Cricket MatchKit
One kit for a club ground: crease camera, smart stumps, over-rate clock, umpire band and the bowling machine in the nets
Does the jobs of CreaseCam, SmartStump Pro, LengthLock and PitchTally's cricket kits with one brain: on match days a Pi 5 mast at the boundary films the crease, hears the wooden stumps' bail-off time, checks the front foot and shows the over-rate on two big digits; one umpire band counts balls, overs and spells and buzzes the calls; on nets nights the same mast moves behind the bowling machine and holds the length the coach asked for.
- Who buys it
- Cricket clubs with a first team in a league and a junior section with nets (UK, Australia, NZ, US), and leagues that write technology into playing conditions.
- Why it pays
- $2,799 instead of $3,705 for our CreaseCam Pair, SmartStump Match Kit, LengthLock Junior Nets Kit, OverRate Kit and SpellCount Pair bought separately; one Pi and camera do two jobs and one band replaces three wrist units (est.).
- Target price
- $2,799 MatchKit (2 masts, clock, 2 umpire bands, DialDrive, SmartStump wicket both ends) + $19/month League Stream optional (target)
- First-minute wow
- The umpire's band buzzes 'FOOT' before the ball reaches the batter, the bails come off, and the band shows 'bat 40 mm short' while the clock by the boundary reads 1.5 overs behind.
What the research found
And how this design answers it
- Two Raspberry Pi 5s and two global shutter cameras (CreaseCam node and LengthLock SightCam) → one MatchMast that films the crease on match days and the ball on nets nights; only the lens is swapped
- Three wrist units for the umpire (CreaseCam pager, SmartStump counter band, PitchTally SpellCount Tally) → one band with BALL, CHECK and MARK keys, one screen and one buzz
- PitchTally's PaceFace had its own XIAO and 12 V pack → the two digits hang under the mast on the same stand and run off the mast's PD bank
- SmartStump needed a set dock and a phone to reach the video → the Pi hears the stumps through an nRF52840 dongle and marks bail-off on its own crease video
- LengthLock's NetKey pod → the card reader sits behind a TAP spot on the mast case wall
Use case
Saturday league T20, then Tuesday junior nets
Bowler's-end umpireScorerJunior coach
- 01Trigger: the bowler's front foot lands with no part behind the popping crease
- 02Detection: the mast camera sees the heel over the line; the band buzzes FOOT before the ball arrives
- 03Alert: a run-out next over; the stumps send bail-clear time, the Pi measures the bat 40 mm short and shows it on both bands
- 04Action: the clock shows 1.5 overs behind at the 60-minute mark; on Tuesday the mast goes behind the machine and the DialDrive holds 7 m for the U13s
Outcome: One kit and one app for match evidence, over-rate, spells and nets; $906 less than buying the five kits (est.)
How it works
Architecture
- 01
Sense: global shutter camera, SmartStump bail and stump events over the nRF dongle, umpire band keys, NFC cards
- 02
Decide: the Pi 5 runs front-foot and run-out checks, over-rate and spell rules, and nets ball tracking
- 03
Send: Wi-Fi access point and MQTT to the scorer and phones; BLE to the umpire bands; Wi-Fi to the DialDrive
- 04
Tell: band buzz and screen, two 6.5 in digits on the stand, the MatchKit app
Hardware
Real parts, buyable today
Bill of materials: about $1,456 per MatchKit at qty 1, of which $600 is the SmartStump wicket for both ends (est.).
| Block | Part | Why this part |
|---|---|---|
| Brain | Raspberry Pi 5 2GB + Active Cooler in the MatchMast | Runs the pose model on the crease and ball tracking in the nets; one per crease end |
| Camera | Raspberry Pi Global Shutter Camera, 50 mm C-mount (match) or 6 mm CS (nets) | No smear on a sliding bat or a 130 km/h ball |
| Stump link | Nordic nRF52840 Dongle in a Pi USB port | Hears the SmartStump stumps' timed radio, so bail-off lands on the video clock |
| Clock | 2 x SparkFun COM-08530 6.5 in digits + Large Digit Drivers | Over-rate, new-batter count and spell overs readable from the square |
| Umpire band | Seeed XIAO ESP32-C3, Waveshare 1.54 in e-paper, coin motor, 3 keys, 400 mAh | One wrist unit for every call and count |
| Nets | LengthLock DialDrive (DS3218 servo, XIAO ESP32C3) + PN532 card reader in the mast | Holds the coach's length and checks coach and batter cards |
| Power | 25,000 mAh USB-C PD bank on the stand + 12 V PD trigger | About 8.7 h with the clock lit (est.) |
Mechanical
Printable CAD
10 parts, generated from code and checked as closed solids. Pick a part to inspect it, or download the STL files to print.
Loading the CAD…
Real CAD · drag to rotate · scroll to zoomReal CAD · swipe sideways
Bought hardware fitted inside this part (checked in the CAD: nothing collides with the plastic)
- MatchMast casemast-case.stl · ASA
- MatchMast lid with visormast-lid.stl · ASA
- Over-rate clock faceclock-face.stl · ASA
- Over-rate clock backclock-back.stl · ASA
- Umpire band podband-pod.stl · ASA
- Umpire band lidband-lid.stl · ASA
- Umpire band keysband-keys.stl · TPU
- DialDrive framedialdrive-frame.stl · ASA
- DialDrive liddialdrive-lid.stl · ASA
- DialDrive knob couplerdialdrive-coupler.stl · PETG
Open risks we are working on
- Leagues must allow the camera and clock in their playing conditions; League Mode keeps reviews umpire-only
- One mast per crease: moving one to the nets midweek means re-aiming it on Saturday (mark the stand spot)
- The Pi must hear the stumps 45-75 m away over the nRF dongle; range on a full ground is untested
- Bowling machines stay under adult control (ECB Dec 2025); the DialDrive only moves after a coach card
- The umpire still decides every call; the kit gives evidence and counts only
Design stage only: nothing on this page is for sale. Specifications and prices are targets.