beyond the black stump vs the sticks

beyond the black stump

prep
  • In an extremely isolated place, remote from populated areas; in the middle of nowhere. Typically used to refer to outback areas. 

the sticks

noun
  • The set of yardage markers used by a chain crew to indicate the ten yards between the line of scrimmage from the previous first down and the line to gain, which the offense must reach in their series of four downs in order to retain possession of the ball. 

  • A remote, rural area; a place that is removed from civilization such as the boondocks. 

How often have the words beyond the black stump and the sticks occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )