Etymology Dictionary

BAILS,  small sticks used in the game of cricket.  (F.,—L.?)   The history of the word is obscure.   Roquefort gives O. F. bailles, in the sense of barricade, palisade, with a quotation from Froissart:  'Il fit charpenter des bailles et les asseoir au travers de la rue;' which I suppose to mean, he caused sticks to be cut and set across the street.   Perhaps from Lat. baculus, a stick, rod, used in many senses; cf. F. baillon, a gag, from Lat. baculonem, a deriv. of baculus (Brachet).   But the history of the word remains dark. [※]

ERRATA

But we also find Low L. badallum, a gag; which makes it probable that the etymology of baillon is from Low L. badare, to gape, open the mouth, because a gag keeps the mouth open (Scheler).   See Abeyance.   Whether this really helps us to the etymology of bails, I cannot say.   See also bail (1) in Godefroy.