A Busselton family man is working overtime to "bring backyard cricket into the 21st century".
Jon Rutgers has created 'Backyard Bash: The World's Most Advanced Cricket Wicket', featuring an electronic scoreboard, LED light show, bluetooth connectivity, speakers, sound effects, bail sensors, and rechargeable batteries.
The batteries provide 10 continuous hours of game play, and take only 40 minutes to re-charge.
The prototype has six scoring buttons - one run, four runs, six runs, over, out, and innings - with easy foot function. The wickets also feature an undo button.
Mr Rutgers brought the prototype to life with assistance from South West companies.
A team of University of WA engineering students worked on the lighting, sensors, and sound.
Mr Rutgers said his invention would help to streamline each and every game of backyard cricket.
"It is encouraging children to go outside and play," he said.
"It ties in perfectly with Australian summer culture, and it's a great way for families to spend active outdoor time together as part of a healthy lifestyle.”
Mr Rutgers is a career firefighter at the Bunbury Fire Station and works as a primary school teacher on a casual basis in Busselton.
He has started a Kickstarter campaign to raise enough money to produce the Backyard Bash wickets so they would be available next summer.
Head to kickstarter.com/projects/backyardbash/backyard-bash-the-worlds-most-advanced-cricket-wic for more details.
