once and you have to go down on one knee.
Drop the ball again and you go down on both knees. Catch it though and you can stand back up.
Drop it 3 times in a row and you have to put one arm behind your back. Catch it though and you can go back to one knee>
Drop it for a 4th time and you have to lay down on your back with one arm only to catch with and so on!
There's nothing more odd than a group of kids playing this in the street with people bobbing up and down like yoyo's as they either drop or catch their turn.
- Dodge Ball
- This is the most violent of the games we played with balls in the street.
It's a take on the traditional tag (touch) game.
The difference being the player who "is on it" is also armed with a tennis ball!
The player who's "it" has to hit the other players on the leg below the knee with the ball in order to get them "out".
Obviously, the better you are at "dodging the ball" the longer the game goes on.
I remember collecting shins full of bruises playing this.