Puddox, or Puddock

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Curated by Larry McCray and Jeffrey Kittel
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Game	Puddox, or Puddock
Game Family	Baseball Baseball
Location
Regions	Britain, Rest of World
Eras	Derivative, Post-1900
Invented	No
Tags
Description	"Puddox is a game that was introduced to Boston Grammar School by Robin Gracey in 1990/91. It is a combination of rounders and cricket. Two teams participate, made up of form members from each class and the teams are drawn randomly from a hat. Often first year teams (now year 7) would meet 15 year old lads but size meant little in Puddox, as Mr Gracey would attest, being quite short himself. John Huggins recalls playing Puddox at Boston Grammar School in 1962. He believes it had migrated there from the Stamford School where it was popular. The batting team sends out two players to stand at either end of the 'pitch' which is (as far as I remember) about the length of a cricket pitch. The bowler only bowls from one end, and a small baseball-style ball is used. Bowling uses the under-arm style. The batting team uses a small one-handed bat. Runs are made by running to the end of the pitch, just like cricket. I seem to remember a rule that you can only run if you'd made contact with the ball. There is a time limit for each team (I think these games were played during lunch hours but that may be wrong!) and at the end of the game, scores are collated and the winning team is put through to the next round." Aka Puddock, and arguably played from the 1920s on.   Youtube commentary from 1999-2022:   "Tim Atkinson (1999)  The annual summer inter-form tournament of this rather quaint and (allegedly) unique cricket/rounders hybrid. Only at BGS...       Mark Simpson 2 years ago [2020] Hello Tim, For 111 (one hundred and eleven) years there has been an annual camp held for youngsters of 11-16 years of age... this has happened, with exception of the first 5 years(1908-1913), at Hermanus, about 130 km East of Cape Town, on the coast in South Africa.  Having watched your posted video of Puddox played at Boston Grammar School, it struck me that many hundreds of youngsters and ex campers would be interested to find out more of the origins of Puddox. Now named the "Annual Hermanus Camp", after many years having been called the Kenilworth Scout Camp, the camp is usually held for about 10-12 days, commencing on 27th or so of December, our height of summer. If you are interested to find the odd photos they'd probably be findable on the web page of the Annual Hermanus Camp. Puddox , I believe, is only played in this camp in SA!There seem to be one or two minor differences in the rules of play for the Puddox at the AHC camp. Do make contact through the AHC facebook, or the web page, if you are interested. Best, Mark. Show less     RJ McHenry 1 year ago [2021]   Blimey, I miss playing this game. I remember the tournaments very fondly."   == Entered by Bruce Allardice, 6/6/2022. Supplemented by L McCray, 6/10/2022.
Sources	For the YouTube clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGttQqQ2RNo   See also attached Youtube commentary, 1999-2021--  For the history and rules of Puddox/Puddock: http://rosma.co.uk/mw/oba/index.php?title=Puddox This Boston appears to be in Lincolnshire, England.
Source Image	[[Image:|left|thumb]]
Comment	The YouTube clip shows a two-handed bat. See also Podex. Edit with form to add a comment
Query	(Does South Africa have a Boston, too? From Wikipedia, 2022: "Boston is a small town situated in the Mkhomazi and Elands River valley of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.") Is it clear why this game is called a cricket/rounders hybrid, and not just a cricket offshoot? Is this game known in Britain and America?   Edit with form to add a query
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<br />Other Sources (found June 2022)<br /><br /><br />THE    ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   SPORT        [public  school  games] <br /><br />p. 148


(2)  Fettes,  Glenalmond,  Merchiston,  Edin- 
burgh Academy,  Blair  Lodge  (C  and  F"),  Sed- 
bergh,  Watson's  College  (F),  Rossall  (C). 

In  the  summer  a  <em>modification  of  cricket 
called  puddex</em>  is  played  at  odd  times.  A  hard 
tennis  ball  and  a  thick  round  stick  are  used. 
House  matches  must  not  be  played  by  less  than 
five  a  side,  bedroom  matches  by  more  than 
four.  The  pitch  must  be  fourteen  yards  long, 
the  wicket  at  least  a  foot  wide.  No  hit  behind 
the  wicket  counts.  Every  batsman  retires  when 
he  has  made  twenty-five  ;  only  slow  underhand 
is  allowed.  The  other  rules  are  the  same  as  in 
.single-wicket  cricket.