Glossary of cricket

This is a glossary of terms used in the sport of cricket.

A

All-rounder – a player who is proficient in both batting and bowling; the majority of players are specialists in one discipline

Appeal –

Arm ball –

Away swinger – see "Out-swinger"

B

Backlift –

Bail – see Wicket

Ball – see Cricket ball

Bat – see Cricket bat

Batsman – see Batting (cricket)

Batting – see Batting (cricket)

Batting average –

Batting order –

Beamer –

Benefit season –

Blockhole –

Bodyline –

Bouncer –

Boundary –

Bowled – a common means of dismissal by which the bowler has hit the wicket with the ball and the wicket has "broken" with at least one bail being dislodged (note that if the ball hits the wicket without dislodging a bail it is not out)

Bowler – see Bowling (cricket)

Bowling – see Bowling (cricket)

Bowling action –

Bowling analysis –

Bowling average –

Bowling crease –

Bye – extra(s) awarded if the batsman misses the ball and it goes past the wicketkeeper to give the batsmen time to run in the conventional way (note that the mark of a good wicketkeeper is one who restricts the tally of byes to a minimum)

C

Captain –

Carrom ball –

Carrying the bat –

Caught – a common means of dismissal by which the batsman has hit the ball with his bat or with his hand and the ball was caught on the full by a member of the fielding side

Century –

Corridor of uncertainty – a phrase describing a narrow line of flight on and just outside a batsman's off stump in which the bowler may seek to pitch the ball; there is a perception that a ball pitched along this line causes the batsman real difficulty in deciding whether to play or leave the ball

Cover point –

Crease –

Cricket ball –

Cricket field –

Cricket pavilion –

Cricket pitch –

Cricket season –

Cricket statistics –

D

Day/night cricket –

Dead rubber –

Declaration – tactical decision by the batting team's captain to close the innings while the team still has wickets in hand

Deep extra cover –

Deep fine leg –

Dilscoop – see "Marillier shot"

Dismissal – see Dismissal (cricket)

Doosra –

Double –

Duck –

Duckworth-Lewis method –

E

Economy rate –

Extra – runs which are not scored from the bat; they comprise no balls, wides, byes and leg byes and so are a form of penalty imposed on the fielding team; known in Australia as "sundries"

F

Fast bowling (LF/RF) –

Fast medium pace bowling (LFM/RFM) –

Fielded – see Fielding (cricket)

Fielder – see Fielding (cricket)

Fielding – see Fielding (cricket)

Fine – a complicated term used in the naming of certain fielding positions (e.g., fine leg) but also in the definition of an area of the field in relation to the batsman. Basically, a fielding position is fine if the fielder is at a narrow angle behind "square" (i.e., behind an imaginary extension of the popping crease to each boundary). Fielding positions which are fine include backward point, deep fine leg, fine leg, gully and third man.

Fine leg –

Finger spin bowling –

First XI –

First-class cricket –

Five for –

Flight –

Flighting –

Flipper –

Follow on – in a double innings match, the side batting second may be obliged to bat the third innings (i.e., bat a second time out of turn) because of the size of their first innings deficit (e.g., 200-plus runs behind in a Test match)

Forward defence –

Free hit –

Full toss –

G

Googly – also known as a wrong un or a bosie, an off-break being bowled by a leg-spinner with a leg-break action (right-arm bowler) or an orthodox delivery being bowled with a chinaman action (left-arm bowler). Essentially, the ball spins in the opposite direction to that of the spin bowler's "stock delivery". It was devised by B. J. T. Bosanquet at the end of the 19th century and the Australian term "bosie" was coined in his honour.

Grip – a term used in both batting and bowling with emphasis on the variations deployed. A batsman may hold in his bat handle in a number of ways depending on how he plans to play against a particular bowler: for example, "bottom hand down" means he has a very low grip on the bat handle because he intends to play a lofted shot. In bowling, the grip is key to the whole process as the delivery is determined by how the bowler grips the ball in terms of the placement of his fingers on or near the seam; if he wishes to "spin" or "swing" the ball in a certain way, he must use the appropriate grip.

Gully – an off side fielding position fairly close to the wicket where the fielder has a good chance of catching a ball that flies off the outside edge of the bat. The position is wide of and below the "slips" so the fielder is "fine" of "point", meaning he stands just "behind square" to the left of point if the batsman is right-handed.

H

Half-century –

Handled the ball – an unusual means of dismissal whereby a batsman must not deliberately use his hand to protect his wicket (note that the bowled ball often hits the batsman's hand but this is not intentional by the batsman and so is not out; though he can of course be caught off his hand)

Hat-trick –

Hawk-Eye –

Hit wicket – a common means of dismissal whereby a batsman did just that, often by hitting the wicket with his bat or by falling onto it or running into it

Hit the ball twice – an unusual means of dismissal that was introduced as a safety measure to counter dangerous play and protect the fielders, although when it does occur it is usually because the batsman has tried to stop the ball hitting the wicket after he has already played it

I

In-swinger – a fast delivery in which the ball swings (i.e., achieves lateral movement) in the air and moves from off to leg (i.e., it swings into the batsman having seemed to be going outside the wicket on his off side); a fast bowler effects swing by using a particular grasp of the seam in his hand before releasing the ball.

Innings – see Innings

International Cricket Council (ICC) – see International Cricket Council; the sport's global governing body

J

Jock strap – a form of male underwear worn by batsmen and designed to hold the box firmly in place to protect the genitals

K

Keeper – abbreviation of wicketkeeper

Knock – slang for a batsman's innings, referred to as a "good knock" if he makes a high score

Kwik cricket –

L

Laws of cricket – see Laws of cricket

Left-arm orthodox spin – see "Slow left-arm orthodox"

Left-arm unorthodox spin – see "Slow left-arm chinaman"

Leg before wicket (lbw) – a common means of dismissal that is complex in its application but basically means that the batsman would have been bowled if the ball had not hit his leg first; this decision is entirely based on the umpire's judgment but the fielding side must appeal for the dismissal first

Leg break (LB) – a delivery bowled by a leg-spin bowler; bowled to a right-handed batsman, the ball will turn from the leg side to the off side (i.e., it will pass in front of the batsman from his left to his right)

Leg break and googly (LBG) –

Leg bye – extra(s) awarded if the ball hits the batsman's leg, but not his bat, and it goes away from the fielders to give the batsmen time to run in the conventional way; note that a leg bye cannot be claimed if the batsman did not try to play the ball with the bat

Leg cutter –

Leg side –

Leg slip –

Leg theory –

List A –

Lob bowling –

Long hop –

Long leg –

Long off –

Long on –

Long stop –

Lost ball –

M

Maiden – an over in which no runs are scored from the bat; it is credited to the bowler in his statistical analysis

Man of the match –

Marillier shot – also known as the "dilscoop" or the "paddle scoop", though these have certain technical differences, it is an unorthodox batting stroke developed in Twenty20 by Zimbabwean batsman Dougie Marillier; it is a very risky stroke achieved when the batsman "flicks" the ball over the heads of both himself and the wicketkeeper but, if successfully done, it almost always results in a boundary

Medium pace bowling (LM/RM) –

Mid off –

Mid on –

Mid wicket –

N

Nelson –

Nervous nineties –

Net run rate –

Nightwatchman –

No ball – a penalty of one extra that is conceded by the bowler if he breaks the rules of bowling either by (a) using an inappropriate arm action; (b) overstepping the popping crease; (c) bowling with a foot outside the return crease

Non-striker –

Not out –

O

Obstructed the field – an unusual means of dismissal that tends to involve a batsman deliberately getting in the way of a fielder

Off break (OB) –

Off cutter –

Off theory –

Out – see Dismissal (cricket)

Out-swinger – also called the "away swinger", a fast delivery in which the ball swings (i.e., achieves lateral movement) in the air and moves away from the batsman's body to his off side (i.e., it swings away from the batsman having seemed to be going to his leg side or straight towards him and his wicket); a fast bowler effects swing by using a particular grasp of the seam in his hand before releasing the ball

Over – a period of play in which six successive deliveries are bowled by one bowler from the same end of the pitch; the name comes from the umpire's call of "Over!" after the sixth delivery has been completed; the next over is bowled by a different bowler from the other end of the pitch

Overarm bowling –

Overthrow –

Owzat? –

P

Paddle scoop – see "Marillier shot"

Partnership –

Pinch hitter –

Pitched delivery bowling –

Playing time –

Point –

Popping crease –

Powerplay – a rule introduced in 2005 concerning fielding restrictions in limited overs international (LOI) cricket; it applies not only to the first ten overs of every innings, but also in two blocks of five overs to be used at the discretion of the fielding captain

Q

Quick (or quickie) – slang for a fast bowler

R

Result –

Retired out –

Return creases –

Reverse swing –

Roundarm bowling –

Run – see Run (cricket)

Run out – a common means of dismissal by which a fielder has broken the wicket with the ball while a batsman was out of his ground; this usually occurs by means of an accurate throw to the wicket while the batsmen are attempting a run

Run rate –

Run-up –

Runner –

S

Score / scorer / scoring – see Scoring (cricket)

Seam –

Seam bowling –

Second XI –

Shine –

Short of a length –

Short square leg –

Silly point –

Single wicket cricket –

Single –

Slider –

Slip –

Slog –

Slow left-arm (unorthodox) chinaman (SLC) –

Slow left-arm orthodox (SLA) –

Slower ball –

Snickometer –

Spin bowling –

Square – a complicated term used in the naming of certain fielding positions (e.g., square leg) but also in the definition of an area of the field in relation to the batsman. Basically, a fielding position is square if the fielder is somewhere along an imaginary extension of the popping crease to each boundary. Fielding positions which are square include point, deep point, square leg and deep square leg. The square leg umpire stands there so that he is in line with the popping crease in order to judge run out and stumping appeals.

Square leg –

Square leg umpire –

Sticky wicket –

Strike rate –

Striker –

Stump – see Wicket

Stumped – a common means of dismissal that it is executed by the wicketkeeper alone after the batsman has missed the bowled ball and has stepped out of his ground; the keeper must break the wicket with the ball in his hand for a stumping (if the keeper throws the ball at the wicket, it is a run out)

Substitute –

Swing bowling – a fast delivery in which the ball swings (i.e., achieves lateral movement) in the air and moves either towards (in-swinger) or away from (out-swinger) the batsman; a fast bowler effects swing by using a particular grasp of the seam in his hand before releasing the ball.

Switch hit –

T

Teesra –

Test cricket –

Third man –

Third umpire – (or TV umpire) is an off-field umpire who makes the final decision in questions referred to him by the two on-field umpires; television replays are available to the third umpire to assist him in coming to a decision

Throw –

Throwing (illegal) –

Tie –

Timed out – an unusual means of dismissal that means that the next batsman did not arrive at the wicket within two minutes of the previous one being dismissed

Topspinner –

Toss –

Twenty20 cricket (pronounced, but not written, 'twenty-twenty cricket') – a fast-paced, shortened form of the game introduced in England in 2003, in which each team plays an innings of twenty overs and the highest-scoring team wins

U

Umpire – see Umpire (cricket)

Umpire Decision Review System – a system which allows the fielding captain or the batsmen to request the third umpire to review the standing umpires' previous decision using technological aids, in the hope of having a dismissal awarded (in the case of the fielding captain) or overturned (in the case of the batsman).

Underarm bowling – see Underarm bowling

Unorthodox – (a) an improvised and unusual shot played by the batsman (e.g., Marillier shot); (b) left arm spin bowling achieved by using the wrist to effect spin: see "Slow left-arm (unorthodox) chinaman (SLC)"

Unplayable delivery – subjective view that a ball was impossible for the batsman to play, with all credit due to the bowler

V

Village cricket – a generic term applied to local club cricket in which the playing standard is of minor quality; in practice, village cricket includes games involving local teams from towns and cities, not just villages; historically, matches at this level were sometimes referred to as "parish matches"

W

Walk – action of a batsman who is "giving himself out". This is when a batsman believes that he has been dismissed and sportingly "walks" (i.e., back to the pavilion) despite the umpire signalling "not out" or before the umpire has signalled "out". There have been stories, associated with bowlers like Fred Trueman, about batsmen deciding to walk because they no longer wished to face his bowling!

Wicket – see Wicket. The term essentially refers to the arrangement of the stumps and bails for use as the bowler's target but is also used as a synonym for both the pitch (e.g., a "sticky wicket") and a dismissal (e.g., the "fall of a wicket").

Wicketkeeper – see Wicketkeeper

Wicketkeeper-batsman – a variation on "all rounder", this is a specialist wicketkeeper who is also worth his place in the team for his batting alone and may even be good enough to open the innings: e.g., Adam Gilchrist. Most wicketkeepers, like bowlers, are ordinary batsmen.

Wicket maiden – a maiden over (no runs scored) in which the bowler dismisses a batsman (i.e., takes a wicket). It is called a "double wicket maiden" if he takes two wickets.

Wicket-to-wicket – basically, an imaginary line drawn down the centre of the pitch between the middle stumps of both wickets and used colloquially to describe bowling which is straight with no movement off the line of delivery

Wide – a penalty of one extra that is conceded by the bowler if he bowls so that the ball is out of the batsman's reach; in addition, the ball must be re-bowled

Wrist spin bowling –

Wrong un – see "Googly"; this is a term sometimes used in Australia for the googly

X

X. Tras – slang for "extras" to imply that an imaginary batsman, sometimes called "Mr Extras", was responsible for scoring the extras in a team's total (there have been instances of extras achieving the "top score" in a team's innings)

Y

Yorker – a fast, straight delivery which the bowler pitches on or close to the popping crease and therefore just in front of the batsman's toes. It is designed to pass under the bat just as its downswing becomes vertical. If successful, the batsman is said to have been "yorked". The yorker is pitched closer to the wicket than a "half-volley" but not as close as a "full toss". The term's origin is uncertain and it is not necessarily connected with Yorkshire.

Z

Zooter (or zoota) – credited to Shane Warne and supposedly a variation of the leg-spin "flipper" which stays close to ground with little bounce; probably not an intentional delivery as reduction of the bounce is extremely difficult to manage