Possibly from entice, as below, suggesting the bowler's purpose.
Meanings
(dated) A ball bowled to strike the ground about a bat's length in front of the wicket; a yorker.
1870 July, The Wykehamist, Number 33, page 1,
Raynor, though somewhat wild, obtained an extraordinary number of wickets for very few runs, his fast "tices" quite puzzling the Eton bats.
1911, Henry Charles Howard Suffolk and Berkshire (Earl of), Hedley Peek, Frederick George Aflalo, The Encyclopaedia of Sport & Games, Volume 1, page 452,
A "yorker" (or "tice") pitches on, or within six inches of, the popping crease; […] .
Bowlers should practise both toss and tice. 1862, James Picroft, The Cricket-Field, Or The History and the Science of the Game of Cricket, page 120:
The tice is almost a full pitch. If you have a long reach, go in and play forward; if not, however, keep your bat down, and block it. 1863 March 7, “The Complete Guide to the Cricket Field: Chapter III: The Batsman”, in The Boy's Miscellany: An Illustrated Journal of Useful and Entertaining Literature for Youth, volume 1, page 155:
(qualifier:croquet) A ball left at a hittable but difficult distance or position, to lure the opponent into a mistake.
Forms
Spelling
Features
Labels
Source
tices
Number=Plur
lexicographic
Synonyms
yorker (ball bowled to strike the pitch near the batsman's feet)
Hath ſome fond lover tic'd thee to thy bane? / And vvilt thou leave the Church, and love a ſtie? [1633], George Herbert, “The Forerunners”, in [Nicholas Ferrar], editor, The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC, page 171:
Have I not reaſon, think you, to look pale? / These tvvo have ’ticed me hither to this place: […] c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
VVhat ſtrong enchantments tice my yeelding ſoule […] c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii: