THE Bull's Head in Pratts Bottom will be hosting this year's Bat and Trap event on the village green on August 24.

What is Bat and Trap you may ask?

The sport is something of a Kentish tradition, with four different leagues in existence across the county.

A team game with six players on each side, the trap is a rectangular mechanical device which lies on the ground.

Batsmen knock a lever in the trap which fires a hard rubber ball upwards in front of the batsmen, who then hits it with towards the other side of the pitch.

The objective is to make the ball pass between two white posts which are 21 yards away.

Normally, the ball bounces once or twice before doing this and is fielded by a member of the opposing side who stand in a line just behind and between the posts.

However, in the rare case where a fielder catches the ball without it having touched the ground, the batsman is caught out.

A batsman who misses the ball, or otherwise fails to hit it between the posts successfully, is knocked out.

Once a fielder has the ball, the bowling part of the game commences.

The bowler has as a target the front part of the trap, which is a five inch square rectangular flap hinged at the bottom and standing vertically.

A bowler from the fielding side rolls the ball down the pitch at the trap target, which is called a wicket, and the batsman must stand back and cannot obstruct the ball in any way.

If the wicket is knocked down, the batsman is bowled out and the next batsman steps up. If the bowler misses, then the batsman has scored a run and carries on with the next strike.

This continues until all six batsmen are out.

The team with the highest score wins, with each game consisting of three legs.

No previous experience is necessary to take part in the Pratts Bottom event and all you need is a team of four people.

The Bull's Head's chosen charity, the June Parent Toddler Group, will also be organising a fund raising activity on the day.

Registration begins at 11.30am and first games will commence one hour later.

There is an entry fee of £10 per team and the event will be in two stages, firstly a group and then plate and cup knockout competitions with trophies awarded for the winners and runners-up of both competitions.

For more information, email Simon Wellington at chairman1@batandtrap.org.uk