Bails. These are short pieces of wood, normally turned on a lathe to give them pleasant curves. The stumps have small grooves in the top and the ends of the bails sit in the grooves so that the wind or whatever would not blow them off. There are two bails on each set of stumps resting on the outer stumps and the middle stump.
They are a simple device to show whether the ball hit the stump, even a tiny amount, as if the bail falls off the batsman is out.
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