fielder

(cricket) A player of the fielding side, whose task is to gather the ball after the batsman has hit it, to catch the batsman out, or to prevent him from scoring.


fall of wicket

The second fall of wicket was 250 runs.

(cricket) The side's total score when a particular batsman was out.


farm the strike

en-verb

farm the strike (third-person singular simple present farms the strike, present participle farming the strike, simple past and past participle farmed the strike)

farms the strike (present singular third-person)
farming the strike (participle present)
farmed the strike (participle past)
farmed the strike (past)

(cricket) To deliberately either score runs or decline to score runs so as to allow the best batsman to face the majority of the balls as the striker.


fast bowler

(cricket) A bowler who specialises in bowling the ball fast in cricket; as opposed to a spin bowler.


snicker

(cricket, rare) A player who snicks the ball.


inside out

In the sense thoroughly, an asyndetic clipping of inside and out.

He hit the ball inside out in an ugly manner, but scored a four.

(cricket) Describes the hitting of a ball that pitched outside of leg stump to the off side of the field.


field restriction

en-noun

field restriction (plural field restrictions)

(cricket) A rule governing the placement of fielders (within an oval drawn on the pitch) at certain times during the innings of a one-day match.


session

→ Japanese: セッション (sesshon)

→ Korean: 세션 (sesyeon)

→ Scottish Gaelic: seisean

From Middle English session, from Old French session, from Latin sessiō (“a sitting”), from sedeō (“sit”).

(cricket) Any of the three scheduled two hour playing sessions, from the start of play to lunch, from lunch to tea and from tea to the close of play.


tweaker

From tweak + -er; the drug addict sense derives from the slang term tweak for methamphetamines, in reference to the punding behavior of addicts.


ECB

England and Wales Cricket Board
w:England and Wales Cricket Board

(cricket) Initialism of England and Wales Cricket Board, the governing body for the sport in England and Wales.


fifth slip

(cricket) The slip fielding position beyond the fourth slip.


fine leg

fine leg (countable and uncountable, plural fine legs)

(cricket, uncountable) A fielding position on the leg side, behind square and near the boundary.

(cricket, countable) The fielder in that position.


finger spin

left arm orthodox spin
left arm orthodox spin

(cricket) A style of bowling in which the bowler imparts spin to the ball by running his fingers down its side as he releases it; off spin for a right handed bowler and left arm orthodox spin for a left-handed one.


first class

(cricket) Of or relating to a first class match.

első osztályú

cricket: relating to a first class match


first session

(cricket) The session of a day's play between start of play and lunch.


first slip

(cricket) The slip fielding position closest to the wicket keeper


five-for

(cricket) The feat of a bowler taking five wickets in one innings


follow on

en-verb

follow on (third-person singular simple present follows on, present participle following on, simple past and past participle followed on)

follows on (present singular third-person)
following on (participle present)
followed on (participle past)
followed on (past)

(cricket, of a team) To bat their second innings immediately after their first innings.


fourth slip

(cricket) A fielding position to the off side of the third slip.


French cut

(cricket) A batsman's shot in which the ball deflects off the inside edge of the bat and travels fine down the leg side behind the batsman and often travels to the boundary.


full toss

(cricket) A ball that does not bounce on the pitch before reaching the batsman.


good length

(cricket) The area on a pitch considered to be the best place to pitch the ball in order to either get the batter out, or restrict them from scoring; the length at which the ball bounces just too far away for it to be comfortably played either on the front foot or the back foot.


grubber

(cricket) A ball that bounces unusually low such that it is difficult for the batsman to hit properly.


gully

→ French: gollé

→ German: Gully

Origin uncertain. Possibly from a variant of Middle English golet (“esophagus, gullet”), from Old French goulet, from Latin gula (“throat”). Shift in meaning in Middle English to "water channel, ravine" may have been influenced by Middle English gylle, gille, galle (“deep narrow valley, ravine”); see gill.
Alternatively, from a diminutive of dialectal gull (“fissue, chasm”) + -y (diminutive suffix). See gull, gullick.

unc

uncertain

inh

(cricket) A fielding position on the off side about 30 degrees behind square, between the slips and point; a fielder in such a position


Hawk-Eye

From hawk + eye, a reference to the bird of prey's noted eyesight.

(cricket, tennis) A system, using six static television cameras and sophisticated computing, to track the path of the ball in flight.


Bunsen

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Bunsen.wav

(cricket, informal, rhyming slang) A turner (a pitch on which the ball turns easily).


half volley

(cricket) A delivery that bounces just short of the blockhole


volley

→ Cantonese: 窩利 /窝利 (wo¹ lei⁶⁻²)

→ German: Volley

→ Polish: wolej

→ Portuguese: vólei

From Middle French volée (“flight”), from Vulgar Latin volta, from Late Latin volatus.

(cricket) A sending of the ball full to the top of the wicket.


handled the ball

(cricket) Describing a way of getting out in which the batsman deliberately touches the ball with the hand not holding the bat.


hat trick

From hat + trick (“element of a magician’s or variety entertainer’s act; entertaining and difficult physical action”, noun). Sense 2 (“achievement of a bowler taking three wickets in three consecutive balls”)—the original sporting sense—refers to the commemorative hat formerly given as a prize to the bowler by his club.

هاتريك

three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.

שלושער m (shloshá'ar, literally “three-gate or goal”)

གསུམ་སྦྲགས (gsum sbrags, literally “pack-of-three”)

Jones got a hat trick yesterday. Let’s see if he can do better today.

(cricket) An achievement of a bowler taking three wickets in three consecutive balls.

(by extension, sports) Three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc., such as three consecutive wins.

(specifically, baseball, ironic) The act of striking out three times in a game.

In ice hockey, it’s customary for fans to throw their hats on to the rink after a player scores a hat trick.

(specifically, ice hockey, soccer) Three goals scored by one player in a game.

(specifically, rugby) Three tries scored by one player in a game.

Ever heard of a Gordie Howe hat trick? It comprises a goal, an assist, and a fighting major penalty.

The car salesman came home with front-row seats to the weekend game after achieving a hat trick by selling three cars that day.

And with the debut of his new series Hyperion Bay in 1998, [Joseph] Dougherty accomplished the rare "hat trick" in television: the pilot was written, executive-produced, and codirected by Dougherty.

2002, Douglas Heil, “From Office Temp to ‘Hat Trick’ Showrunner: Interview with Joseph Dougherty”, in Prime Time Authorship: Works about and by Three TV Dramatists (The Television Series), Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, →ISBN, page 129:

Three murders in less than two weeks. That's a hat trick.

2015, Les Roberts, “Milan”, in The Ashtabula Hat Trick (A Milan Jacovich/Kevin O’Bannion Mystery), Cleveland, Oh.: Gray & Company, →ISBN, page 51:

In these modern cities, anti-infection measures had to be imposed from the top down, by a central authority. To pull this off, the authority required three things: the ability to identify cases in a timely fashion, and so determine the infection's direction of travel; an understanding of how the disease spread (by water? air? insect vector?), and hence the measures that were likely to block it; and some means of ensuring compliance with those measures. When all three of these ingredients – which we'll describe in more detail in the following sections – were in place, containment could be extremely effective, but a hat-trick was rare.

2017 May, Laura Spinney, “Chalking Doors with Crosses”, in Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: PublicAffairs, published September 2017, →ISBN, part 4 (The Survival Instinct), page 91:

(by extension, generally) Three achievements or incidents that occur together, usually within a certain period of time.

hattutemppu

three achievements or incidents that occur together, usually within a certain period of time


heavy roller

Thommo pointed out on the radio that under normal circumstances the wicket retains moisture beneath a hard surface, and this water is brought to the surface by the heavy roller and causes problems on the first day of a game.

2003, David Mortimer, Classic Cricket Clangers, page 179:

(cricket) The heavier of the rollers used for flattening the pitch between innings.


hit the ball twice

head

hit the ball twice (phrasal noun, uncountable)

34. Hit the ball twice

1992, Tony Pocock, Official Rules of Sports & Games, 1992-93, page 392:

Law 34 (Hit the ball twice) ...

2003, Marylebone Cricket Club, The official laws of cricket: Law 34 (Hit the ball twice) [online version], archived from the original on 2009-02-20:

5 Hit the ball twice - lf a striker sees that the ball, which has just been hit, is going to be caught, it would be unfair to hit the ball for a second time.

2006, Julia Hickey, Understanding Cricket:

(cricket) A rule ("law" in cricket) which when invoked results in the dismissal of a batsman (out), whereby the batsman has deliberately hit the ball with his bat a second time for a reason other than to protect his wicket.


hit wicket

(cricket) Describing a method of dismissal of a batsman (out) in which the batsman hits his own wicket either with the bat or his body, usually while attempting to play the ball.


cricketer

Described by witnesses as a keen cricketer and pubgoer until contacts with Islamic militants radicalized him on a trip to Pakistan, he was ordered to serve at least 14 years for the plot, and for supplying militants in Afghanistan with money and equipment.

2008 February 19, John F. Burns, “Britain: Life Sentence in Beheading Plot”, in The New York Times:

Several cricketers came up to them and asked Pradeep about his effortless action mimicry and his promising chinaman bowling.

2011, Shehan Karunatilaka, Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew, Jonathan Cape, page 103:


turner

From Middle English turner, torner, tornere, turnere, turnare, equivalent to turn + -er. Also from Middle English turnour, tornour, tournour, turnoure, from Old French tornour, tourneour, tourneur, tornëor (“one who fashions something by turning”).

(cricket) A very dry pitch on which the ball will turn with ease.


inner

outer

antonym(s) of “One who supports remaining in the EU”

From Middle English inner, ynner, ynnere, from Old English innera, comparative of inne (“within”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁en.

wicket-keeping gloves
wicket-keeping gloves

(cricket) A thin glove worn inside batting gloves or wicket-keeping gloves.


pavilion

From Middle English pavilloun, from Anglo-Norman pavilloun, from Latin pāpiliōnem, form of pāpiliō (“butterfly, moth”) (due to resemblance of tent to a butterfly’s wings), of unknown origin. Doublet of papillon.
Cognate to French pavillon (“pavilion”) and papillon (“butterfly”), and similar terms in other Romance languages.

(cricket) The building where the players change clothes, wait to bat, and eat their meals.


opener

オープナー

baseball pitcher who starts the game, but is planned to have a short outing

(cricket) A batsman or bowler who normally plays in the first two positions of an innings.


sweeper

From Middle English swepere, swepare, equivalent to sweep + -er. Cognate with Middle Low German swēpære, swēper (“broom for sweeping up debris”).

(cricket) A batsman who plays sweep shots.

(cricket) A fielding position along the boundary; a fielder in this position.


waft

From Middle English waften, of uncertain origin. Possibly from unattested Old English *wafettan, from wafian (“to wave”) + -ettan, or perhaps borrowed from Middle Dutch wachten (“to guard, provide for”).
See also German wabern (“to waft”), Faroese veiftra (“to wave”) and Icelandic váfa (“to fluctuate, waver, doubt”).

der

(cricket, slang) A loose noncommittal shot, usually played to a ball pitched short of length and well wide of the off stump.


manhattan

(cricket) a bar chart representing the number of runs scored in each over (supposed to resemble a skyline of skyscrapers).


infield

(cricket) The region of the field roughly bounded by the wicket keeper, slips, gully, point, cover, mid off, mid on, midwicket and square leg.

etukenttä

cricket: The region of the field roughly bounded by the wicket keeper, slips, gully, etc.


stump

From Middle English stumpe, stompe (“stump”), from or akin to Middle Low German stump (“stump”) or Middle Dutch stomp, from Old Saxon or Old Dutch *stump, from Proto-West Germanic *stump, from Proto-Germanic *stumpaz (“stump, blunt, part cut off”).
Cognate with Middle Dutch stomp (“stump”), Old High German stumph (“stump”) (German Stumpf), Old Norse stumpr (“stump”). More at stop.

(cricket) One of three small wooden posts which together with the bails make the wicket and that the fielding team attempt to hit with the ball.

keppi

cricket: one of the three vertical wooden posts in the wicket


stump

en-verb

stump (third-person singular simple present stumps, present participle stumping, simple past and past participle stumped)

stumps (present singular third-person)
stumping (participle present)
stumped (participle past)
stumped (past)
stump (infinitive)

(transitive, cricket, of a wicket keeper) To get a batsman out stumped.

A herd of boys with clamour bowled, / And stumped the wicket.

1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Prologue”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:

(transitive, cricket) To bowl down the stumps of (a wicket).


stumps

England still have a chance of winning tomorrow if they can get India out before stumps today.

(cricket) close of play (when the stumps are pulled out of the ground by the umpires)


willow

en-noun

willow (countable and uncountable, plural willows)

From Middle English wilwe, welew, variant of wilghe, from Old English welig, from Proto-West Germanic *wilig, from Proto-Germanic *wiligaz, from Proto-Indo-European *welik- (compare (Arcadian) Ancient Greek ἑλίκη (helíkē), Hittite 𒌑𒂖𒆪 (welku, “grass”)), from *wel- (“twist, turn”).


sledge

en-verb

sledge (third-person singular simple present sledges, present participle sledging, simple past and past participle sledged)

sledges (present singular third-person)
sledging (participle present)
sledged (participle past)
sledged (past)

From Sledge (“a surname”), influenced by sledgehammer. First attested in the 1960s in Australian English.
According to Ian Chappell, originated in Adelaide during the 1963/4 or 1964/5 Sheffield Shield season. A cricketer who swore in the presence of a woman was taken to be as subtle as a sledgehammer (meaning unsubtle) and was called “Percy” or “Sledge”, from singer Percy Sledge (whose song When a Man Loves a Woman was a hit at the time). Directing insults or obscenities at the opposition team then became known as sledging.

Batteries of fast bowlers softened batsmen up with short-pitched bowling, while fielders tried to disturb their concentration with a running commentary of insults commonly known as sledging.

1998, Larry Elliott, Daniel E Atkinson, The Age of Insecurity:

Then, all these...government legislators...would be able to totally concentrate on their roles and functions, without being entangled in interparty sledging and squabbles.

2004, Dhanjoo N. Ghista, Socio-Economic Democracy and the World Government: Collective Capitalism, Depovertization, Human Rights, Template for Sustainable Peace:

The 2000 Code of the Laws of Cricket includes new anti-sledging provisions.

2005, David Fraser, Cricket and the Law: The Man in White Is Always Right:

"Bloody hell even their sledging is now shite!!!" he sledged.

2013 November 6, Marina Hyde, “Whatever Shane Warne says, the Ashes sledgers need to raise their game”, in The Guardian:

it would be eccentric to change governments when we're delivering so much and when we have such a vast mandate and when we're actually only a handful of points behind in the polls, even in mid-term, after quite a few months of pretty relentless sledging and when the economic scene is so difficult domestically and internationally.

7 July 2022, Boris Johnson, resignation speech:

(chiefly cricket, Australia) To verbally insult or abuse an opponent in order to distract them (considered unsportsmanlike).


sledge

Now that's what I call a sledge.

1990, Ashes: Battles and Bellylaughs, Byron Bay: Swan Publishing, page 173:

(chiefly cricket, Australia) An instance of sledging.


batting

en-noun

batting (countable and uncountable, plural battings)

(cricket, baseball) The action of using a bat.


yorker

Possibly from 18th- and 19th-century slang phrase "to pull Yorkshire on a person", meaning to trick or deceive them. Compare come Yorkshire over.

(cricket) A ball bowled so as to bounce at or near the batsman's popping crease.


wagon wheel

(cricket) A graphical representation of the cricket field, with lines showing the trajectories of the scoring balls hit by a batsman; singles, fours and sixes are shown in different colours.


wicketkeeper

England's wicket-keeper in the 50s, he was fearless about standing on the stumps to fastish bowlers[.]

1990, Ashes: Battles and Bellylaughs, Byron Bay: Swan Publishing, page 207:

The fielder clad in armour who squats behind the batsman should be respected as a specialist and not treated as a dabbler. The wicketkeeper controls the mood around the pitch. His gloves hold most of the catches, his voice accompanies every appeal. He is the factory foreman, responsible for every ball.

2011, Shehan Karunatilaka, Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew, Jonathan Cape, page 210:

(cricket) A player who stands behind the batsman’s wicket ready to catch the ball, or to stump the batsman.

tautopenga

A player positioned behind the batsman ready to catch the ball, or to the batsman.


wicket-keeping gloves

(cricket) protective gloves worn by a wicket keeper to cushion the hands when repeatedly catching balls


wicket maiden

(cricket) A maiden over in which a bowler gets a batsman out.


with the spin

(cricket) hitting the ball in the same direction that it is spinning off the pitch


wrist spin

(cricket) A style of bowling in which the bowler spins the ball by releasing it from the back of the hand, running his/her fingers down the side of the ball as it is released.


wrist spinner

(cricket) A bowler who specializes in wrist spin


finger spinner

(cricket) A bowler who specializes in finger spin


unbeaten

From Middle English on bete, unbeten, unibeten; equivalent to un- + beaten; compare Old English ungebeitne (“unhewn”).

He scored an unbeaten century.


glance

en-verb

glance (third-person singular simple present glances, present participle glancing, simple past and past participle glanced)

glances (present singular third-person)
glancing (participle present)
glanced (participle past)
glanced (past)
glance (infinitive)

The verb is derived from Late Middle English glenchen (“of a blow: to strike obliquely, glance; of a person: to turn quickly aside, dodge”) [and other forms], a blend of:
* Old French glacier, glachier, glaichier (“to slide; to slip”) (whence also Middle English glacen (“of a blow: to strike obliquely, glance; to glide”)), from glace (“frozen water, ice”) (from Vulgar Latin *glacia, from Latin glaciēs (“ice”), of uncertain origin, + -ier (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs); and
* Old French guenchir, ganchir (“to avoid; to change direction; to elude, evade”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *wankijan (“to move aside; to stagger, sway; to wave”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weng- (“to bend”).
The noun is derived from the verb.

nb...

glansen, glence, glench, glens, glanche, glauncen, glaunche

рикоширам

to strike and fly off in an oblique direction to dart aside

lyödä maila vinossa

(cricket) to hit a ball with a bat held in a slanted manner

(also figuratively) To cause (something) to move obliquely.

(cricket) To hit (a ball) with a bat held in a slanted manner; also, to play such a stroke against (the bowler).

lyödä maila vinossa

(cricket) to hit (a ball) with a bat held in a slanted manner; to play such a stroke against (the bowler)

(also figuratively) To strike and fly off in an oblique direction; to dart aside.

(cricket) To hit a ball with a bat held in a slanted manner.


glance

en-noun

glance (countable and uncountable, plural glances)

(cricket) A stroke in which the ball is hit with a bat held in a slanted manner.

lyönti maila vinossa

(cricket) stroke in which the ball is hit with a bat held in a slanted manner


bowling

→ Portuguese: bólingue

(cricket) The action of propelling the ball towards the batsman.

गोलंदाजी

(cricket) propelling the ball towards the batsman


walker

→ Irish: válcaeir

→ Persian: واکر (vâker)

From Middle English walkere (“one who walks, traveller”), equivalent to walk + -er.

inh

(cricket) A batsman or batswoman who directly walks off the field when out without waiting for the umpire's decision.


batting glove

(cricket) Each of a pair of protective gloves worn by a batsman to prevent damage to the fingers and hands


inswing

(cricket) The swing of a ball through the air in a direction towards the batsman.


inswing

(cricket) Describing a bowler who uses inswing in the ball's flight.


ICC

International Cricket Council
w:International Cricket Council

(cricket) Initialism of International Cricket Council.


International Cricket Council

the International Cricket Council (canonical)
ICC (abbreviation)

(cricket) the governing body that organizes world cricket


keep wicket

en-verb

keep wicket (third-person singular simple present keeps wicket, present participle keeping wicket, simple past and past participle kept wicket)

keeps wicket (present singular third-person)
keeping wicket (participle present)
kept wicket (participle past)
kept wicket (past)

(cricket, intransitive) To act as wicket-keeper.


king pair

(cricket) The score of zero runs, having been out on the first ball faced in each innings of a two-innings match; a golden duck in each innings


golden duck

(cricket) the score of zero runs after getting out on the first ball faced


knee roll

(cricket) the thick part of a batsman's pads that protects the knee


Barmy Army

An English football chant, in which supporters of a team would chant that they were the team manager's "barmy army", was applied to a particularly "barmy" group of supporters who followed the English cricket team to Australia in 1994–95 despite the team being seen as having little prospect of success.
The origin of "Barmy Army" was based on a soubriquet by Leeds United supporters for Howard Wilkinson, the team manager during the late eighties and early nineties. He was known as Sergeant Wilko - a skit on Sergeant Bilko, a well known comedy character portrayed by Phil Silvers a couple of decades earlier, but still at the time on TV. Sergeant Bilko's army became Sergeant Wilko's army, the barmy bit was added because it's Yorkshire and it makes a good chant. It was picked up by other teams, whereupon the Sergeant Wilko bit was dropped. Then by cricket people. The tune is the same though.

(cricket) An organised group of cricket fans which arranges touring parties of its members to follow the English cricket team on all of its overseas tours.


scoreboard

(cricket) A similar board that also displays each batsman's score, and many statistics and pieces of information.


loop

From Middle English loupe (“noose, loop”), earlier lowp-knot (“loop-knot”), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse hlaup (“a run”), used in the sense of a "running knot", from hlaupa (“to leap”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hlaupaną (“to leap, run”). Compare Swedish löp-knut (“loop-knot”), Danish løb-knude (“a running knot”), Danish løb (“a course”). More at leap. The verb is derived from the noun.

der

(cricket) The curved path of the ball bowled by a spin bowler.


bowl a googly

en-verb

bowl a googly (third-person singular simple present bowls a googly, present participle bowling a googly, simple past and past participle bowled a googly)

bowls a googly (present singular third-person)
bowling a googly (participle present)
bowled a googly (participle past)
bowled a googly (past)

(transitive, intransitive, cricket) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see bowl, googly.


not out

(cricket, of a batsman at the end of an innings) not dismissed and having not retired.


leg bye

(cricket) A run scored by a batting side arising from the ball striking any part of the batsman's body (other than the hand) without touching the bat.


fruit salad

en-noun

fruit salad (countable and uncountable, plural fruit salads)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-fruit salad.wav

(cricket) A bowler's strategy of using a different delivery each time.


B

From abbreviations of various terms beginning with or containing the letter ‘B’.
* (billion): abbreviation of billion
* (cricket): abbreviation of balls
* (bitch): abbreviation of bitch

(cricket) The number of balls faced by a batsman.


M

M (countable and uncountable, plural Ms)

(cricket, in batting figures) the number of minutes a player spent at the crease

(cricket, in bowling figures) the number of maiden overs bowled


O

O (countable and uncountable, plural Os)


Oval

Alternative form: The Oval

(cricket) A cricket ground in South London.


R

(baseball, cricket) runs, the statistic reporting the number of runs scored by a player


W

Abbreviations of various words beginning with W.


all-rounder

From earlier all-round (“versatile”) + -er, sense “versatile person” from 1875.

An all-rounder is a player who can bat and bowl. A genuine all-rounder should be able to make the team on either skill alone. A genuine one is as rare as a punctual Sri Lankan.

2011, Shehan Karunatilaka, Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew, Jonathan Cape, page 26:

(cricket) A player who is skilled in both batting and bowling.

yleispelaaja

(cricket) player skilled in both batting and bowling


jaffa

From Jaffa, an ancient port city in what is now Israel from which the oranges were exported. The sense "impotent male" is a reference to being "seedless"; see seed.
The cricketing sense, of a 'sweet ball' (from the bowler's perspective), is a metaphor further reinforced in Australian English where Jaffa is also a trademark for a popular lolly that is red and round.

(cricket) A ball that is very difficult for the batsman to hit because it moves erratically either through the air or off the pitch


tosh

tosh (countable and uncountable, plural toshes)

From 19th-century British thieves' cant, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from *tarsh, a metathetic alteration of trash; or from toss.
Sense of nonsense possibly influenced by tush (“nonsense! tsk tsk!”) attested from 15th century.

Among the recent neologisms of the cricket field is ‘tosh’, which means bowling of contemptible easiness.

(cricket, slang, derogatory, uncountable) Easy bowling


ODI

According to Karuna, had he played a full career of 100 tests and say 300 ODIs, he would have finished with well over 700 and 500 wickets respectively.

2011, Shehan Karunatilaka, Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew, Jonathan Cape, page 348:

one-day international
one-day international#English

(cricket) Initialism of one-day international.


wk

wk (countable and uncountable, plural wks)

(cricket) Abbreviation of wicket keeper.


dink

en-verb

dink (third-person singular simple present dinks, present participle dinking, simple past and past participle dinked)

dinks (present singular third-person)
dinking (participle present)
dinked (participle past)
dinked (past)

Imitative. Originally US. Attested since the 1930s.

sound-symbolic

Imitative


curator

From Latin cūrātor (“one who has care of a thing, a manager, guardian, trustee”), from cūrāre (“to take care of”), from cūra (“care, heed, attention, anxiety, grief”).

der

(cricket) A groundsman who looks after a cricket field.


bean ball

(cricket) A ball that does not bounce and passes the batsman approximately at head height.


floater

From float + -er (suffix forming agent nouns).

kelluja

person who physically floats in a gas or liquid

paikanvaihtaja

person without a fixed or lasting affiliation, position, or role

kelluva esine

thing which physically floats in a gas or liquid

leijuri

(figurative) A thing which moves from place to place, as if floating.

(cricket) A spinning delivery of the ball that travels in a high arched path.


procession

From Middle English processioun, borrowed from Old French pourciession, from Latin prōcessiō (“a marching forward, an advance, in Late Latin a religious procession”), from prōcēdere, past participle prōcessus (“to move forward, advance, proceed”); see proceed.

der

Before he closed and opened his eyes, the bails on the wicket behind Johnny Masih were shattered. That was the beginning of a procession. The second ball clean bowled the batsman. The third ball was a catch for the wicketkeeper.

2012, K. L. Mohana Varma, Cricket-Indo: The Story of an Indo-Pak One-Day Cricket Turf War, page 205:

Scotland moved nicely to 45 without loss before I took the first wicket and then it became a procession.

2015, Steve Dolman, Edwin Smith: A Life in Derbyshire Cricket, page 36:

(cricket) The rapid dismissal of a series of batsmen.


outfield

(cricket) The region of the field roughly outside of the infield or the wicket-keeper, slips, gully, point, cover, mid off, mid on, midwicket and square leg.


outfield

en-verb

outfield (third-person singular simple present outfields, present participle outfielding, simple past and past participle outfielded)

outfields (present singular third-person)
outfielding (participle present)
outfielded (participle past)
outfielded (past)

A special dispatch sent to The Cincinnati Enquirer on the game stated that the Buckeyes outfielded and outplayed the Grays at every point, and that had the Bucks run for first base instead of watching the ball after they hit it, they would have increased the score.

2005, William A. Cook, The Louisville Grays Scandal of 1877: The Taint of Gambling at the Dawn of the National League, McFarland, →ISBN, page 118:

(baseball, cricket) To perform better in defense (fielding).


outfielder

The outfielder tracked down the long fly.

. I like to think that if I wasn't pitcher I could be an outfielder or a first baseman or something and play major league baseball anyway.

1973 January 4, Wells Twombly, “Now the 10th man”, in The New York Times:

The Twins are known for their fascination with toolsy and athletic outfielders, but Hicks has the most talent of any Twins draft pick since Joe Mauer in 2002.

2008 November 6, “Breaking down the draft, Part 1”, in The Hardball Times:

(cricket, baseball) A player that plays in the outfield, which is the outer portion of the field.


infielder

The infielder run in to field the bunt.

(cricket, baseball) A player who plays in the infield, which is the inner portion of the field.


slider

From slide + -er.
The meaning "small hamburger" was originally used to describe onion-steamed small burgers at White Castle restaurants, formerly spelt "Slyder".
Regarding the senses about control devices or widgets: physical sliders (potentiometers serving as rheostats) predate virtual ones (elements in graphical user interfaces), and the virtual ones are so named because their concept is the abstraction of the physical ones; if more explanation on that topic is needed, it is available in the Wikipedia articles on skeuomorphs, icons, and the desktop metaphor.

(cricket) A similar delivery in which the wrist and ring finger work to impart backspin to the ball.


bat-pad

en-noun

bat-pad (countable and uncountable, plural bat-pads)

(cricket, countable) One of a pair of soft padded coverings that protect the legs of the person batting; a pad or batting pad.

(cricket, informal, uncountable) A fielding position very close to the batsman, square on the leg side, designed to catch the ball from a misplaced defensive shot.

(cricket, informal, countable) A fielder in this position.


left arm orthodox

Two days before Australia’s first Test match in Pakistan since 1998, the centre-wicket practice at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium that had been teeming with players saw their numbers dissipate through that spring afternoon. For a time [Steve] Smith alternated batting with Usman Khawaja, facing Ashton Agar’s left-arm orthodox.

2022 March 3, Geoff Lemon, “Australia plunge into unknown as cricket’s resurrection in Pakistan continues”, in The Guardian:

(cricket) A style of bowling used by a left-handed bowler in which finger spin is used to move the ball from leg to off (for a right-handed batsman).


left arm unorthodox

(cricket) A style of bowling used by a left-handed bowler in which wrist spin is used to move the ball from off to leg (for a right-handed batsman).


leg break

(cricket) a normal ball bowled by a leg spin bowler, moving from leg to off (for a right-handed batsman)


leg cutter

(cricket) a ball bowled by a fast bowler who uses finger spin to move the ball from leg to off (for a right-handed batsman)


off cutter

(cricket) a ball bowled by a fast bowler who uses finger spin to move the ball from off to leg (for a right-handed batsman)


leg glance

(cricket) A shot played by a batsman with a vertical bat, deflecting the ball behind the square leg area of the field.


leg glance

en-verb

leg glance (third-person singular simple present leg glances, present participle leg glancing, simple past and past participle leg glanced)

leg glances (present singular third-person)
leg glancing (participle present)
leg glanced (participle past)
leg glanced (past)

(cricket) To play, or hit the ball with, a leg glance.


leg side

en-noun

leg side (countable and uncountable, plural leg sides)

(cricket) The side of the pitch on the same side as the batsman's legs as he takes his stance at the wicket; the left side for a right-handed batsman.


on side

on side (countable and uncountable, plural on sides)


off side

off side (countable and uncountable, plural off sides)

(cricket) The side of the pitch away from the batsman's legs as he takes his stance at the wicket; the right side for a right-handed batsman.


leg slip

(cricket) a fielding position on the leg side of the wicket-keeper, designed to catch a ball after it hits the bat and deflects by a small amount


leg spin

(cricket) A style of bowling in which a (right-handed) bowler spins the ball such that, after bouncing, it moves from leg to off (for a right-handed batsman).


off spin

(cricket) A style of bowling in which a (right-handed) bowler spins the ball such that, after pitching, it moves from off to leg (for a right-handed batsman).


leg spinner

The leg-spinner had talked about new mystery balls, giving them names like shooters and zooters.

1994 December 25, The Canberra Times, Canberra, page 14, column 4:


skittle

en-verb

skittle (third-person singular simple present skittles, present participle skittling, simple past and past participle skittled)

skittles (present singular third-person)
skittling (participle present)
skittled (participle past)
skittled (past)

Origin unknown. Perhaps of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse skutill (“bolt, harpoon”), related to skjóta (“to shoot”), but the OED dismisses this connection as conjecture. The Old Norse word is related to Swedish and Danish skyttel (“shuttle, child's toy”). Compare also Old English sċytel (“a dart, bolt”). More at shuttle.

unk

unknown

(transitive, cricket) (sometimes with out) To rapidly bowl out a succession of batsmen.

(transitive, figuratively) To defeat easily.


knuckleball

(cricket) A type of delivery where a fast bowler holds the ball on the knuckles of the index and middle fingers.


cricket ball

A feat sometimes achieved by outstanding local athletes is to throw a cricket ball clean over the top [of the viaduct].

1951 October, William B. Stocks, “A Few Miles from Huddersfield”, in Railway Magazine, page 701:

A hard, solid ball with an interior of cork and a leather case with a slightly raised sewn seam. Traditionally red, but other colors are available.


light roller

The batting side may decide which of the two rollers to use - the heavy or the light roller.

2001, M.A. Pervez, A Dictionary of Cricket, page 67:

(cricket) The lighter of the rollers used for flattening the pitch between innings.


line and length

(cricket) The direction (line) and point at which a delivery hits the pitch (length) of a delivery considered as a whole, especially that of a group of a particular bowler's deliveries.


lofted drive

(cricket) A drive that sends the ball flying through the air, instead of along the ground, thus increasing the possibility of a catch.


long hop

It was a long hop, which bounced high and was flat-batted straight to cover to leave the score at 246 for seven.

2010 July 23, “Pakistan strike early but Australia respond as Headingley loses power”, in The Guardian:

(cricket) a relatively slow ball that bounces short of the batsman and is thus relatively easy to hit


long off

en-noun

long off (countable and uncountable, plural long offs)

(cricket) a fielding position on the off side, about 70° forward of square, designed to prevent runs from drives or to catch lofted drives


long on

long on (countable and uncountable, plural long ons)

(cricket) a fielding position on the leg side, about 70° forward of square, designed to prevent runs from drives or to catch lofted drives


maiden over

(cricket) An over in which no runs are scored.


maker's name

from the placement of the manufacturer's logo

(cricket) the front blade of a cricket bat


cricket bat

(cricket) a bat, traditionally made from willow, used to play cricket


Mankad

Named after the Indian cricketer Vinoo Mankad.

(cricket) A run out of the non-striker by the bowler before bowling the ball if the non-striker leaves their crease too early; thought by some to be unsporting behaviour, but is within the rules of the game.


Mankad

en-verb

Mankad (third-person singular simple present Mankads, present participle Mankading, simple past and past participle Mankaded)

Mankads (present singular third-person)
Mankading (participle present)
Mankaded (participle past)
Mankaded (past)

(cricket) To run a player out by this means.


match referee

(cricket) an administrative official who decides on any penalties for bad conduct etc


medium pace

(cricket) describing a style of bowling, intermediate in speed between spin and pace, in which the bowler uses swing or seam to take wickets


mid off

en-noun

mid off (countable and uncountable, plural mid offs)

(cricket) a fielding position, about 70° forward of square on the off side, between cover and the bowler's wicket


mid on

mid on (countable and uncountable, plural mid ons)

(cricket) a fielding position, about 70° forward of square on the leg side, between midwicket and the bowler's wicket; a fielder at this position


middle stump

(cricket) the stump in the middle of the batsman's wicket


middle order

(cricket) the batsmen who bat in positions 5 to 7; often the poorer batsmen, the wicket-keeper and the bowlers who can bat best


midwicket

midwicket (countable and uncountable, plural midwickets)

(cricket) A fielding position, about 40° forward of square on the leg side, between square leg and mid on.


minefield

(cricket) A pitch that has dried out and crumbled and on which the ball is bouncing and spinning unpredictably.


nelson

Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Nelson (cricket)
Nelson hold

Cricket sense: origin disputed; supposedly from the belief that Lord Nelson had one eye, one arm and one leg.
Wrestling sense: Back-formation from full nelson.

(cricket) A score of 111, sometimes considered to be unlucky.


new ball

(cricket) A cricket ball never previously used in a match; a replacement new cricket ball taken by the captain of the bowling side at certain specified times during an innings.


nightwatchman

(cricket) A batsman who is sent in to bat higher than his usual position near the end of a day's play (when light is poor), in order to protect better batsmen.


no ball

(cricket) A ball delivered by a bowler in violation of any of the various laws; the extra run then credited to the batting side; the signal, with an arm outstretched, then made by the umpire.

tuku hē

a ball not delivered in accordance with regulations for the game.


no ball

en-verb

no ball (third-person singular simple present no balls, present participle no balling, simple past and past participle no balled)

no balls (present singular third-person)
no balling (participle present)
no balled (participle past)
no balled (past)

tukunga hē

a ball not delivered according to the rules of the game.

(cricket, of a bowler) To bowl a no ball.

(cricket, of an umpire) To call and signal a no ball.


no result

(cricket) The result of a one-day match in which a side fails to complete their innings, or to bat the minimum number of overs, because of bad weather.


non-striker

(cricket) The batsman standing at the bowler's end of the pitch.


number eleven

(cricket) The batsman who bats last; usually the worst batsman in the side.


obstruct the field

obstruct the field (third-person singular simple present obstructs the field, present participle obstructing the field, simple past and past participle obstructed the field)

obstructs the field (present singular third-person)
obstructing the field (participle present)
obstructed the field (participle past)
obstructed the field (past)

(cricket) To get out by deliberately obstructing a fielder in order to prevent him from making a catch or run out, or from gathering the ball (very rare).


off break

(cricket) A normal ball bowled by a off spin bowler, moving from off to leg (for a right-handed batsman).


off drive

(cricket) A type of batsman's shot played by swinging the bat vertically and hitting the ball along the ground in the direction of mid off.


off drive

off drive (third-person singular simple present off drives, present participle off driving, simple past off drove, past participle off driven)

off drives (present singular third-person)
off driving (participle present)
off drove (past)
off driven (participle past)


on drive

(cricket) a type of batsman's shot played by swinging the bat vertically and hitting the ball along the ground in the direction of mid on.


off stump

(cricket) The stump on the off side of the batsman's wicket.


leg stump

(cricket) The stump on the leg side of the batsman's wicket.


old ball

(cricket) A cricket ball that has been used in a previous match, or used in the current match for more than 30 overs.


on strike

(cricket, of a batsman) Due to face the next delivery from the bowler.


one-day cricket

(cricket) A form of cricket, played on one day, in which each side bats only once. Each side's innings finishes when either their allotted number of overs has been completed, or all ten wickets have been lost.


one-day international

en-noun

one-day International (plural one-day internationals)

one-day International (canonical)
one-day internationals (plural)

(cricket) A one-day match played between teams representing the Test nations.


one-day match

(cricket) a game of cricket played on one day; each side batting once


one short

(cricket) The act of a batsman, running between the wickets, failing to ground himself or his bat behind the popping crease before turning for another run; the umpire's signal indicating this (the run does not count).


open the attack

en-verb

open the attack (third-person singular simple present opens the attack, present participle opening the attack, simple past and past participle opened the attack)

opens the attack (present singular third-person)
opening the attack (participle present)
opened the attack (participle past)
opened the attack (past)

(cricket) Of a bowler: to bowl one of the first two overs.


open the face

open the face (third-person singular simple present opens the face, present participle opening the face, simple past and past participle opened the face)

opens the face (present singular third-person)
opening the face (participle present)
opened the face (participle past)
opened the face (past)

(intransitive, cricket) To turn the face of the bat outwards in order to hit the ball on the off side.


striker

lyöjä

someone or something that hits someone or something else

(cricket) The batsman who is currently facing the bowler and defending his wicket.

lyöjä

cricket: batsman currently facing the bowler


overpitch

overpitch (third-person singular simple present overpitches, present participle overpitching, simple past and past participle overpitched)

overpitches (present singular third-person)
overpitching (participle present)
overpitched (participle past)
overpitched (past)

/ˌəʊ.və(ɹ)ˈpɪt͡ʃ/

(transitive, cricket) To bowl (the ball) so that it bounces closer to the batsman than a good length, allowing the batsman to hit it easily.


over rate

(cricket) The average number of overs completed per hour.


part-time bowler

en-noun

part-time bowler (plural part-time bowlers)

(cricket) a batsman who has limited bowling ability; asked to bowl under special circumstances


partnership

partnership (countable and uncountable, plural partnerships)

/ˈpɑːtnəʃɪp/

/ˈpɑɹtnɚʃɪp/

(cricket) The period when two specific batsmen are batting, from the fall of one wicket until the fall of the next; the number of runs scored during this period,


pinch hitter

(cricket) An aggressive batsman brought on to score runs quickly, even at the risk of losing his wicket.


play in

en-verb

play in (third-person singular simple present plays in, present participle playing in, simple past and past participle played in)

plays in (present singular third-person)
playing in (participle present)
played in (participle past)
played in (past)

(cricket, reflexive, play oneself in) Of a batsman, to settle and become comfortable with the conditions at the beginning of his innings.


play on

play on (third-person singular simple present plays on, present participle playing on, simple past and past participle played on)

plays on (present singular third-person)
playing on (participle present)
played on (participle past)
played on (past)

(cricket, of a batsman) to hit the ball into his own wicket, thus being out bowled


popping crease

(cricket) Either of two white lines, each drawn on the pitch in front of a wicket, between which the batsmen run, and from where the bowler may legally bowl.


protected area

(cricket) the central, rectangular area of the pitch onto which the bowlers may not run during their follow through


put up the shutters

put up the shutters (third-person singular simple present puts up the shutters, present participle putting up the shutters, simple past and past participle put up the shutters)

puts up the shutters (present singular third-person)
putting up the shutters (participle present)
put up the shutters (participle past)
put up the shutters (past)

(cricket) To bat defensively in the last innings of a match in order to force a draw when winning is not possible.


retire hurt

retire hurt (third-person singular simple present retires hurt, present participle retiring hurt, simple past and past participle retired hurt)

retires hurt (present singular third-person)
retiring hurt (participle present)
retired hurt (participle past)
retired hurt (past)

(intransitive, cricket) To stop batting because of having sustained an injury.


return crease

(cricket) One of the white lines, perpendicular to the popping crease, within which the bowler's back foot must land.


reverse sweep

(cricket) A batsman's shot made by swinging the bat in a horizontal arc from leg to off, normally whilst kneeling.


reverse sweep

reverse sweep (third-person singular simple present reverse sweeps, present participle reverse sweeping, simple past and past participle reverse swept)

reverse sweeps (present singular third-person)
reverse sweeping (participle present)
reverse swept (participle past)
reverse swept (past)


reverse swing

(cricket) Sideways movement of the old ball through the air in the opposite direction to normal swing.


ring field

(cricket) An attacking ring of infielders, square and in front of the wicket: point, cover, mid off, mid on, midwicket, square leg.


roller

→ Welsh: rholer

* From Middle English rollere, equivalent to roll + -er.
* (credits in TV or film): These were originally printed on a physical cylinder that was rotated in front of the camera.

(cricket) A large rolling device used to flatten the surface of the pitch.


run chase

(cricket) the situation in which the side batting last need to score a certain number of runs to win; the effort made by such a side to win


run out

run out (third-person singular simple present runs out, present participle running out, simple past ran out, past participle run out)

runs out (present singular third-person)
running out (participle present)
ran out (past)
run out (participle past)

Jackson was run out for a duck in the first over.

With three runs needed from two balls, Adil Rashid was run out coming back for a second. When Wood suffered the same fate from the final ball, the match was tied.

2019 July 14, Stephan Shemilt, “England win Cricket World Cup: Ben Stokes stars in dramatic finale against New Zealand”, in BBC Sport, London:

(cricket) To get a batsman out (dismissed from play) via a runout.


run rate

(cricket) The number of runs scored by a side divided by the number of overs taken to score them.


run up

run up (third-person singular simple present runs up, present participle running up, simple past ran up, past participle run up)

runs up (present singular third-person)
running up (participle present)
ran up (past)
run up (participle past)

He runs up... and bowls. Smashed away for four runs!

(cricket) Of a bowler, to run, or walk up to the bowling crease in order to bowl a ball.


scorecard

(cricket) A tabular representation of the most important statistics of an innings or match.


seamer

From Middle English semer, semere, from Old English sēamere (“tailor; seamer”), equivalent to seam + -er.

(cricket) A bowler skilled at making the ball seam.


second new ball

en-noun

second new ball (plural second new balls)

(cricket) The first replacement new ball in an innings; in Test cricket, usually taken after 80 overs.


the Ashes

From a satirical obituary published in an English newspaper after its loss to Australia in 1882, announcing the death of English cricket and that "the body would be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia".

(cricket) A trophy played for by England and Australia in Test cricket; in the form of a small urn containing the ashes of a cremated cricket stump or set of bails.

(cricket) A series of Test cricket matches played between England and Australia.


selector

(cricket) An administrator responsible for selecting which players will play for a side.


thrower

(cricket) A bowler who illegally throws the ball instead of bowling it.


second session

(cricket) the session of a day's play between lunch and tea


third session

(cricket) the session of a day's play between tea and close of play


second slip

(cricket) The fielding position between first slip and third slip.


sheet anchor

(cricket) A batsman who provides dependable defence while a series of other batsmen score rapidly.


short leg

short leg (countable and uncountable, plural short legs)

When he dismissed Keith Miller, caught at short leg off a lifter, I turned round to Tony Lock[.]

1990, Ashes: Battles and Bellylaughs, Byron Bay: Swan Publishing, page 148:

(cricket, uncountable) A fielding position on the leg side, square of, and close to the batsman.

(cricket, countable) A fielder in this position.


short of a length

(idiomatic, cricket) of a ball that pitches short of a good length; a ball that bounces closer to the bowler than the area of the pitch regarded as the best for dismissing or restricting the scoring of the batsman.


shoulder arms

en-verb

shoulder arms (third-person singular simple present shoulders arms, present participle shouldering arms, simple past and past participle shouldered arms)

shoulders arms (present singular third-person)
shouldering arms (participle present)
shouldered arms (participle past)
shouldered arms (past)

(intransitive, cricket) To deliberately lift the bat out of the path of the ball when it is judged to be missing the wicket.


sightscreen

The batsman swung and thwacked it behind him over the sight-screens.

1982, Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything, page 24:

(cricket) A large screen, at each end of a cricket field, coloured to provide visual contrast to the cricket ball, to aid the batsman in seeing its movement through the air.


daisy cutter

* From plowing through a field and flattening and mowing down hypothetical daisies.
* (explosive): From flattening vegetation in a round region creating a clearing reminiscent of a daisy flower

(cricket) A low ball that bounces more than once before reaching the batsman.


creeper

From Middle English crepere, from Old English crēopere, equivalent to creep + -er. Slang usage derived from phrase give the creeps or creep out (distinct from merely one who creeps).

May joined Hutton and proceeded to play masterly cricket in which the straight-drive predominated. There was always the possibility that he might be trapped by a creeper, but May watched the ball intently.

2009, Steven Lynch, Wisden on the Ashes, page 292:

(cricket) A ball that travels low, near ground level.


silly mid on

en-noun

silly mid on (countable and uncountable, plural silly mid ons)

(cricket) a fielding position, on the leg side, forward of the batsman's wicket, and very near the batsman; a fielder in this position


silly mid off

(cricket) a fielding position, on the off side, forward of the batsman's wicket, and very near the batsman; a fielder in this position


silly point

silly point (countable and uncountable, plural silly points)

(cricket) A fielding position, on the off side, square of the batsman's wicket, and very near the batsman; a fielder in this position.


dipper

desc

→ Kashubian: dyper (Canada, United States)

From Middle English dippere; equivalent to dip + -er.

(cricket) A delivery bowled that curves into or away from the batter before pitching.


bring up

en-verb

bring up (third-person singular simple present brings up, present participle bringing up, simple past and past participle brought up)

brings up (present singular third-person)
bringing up (participle present)
brought up (participle past)
brought up (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-bring up.wav

From Middle English bring up, dissimilated from Middle English upbringen (“to bring up, raise”). Doublet of upbring.

der

Warner smacked a four over midwicket to bring up his century.

(cricket) To reach a particular score, especially a milestone.


dugout

Spurs, who were without boss Harry Redknapp after his heart surgery, failed to create a clear-cut chance. Redknapp is expected to be back in the dugout when Spurs play Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday but it was left to his assistant Kevin Bond to take a young team to Russia looking for the win that would put them through to the last 32.

2011 November 3, Chris Bevan, “Rubin Kazan 1 - 0 Tottenham”, in BBC Sport:

(baseball, soccer, cricket) A sunken shelter at the side of a sports field where non-playing team members and staff sit during a game.

Spielerbank

where non-playing teammembers and staff sit during a game


not cricket

(idiomatic, figuratively, humorous) Unsportsmanlike.


pav

“It′s no good hanging around here. I vote we nip round to the back of the pav,” Jennings suggested. “We might be able to see Mr Findlater and wave to him through the window.”
They scurried round to the rear of the building where a row of windows overlooked a deserted part of the cricket ground.

1954, Anthony Buckeridge, According to Jennings, page 80:

Up goes the finger and the Dodo snaps to attention, rams the bat under his arm (subaltern with swagger stick) and retreats to the pav with a slowness intended as silent comment on a poor decision.

2000, Aidan Higgins, The Whole Hog, unnumbered page:

One of the most enjoyable drinking experiences in town can be had on a pleasant summer′s day on the balcony of the Pav, the cricket pavilion overlooking Trinity′s playing fields.

2008, Fionn Davenport, Dublin City Guide, Lonely Planet, page 166:

(cricket, informal) Clipping of pavilion.


strike rate

(cricket) The number of runs scored by a batsman per 100 balls faced; the number of balls bowled by a bowler divided by the number of wickets taken.


leggie

I'm still top leggie, says Warne [article title]

2004 February 12, Chloe Saltau, The Age:

(cricket, slang) A leg spin bowler, i.e. leg spinner.


featherbed

(cricket) A soft, slow pitch of predictable bounce.


compo

en-noun

compo (countable and uncountable, plural compos)

(cricket) A type of practice cricket ball made of cork and rubber.


twelfth man

(cricket, rare in the plural) A designated substitute player who may field but not bat or bowl.


spin bowler

(cricket) A bowler who bowls the ball (in cricket) relatively slowly, with spin on it, such that the ball moves in an irregular manner after it bounces; as opposed to a fast bowler.


slips

(cricket) the area of the field covered by fielders in the slip positions; the slip fielders collectively


slog-sweep

(cricket) a shot played, on one knee, with a horizontal bat, hitting the ball hard into the air on the leg side


slog-sweep

en-verb

slog-sweep (third-person singular simple present slog-sweeps, present participle slog-sweeping, simple past and past participle slog-swept)

slog-sweeps (present singular third-person)
slog-sweeping (participle present)
slog-swept (participle past)
slog-swept (past)


sticky wicket

(cricket) A pitch that has become wet because of rain and therefore on which the ball bounces unpredictably.


sandshoe crusher

en-noun

sandshoe crusher (plural sandshoe crushers)

The term refers to the ball crushing the foot of the batsman, if not played with their bat. Sandshoe is not literal though: batsmen wear sturdy boots, not sandshoes, when batting.

Tony Greig was Australia's main stumbling block to victory. 'Thommo' worked out a solution to the problem, dismissing Greig in the 2nd innings with his famous 'sandshoe crusher'!

2002, “Cricket in the 70s”, in ABC TV, archived from the original on 2003-12-10:

(cricket) A yorker bowled at the batsman's feet.


half-tracker

We'd got ourselves into a great position, and if I'd hit that half-tracker for six, we would've won the game.

2004 February 16, Darren Lehmann, “Blue boy Phelps goes blazing on a sunny afternoon”, in The Sydney Morning Herald:

(cricket) A ball bowled so as to pitch roughly half way down the wicket, ie. half-way between batsman and bowler. (From a slow bowler this is a poor delivery, likely to be hit to the boundary.)


number two

number two (countable and uncountable, plural number twos)

number one

especially regarding the defecation sense

(cricket) The batsman who opens alongside the number one, but does not face the first delivery.


squad

From French escouade, from Italian squadra (“square”) (whence also French escadre). Doublet of squadra and square.

ջոկատ

small group of people organized for a purpose

A group of people organized for some common purpose, usually of about ten members.

(cricket, soccer, rugby) A group of potential players from whom a starting team and substitutes are chosen.


slow ball

(cricket) A ball that is deliberately bowled slower than normal in an attempt to deceive the batsman into making a mistimed shot.


slow bowler

(cricket) a bowler who specializes in bowling (pitching a ball in cricket) relatively slowly, especially a spin bowler


soft hands

(chiefly sports) The hands in a relaxed state, especially for a batsman to play with a dead bat, or for a fielder to catch the ball without it bouncing out.


square drive

(cricket) A shot played by swinging the bat down through the line of the ball, hitting it along the ground in the direction of point.


economical

en-adj

economical (comparative more economical, superlative most economical)

more economical (comparative)
most economical (superlative)

/ˌɛkəˈnɒmɪkəl/

/ˌɛkəˈnɑmɪkəl/


stock ball

(cricket) the type of ball (such as an off break) that a particular bowler most frequently bowls


straight bat

(cricket) The bat when held vertically, or when swung through a vertical arc.


straight bat

en-verb

straight bat (third-person singular simple present straight bats, present participle straight batting, simple past and past participle straight batted)

straight bats (present singular third-person)
straight batting (participle present)
straight batted (participle past)
straight batted (past)

(cricket) To play (a delivery) with the bat held or swung in this manner.


straight hit

(cricket) A fielding position close to the boundary directly behind the bowler; a fielder in this position.


strike bowler

(cricket) A bowler having the ability to take wickets, though often conceding runs.


backyard cricket

My father and I evolved a game of backyard cricket which was a balance of intricate skills and high comedy.

1982, Ted Walker, The High Path, page 100:

The babies sorted out, it was a rapid climb for Sunil Gavaskar; he went from backyard cricket to school, inter-school and inter-university cricket to Ranji Trophy and to Test fame with the same solid footwork that made him one of the most prolific run-getters of the century.

2003, Kersi Meher-Homji, Heroes of 100 tests: from Cowdrey and the Waughs to Warne, Tendulkar and Hooper, page 32:

How could it be possible to play in such a high-pressure Test, yet feel as though it was just a game of backyard cricket?

2008, Michael Hussey, Mr Cricket: Driven to Succeed, page 190:

(UK) Informal cricket played in the back yard of a private residence, or similar limited space.


tippity runs

(cricket, Australia, Victoria) A form of backyard cricket; the defining rule of the form, which requires the batsman to run if they hit the ball; the rule increases the pace of the game by creating more runout chances than in ordinary cricket.

tippy go tippy go run

parts of South Australia; Northern Territory


stump camera

(cricket) a small television camera embedded inside one of the stumps, intended to give a shot of the action as seen by the batsman


take a wicket

take a wicket (third-person singular simple present takes a wicket, present participle taking a wicket, simple past took a wicket, past participle taken a wicket)

takes a wicket (present singular third-person)
taking a wicket (participle present)
took a wicket (past)
taken a wicket (participle past)


ten-for

(cricket) The feat of a bowler taking ten wickets in a match.


third man

(cricket) a fielding position on the off side, behind square, near the boundary; a fielder in that position


third slip

(cricket) a fielding position to the off side of second slip; a fielder in that position


third umpire

(cricket) A match official who uses TV replays to assist the two umpires in the case of close decisions.


timed out

(cricket) Describing the method of getting out in which the batsman takes longer than two minutes to appear on the field.


timed out

(cricket) Describing a wicket that has fallen by this means.


gardening

en-noun

gardening (usually uncountable, plural gardenings)

(cricket) The act of a batsman prodding at the pitch with their bat, typically in order to flatten any bumps.


crowd catch

(cricket) A catch of a ball which was played into the ground near the batsman and bounced up to a fielder. Spectators who could not see from a distance that it was played into the ground may incorrectly think that the batsman is out.


underarm

From under- + arm. The armpit sense is not old, historically speaking (1920s), and it is believed to have arisen as a euphemism in advertising.

(cricket) Old-fashioned and now outlawed style of bowling in which the arm is not swung over the shoulder.


top hand

(cricket) The batsman's hand that is further up the handle; used for control rather than power.


top order

(cricket) the batsmen who bat in the first few positions


top-spinner

(cricket) a type of ball, bowled by a leg spin bowler, that spins forward and, when bouncing off the pitch, bounces higher than expected and slows down


tour match

(cricket) a cricket match played between a touring side and a local side


touring squad

(cricket) the group of players who go on a tour as a pool from which teams are selected for individual matches


triple century

triple century (plural triple centuries)

(cricket) three hundred runs scored by a single batsman in one innings, or by two batsmen in a partnership


tonk

(cricket, colloquial) A resounding strike of the ball; a powerful hit of the ball with the bat.


tonk

en-verb

tonk (third-person singular simple present tonks, present participle tonking, simple past and past participle tonked)

tonks (present singular third-person)
tonking (participle present)
tonked (participle past)
tonked (past)

Then your dad would step up and spend 45 minutes repeatedly tonking the ball over the shower block […]

2012, Iain Macintosh, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Cricket But Were Too Afraid to Ask:

Moments later, Sehwag tonked the ball and it travelled some distance.

2014, Makarand Waingankar, Guts & Glory:

(cricket, colloquial, transitive) To knock or strike (a ball) so that it flies through the air.


bosey

Named after English cricketer Bernard Bosanquet who toured Australia for the 1903/4 summer; + -y. (Reference: Sidney J. Baker, The Australian Language, second edition, 1966, chapter XI section 4, page 248.)


buzzer

→ Japanese: ブザー (buzā)

(cricket, slang) A run scored from an overthrow.


cow shot

The cow shot is regarded as inelegant, and indeed risky, but can be very effective for a batsman with strength and a good eye.

(cricket, slang) A batting stroke played across the line and aiming to hit the ball towards cow corner.


chin music

(folk music): The name jokingly refers to "playing" the mouth as if it were an instrument.

(cricket, informal) A bouncer aimed near the batsman's chin.


shooter

From Middle English schoter, schuter, schotter, scheter, schetare, scheotere, from Old English sċēotere (“shooter”), equivalent to shoot + -er. Compare Dutch schieter, schutter (“shooter”), German Schießer (“shooter”), Swedish skjutare, West Frisian sjitter (“shooter”).

(cricket) A delivery that skids after pitching, instead of bouncing.


sitter

From Middle English sitter, sittere, syttare, equivalent to sit + -er.

How could he miss that? It was an absolute sitter!

Aaron Ramsey, a hero last season against Hull, missed a sitter at the end of normal time that would have made the game safe and must have been relieved that his shot against a post from four yards out did not cost his side more dearly.

2015 April 18, Paul Wilson, The Guardian:

(soccer, snooker, cricket, slang) A very easy scoring chance.


whites

A set of white clothes, especially as a uniform.


blocker

→ Polish: bloker, blokers

From Middle English blocker, blokker, bloker, blokkere, equivalent to block + -er.

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Agent noun of block (“obstruct or prevent”); something that blocks something else.

(cricket) A defensive or low-scoring batter.


number one

(cricket) The batsman who opens the batting.


lifter

When he dismissed Keith Miller, caught at short leg off a lifter, I turned round to Tony Lock[.]

(cricket) A delivery that bounces well off the pitch.


Toblerone

Brand name, from a blend of Tobler (“surname of one of the creators”) + Italian torrone (“form of nougat”).

(cricket, slang) A length of soft sponge shaped like a triangular prism, usually printed with advertising, that can be placed over the boundary rope.


cleanskin

(cricket) A cricket bat with no maker's logo


no man's land

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Originally from Middle English Nomanneslond, which first appears c. 1350. Revived with new senses in a dispatch printed in the Times newspaper by Colonel Ernest Dunlop Swinton writing as "Eyewitness".

(cricket) An area of the field where a fielder cannot save a single, nor stop a boundary.


screamer

But then he came around the wicket again, I slashed at one, and Strauss, at full stretch diving to his left at second slip, took an absolute screamer. It was the catch of the summer, and it happened to me.


doosra

From Hindi दूसरा (dūsrā, “second; other”).

2022, Amit Sinha, Joy Bhattacharjya, Do Different: The Untold Dhoni
Known for his innovative and unpredictable strokeplay, Dhoni had dead-batted this doosra straight back to the bowler.

(cricket) A type of ball, bowled by an off-spin bowler, that, unlike a normal off break, spins from leg to off for a right-handed batsman; the off-spinner's version of the googly.


shut up shop

shut up shop (third-person singular simple present shuts up shop, present participle shutting up shop, simple past and past participle shut up shop)

shuts up shop (present singular third-person)
shutting up shop (participle present)
shut up shop (participle past)
shut up shop (past)

(intransitive, cricket) To bat defensively in the last innings of a match in order to force a draw when winning is not possible.


runout

en-noun

runout (countable and uncountable, plural runouts)

(cricket) The method of getting out (dismissed from play) in which a batsman, in making a run, has not reached the popping crease when a fielder breaks his wicket with the ball.


Lord's

(cricket) Lord's Cricket Ground, a cricket ground in London.


night watchman

(cricket) A lower order batter to play the last overs in low light to save better batters for the next day's play.


in-swinger

(cricket) A delivery that curves towards the batsman.


send down

en-verb

send down (third-person singular simple present sends down, present participle sending down, simple past and past participle sent down)

sends down (present singular third-person)
sending down (participle present)
sent down (participle past)
sent down (past)


go up

go up (third-person singular simple present goes up, present participle going up, simple past went up, past participle gone up)

goes up (present singular third-person)
going up (participle present)
went up (past)
gone up (participle past)

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time out

time out (third-person singular simple present times out, present participle timing out, simple past and past participle timed out)

times out (present singular third-person)
timing out (participle present)
timed out (participle past)
timed out (past)

(transitive, cricket) To declare (the batsman) out for having taken longer than two minutes to appear on the field.


on the back foot

(cricket, of a batsman) Having the weight on the back foot in order to play a defensive stroke


worm burner

From the humorous notion that any worms on the ground might be burned by the rapid passage of the ball.

Jones smashes a worm burner to mid on.

Jones smashes a worm burner between third and short.

(baseball, cricket) A hard-hit ground ball.


dropper

(cricket, historical) A delivery by lob bowling (no longer legal).

(cricket, historical) A bowler who makes such deliveries.


hoik

en-noun

hoik (countable and uncountable, plural hoiks)

Possibly originally a form of hike (itself of unclear etymology).

(cricket, countable) A wild hook shot played without style.


hoik

en-verb

hoik (third-person singular simple present hoiks, present participle hoiking, simple past and past participle hoiked)

hoiks (present singular third-person)
hoiking (participle present)
hoiked (participle past)
hoiked (past)


green top

en-noun

green top (countable and uncountable, plural green tops)

(cricket, countable) A pitch with abundant visible grass.


cheaply

en-adv

cheaply (comparative more cheaply, superlative most cheaply)

more cheaply (comparative)
most cheaply (superlative)

(cricket, by extension) For a low score.


Bharat Army

The Bharat Army—with around 30 in Gandhi topis, 51 tricolour T-shirts and Sachin Tendulkar posters—continually cheered the Indians […]

2004, Boria Majumdar, J A Mangan, Cricketing Cultures in Conflict: Cricketing World Cup 2003:

Every Barmy Army chant was countered by the British Bharat Army. India batted first. […]

Fan involvement was the main 90's phenomena, and the Barmy Army were the fore-runners and leaders in this (and have since been followed by the Bharat Army (India), the Aussie Cricket Family, etc).

2011, Pete Christopher, Barmy Days and Balmy Nights, page 319:

[…] loyalists such as England's Barmy Army and India's Bharat Army, who follow their national cricket team […]

2014, Rob Steen, Floodlights and touchlines:

(cricket) The group composed of Indian cricket fans who travel, sporadically, around the world to watch and support the Indian cricket team in action.


uppishly

uppishly (comparative more uppishly, superlative most uppishly)

more uppishly (comparative)
most uppishly (superlative)

[…] the tall left-hander slapped a short ball from Adil Rashid wearily and uppishly to extra cover.

2010 June 30, Andy Wilson, “Kyle Hogg’s bat buoys Lancashire and halts Yorkshire in their tracks”, in The Guardian:

(cricket, of a ball, hit by a batsman) In an upward direction, with the chance of being caught.


kicky

en-adj

kicky (comparative kickier, superlative kickiest)

kickier (comparative)
kickiest (superlative)

(cricket) Describing a wicket that sometimes causes the ball to kick (bounce unevenly).


uppercut

(cricket) A cut shot that sends the ball over the wicket-keeper's head.


day-nighter

limited overs cricket
limited overs cricket

(cricket) A limited overs cricket match that starts in the afternoon and continues into the evening under floodlights.


switch-hitter

(cricket) A batsman who performs switch-hits.


scorer

(cricket) Either of a pair of people, one provided by each side, who record in a specially formatted book, every ball bowled, every run scored, and every wicket that falls


switch-hit

en-verb

switch-hit (third-person singular simple present switch-hits, present participle switch-hitting, simple past and past participle switch-hit)

switch-hits (present singular third-person)
switch-hitting (participle present)
switch-hit (participle past)
switch-hit (past)

(cricket) To face the bowler with a left or right-handed batting stance, and then switch to the opposite stance as the ball is bowled.


switch-hit

(cricket) An instance of switch-hitting.


run-up

(cricket) The approach run of a bowler before delivering the ball.

aanloop

(cricket) the approach run of a bowler before delivering the ball


streaky

en-adj

streaky (comparative streakier, superlative streakiest)

streakier (comparative)
streakiest (superlative)

Although the two added thirteen important runs, including four byes let through by Mongia and a streaky outside edge cum late-cut by Pollock for four, one didn't need to be blessed with gifts of insight to realise that Pollock's days at the crease were numbered.

2001, Luke Alfred, Lifting the Covers: Inside South African Cricket:

...rather than hitting it with the middle of the bat, I jagged it off the inside edge and French-cut it over the top of the stumps for another four. That was the only streaky shot I can remember.

2005, Michael Slater, Slats: The Michael Slater Story:

Compton troubled Bradman with his Chinaman, and one streaky shot was edged past Crapp at slips.

2011, Roland Perry, Bradman's Invincibles: The Inside Story of the Epic 1948 Ashes Tour:

(cricket) Used to describe a shot where the ball deflects off the edge of the bat, but is not caught by the slips or wicket-keeper and instead results in runs for the batsman.


blackwash

en-noun

blackwash (countable and uncountable, plural blackwashes)

From black + -wash or black + wash (depending on sense).

(slang, cricket) A whitewash victory for the West Indies cricket team. Started in the 1984–86 "Blackwash" series of the West Indian cricket team in England in 1984.


Proteas

(cricket) The South African cricket team


break one's duck

en-verb

break one's duck (third-person singular simple present breaks one's duck, present participle breaking one's duck, simple past broke one's duck, past participle broken one's duck)

breaks one's duck (present singular third-person)
breaking one's duck (participle present)
broke one's duck (past)
broken one's duck (participle past)

From cricket, where duck means a score of zero.

(cricket) To score one's first run in an innings.


shirtfront

(cricket) A pitch that is easy to bat on.


nurdle

nurdle (third-person singular simple present nurdles, present participle nurdling, simple past and past participle nurdled)

nurdles (present singular third-person)
nurdling (participle present)
nurdled (participle past)
nurdled (past)

(cricket) To score runs by gently nudging the ball into vacant areas of the field.


slogger

(cricket) A cricketer who attempts to score runs fast by attacking every ball that can be hit.


pull up stumps

pull up stumps (third-person singular simple present pulls up stumps, present participle pulling up stumps, simple past and past participle pulled up stumps)

pulls up stumps (present singular third-person)
pulling up stumps (participle present)
pulled up stumps (participle past)
pulled up stumps (past)

To cut off one's roots; or to pull up your house, (figurative) stumps & all.

(US, figuratively) To relocate, emigrate, move one's home to some other place.


drop-in

The pitch at the Melbourne Cricket Ground is drop-in, and the ground is also used for Australian rules football.

(cricket) Of the pitch: prepared away from the ground or venue, and dropped into place only when a match is to be played.


drop-in

(cricket) A pitch that is prepared away from the ground or venue, and dropped into place only when a match is to be played.


trimmer

(cricket) A fast, high-quality delivery by the bowler, especially one that results in a dismissal of a batter by removing the bails without hitting the stumps.


trundler

The high delivery of modern bowlers would horrify the famous trundlers of the good old days, when to deliver the ball from above the level of the shoulder was as heinous an offence as throwing is to-day […]

1899, W. G. Grace, “W.G.”: Cricketing Reminiscences and Personal Recollections, London: J. Bowden, Introduction, page xv:

Sometimes he would bowl to one of his children, and although on the field (a small strip of garden) there were only two cricketers, he would turn it into an England v. Australia match. The one batsman would stand for eleven men, and the one trundler would play the part of the regular and change bowlers […]

1914, William Bardsley Brash, chapter 10, in Love and Life, London: C.H. Kelly, page 146:

1978, Michael Anthony, The Making of Port-of-Spain, Port-of-Spain: Ministry of Sport, Culture, and Youth Affairs, Volume 2, Chapter 21, p. 123,
It was the first time the crowd was seeing this lithe, gangling trundler, sending down orthodox spin from the left arm.

(cricket) A bowler (player throwing the ball).

The next bowler was a trundler, and Luton, evidently inspired by Bognor’s cover drive, hit him to all corners of the ground.

1979, Tim Heald, chapter 5, in Just Desserts, New York: Scribner, page 104:

But he wouldn’t be a great cricketer; he was just a trundler, really, accurate enough, but no flair.

2010, Kate De Goldi, chapter 8, in The 10 p.m. Question, Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, page 217:

(cricket) A bowler who bowls slowly; a mediocre bowler.


ball-by-ball

(cricket) Describing a commentary (especially on the radio) in which a commentator describes every ball bowled, every shot hit, and the positions of the fielders; normally assisted by a summarizer who describes the game as a whole and provides other comments and a scorer who keeps a record of all statistics.


stumping

Wicket-keepers are measured by the number of catches and stumpings they make.

2013, Julian Knight, Cricket For Dummies:

(cricket) The act of somebody being stumped.


sledging

en-noun

sledging (countable and uncountable, plural sledgings)

(cricket) The practice of a fielder making insulting or comical references to an opposition batsman with the aim of distracting him


RHB

(cricket) Initialism of right-handed batsman.


LHB

(cricket) Initialism of left-handed batsman.


catch out

en-verb

catch out (third-person singular simple present catches out, present participle catching out, simple past and past participle caught out)

catches out (present singular third-person)
catching out (participle present)
caught out (participle past)
caught out (past)

(transitive, cricket) To put a batsman out by catching the batted ball before it touches the ground.


(cricket) A fast form of cricket in which each side bats for just twenty overs.


TMS

(cricket) Initialism of Test Match Special.


bailer

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(cricket, dated) A delivery that heads towards the bails after pitching.

(cricket, dated) A delivery in which the ball hits one or both bails but does not dislodge them.


(cricket) A cricket team of eleven players.


fielding position

en-noun

fielding position (plural fielding positions)

(cricket, baseball) Any of many named parts of the field of play at which fielders traditionally stand


chanceless

en-adj

chanceless (comparative more chanceless, superlative most chanceless)

more chanceless (comparative)
most chanceless (superlative)

(cricket, not comparable) Without a chance of being dismissed.


dibbly-dobbler

Sri Lanka's seamers, like their dibbly-dobblers of yesteryear, gave the speedometer a day off, their deliveries rarely touching 80mph.

2006 May 11, Charlie Austin, “Sri Lanka's defective Plan B: What went wrong for Sri Lanka on the first day at Lord's”, in Cricinfo, archived from the original on 2016-05-07:


hit someone for six

en-verb

hit someone for six (third-person singular simple present hits someone for six, present participle hitting someone for six, simple past and past participle hit someone for six)

hits someone for six (present singular third-person)
hitting someone for six (participle present)
hit someone for six (participle past)
hit someone for six (past)

From cricket, where hitting the ball over the boundary without it bouncing scores six runs, the maximum for one shot.

(cricket) To score six points against (a bowler) by hitting the ball over the boundary.


hit a six

hit a six (third-person singular simple present hits a six, present participle hitting a six, simple past and past participle hit a six)

hits a six (present singular third-person)
hitting a six (participle present)
hit a six (participle past)
hit a six (past)

(cricket) To hit the ball hard enough to go out of the boundary of the field without touching the ground, thereby scoring the maximum of six runs


pair of spectacles

en-noun

pair of spectacles (plural pairs of spectacles)

(cricket) Synonym of pair (“score of zero runs in both innings”)


hook shot

(cricket) A type of shot played by swinging the bat in a horizontal arc, hitting the ball high in the air to the leg side, often played to balls which bounce around head height; a hook.

(cricket) Synonym of hook (“shot played by swinging the bat in a horizontal arc, hitting the ball high in the air to the leg side”)


Boot Hill

(cricket, slang) The position of short leg.


lappa

From English lap (“a stroke somewhere between a pull and a sweep”).

When the ball bounced, the open stance was a good preliminary position from which to play the cross-batted swipe or lappa.

2010, Mukul Kesavan, Keshwani Mukul, Men in White (page 12)


backlift

(cricket) The lifting of the bat in preparation for hitting the ball.


agricultural shot

agricultural shot (plural agricultural shots)

(cricket) A swing across the line of the ball (resembling a scything motion) played without much technique, often resulting in a chunk of the pitch being dug up by the bat.


batsmanship

Although our team lost, we were complimented by everyone on our batsmanship.

(cricket) A skilled or courteous display of skill as a batsman.


bowl-out

(cricket) A series of deliveries at an unguarded wicket at the end of a non-first-class cricket match, used to decide the winner of a drawn match.


dig out

en-verb

dig out (third-person singular simple present digs out, present participle digging out, simple past and past participle dug out)

digs out (present singular third-person)
digging out (participle present)
dug out (participle past)
dug out (past)

(transitive, cricket) To block a yorker with the bottom of the bat, at the last second.


tice

Possibly from entice, as below, suggesting the bowler's purpose.

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:

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; […] .

(cricket, dated) A ball bowled to strike the ground about a bat's length in front of the wicket; a yorker.

yorker

ball bowled to strike the pitch near the batsman's feet


pie-chucker

(cricket, informal) A bowler who has no control over the movement of the ball


A team

From the letter "A" (indicating the highest rank or quality) + "team".

He was then selected for the South African A team before making his international debut.

NSW all-rounder Moises Henriques has been named captain of the Australia A team to play England in Hobart next week.

(cricket, rugby) A country's reserve team or development squad, comprising the best players not selected in the national team.


spinner

From Middle English spynnere; equivalent to spin + -er.

2021, Neha Bedi, Sachin Bajaj, The Sardar of Spin
I can ascertain that even in the present era where T20 cricket has redefined spin bowling and spinners have started bowling doosras and teesras and fire the deliveries in, you can expect Bishan Singh Bedi to stick to his original definition, and insist that, 'A spinner is one who turns the ball...'


leg-breaker

Armstrong is a leg-breaker, with eight fielders on the on-side. Probably he would do better if he bowled more at the wicket.

(cricket) A cricketer who bowls leg breaks.

Noble joined Wood, and the pair changed the aspect of affairs, 45 being up before a leg breaker from McGiverin proved too good for Noble's defense.

1894 September 18, “Canadian Cricketers Lead”, in New York Times, retrieved 2009-01-05, page 3:


paceman

The flair for bright batting went against them as they fell easy prey to the Aussie pacemen.

1976, The Statesman, volume 22, page 47:

In the series he bowled 222.5 overs, a considerable number considering Test teams in 1948 could call upon a new ball every 55 overs and Australia had pacemen to burn in Lindwall, Miller, Johnston and Toshack.

2001, Ashley Mallett, Eleven: The Greatest Eleven of the 20th Century, page 100:

Instead he went trout fishing on the Kiewa River in country Victoria, but not before leaving instructions to his pacemen to attack Bradman at every opportunity. Larwood took this to mean plenty of short stuff at the rib cage and head with five men in close catching positions.

2006, Roland Perry, The Ashes: A Celebration, page 136:

VICTORIA captain Cameron White and paceman Ben Hilfenhaus will return to the Australian team for the one-day international against South Africa tomorrow.

2009 January 25, “Cameron White and Ben Hilfenhaus return for Australia”, in Herald Sun:

2008 February 4, Anil Kumble, ‘You need to keep talking’, Outlook, page 45,
Fourteen Australian wickets fell to our pacemen, indicating that they were sticking to the plan.

2009 October, Pratiyogita Darpan, page 763,
South African paceman Andre Nel on March 25, 2009 announced his retirement from international cricket after an eight year career during which he took more than 100 wickets in both forms of the game.

(cricket, Australia, India) A fast bowler; one who specialises in bowling fast.


backrower

Test backrower Crocker, 28, had hinted that he would consider retiring if the three-year English deal fell through.

2009 January 30, AAP, “Crocker's English visa rejected”, in Herald Sun:

(sports, cricket) A reserve player on a team; a member of the back row or back bench


wicketless

Vettori paid the price for a wicketless outing in the final one-day international against the West Indies on Tuesday, slipping from first place to second.

2009 January 14, AAP, “Nathan Bracken returns to No.1 in ODI bowling rankings”, in Herald Sun:

(cricket) Having failed to gain a single wicket


gloveman

The Aussie gloveman hit back yesterday saying the accusations were worse than any wrongdoing he was alleged to have committed.

2009 February 3, Richard Earle, “Btrad Haddin hits back at Daniel Vettori dig”, in Herald Sun, archived from the original on 2009-02-05:


death rattle

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-death rattle.wav

(cricket, by extension) The sound of a batsman’s stumps being broken, so called because this leads to the batsman’s dismissal.


roundarm

(cricket) An obsolete style of bowling where the bowler's arm is at right angles to the body at the point of delivery.


stroke play

Greg Chappell: the master bastman. Enthralled crowds all over the world with his glorious strokeplay.

1990, Ashes: Battles and Bellylaughs, Byron Bay: Swan Publishing, page 207:

(cricket) Batting, especially excellent batting.


Tigers

(cricket) The Bangladesh national cricket team.


long stop

(cricket) A fielding position, now confined to the amateur game, behind the wicket-keeper (so as to retrieve balls that the wicket-keeper misses); a fielder in this position


opening batsman

en-noun

opening batsman (plural opening batsmen)

(cricket) The first batsman of an innings.

(cricket) One of the first two batsmen of an innings.


on a pair

(cricket) Describing the status of a batsman who has made a duck in the first innings, and is yet to score in the second.


loosener

(cricket) A usually inaccurate delivery bowled early in a bowler's first over.


rib-tickler

(cricket, slang) A ball bowled short of a length that bounces up higher than expected and strikes the batter in the ribs.


Test side

(cricket) Any national cricket team that is authorized to compete in Test cricket.


Test cricket

From the idea that the long, gruelling matches are a trial of the relative strengths of the two sides.

(cricket) The highest level of international cricket, where Test sides compete against each other in five-day matches.


without troubling the scorers

Watson was caught and bowled for a fairly played eighteen, and Jardine again retired to the pavilion without troubling the scorers.

The PE teacher, the putative authority on all things sporting, went out, as they say, without troubling the scorers.

1993, Tom Raabe, Sports for the Athletically Impaired:

Mark Waugh came and went without troubling the scorers, leaving Australia at a perilous 2/16 with one man on the way to hospital.

He was brought down to earth in Georgetown, however, ten days later, suffering the indignity of being run out without troubling the scorers in the victory over British Guiana.

2003, James P. Coldham, Lord Hawke: a cricketing legend:

(informal, cricket) Describing the manner of the dismissal of a batsman who is out without scoring any runs


D/L

Duckworth-Lewis method
Duckworth-Lewis method#English

(cricket) Initialism of Duckworth-Lewis method.


bat out

en-verb

bat out (third-person singular simple present bats out, present participle batting out, simple past and past participle batted out)

bats out (present singular third-person)
batting out (participle present)
batted out (participle past)
batted out (past)

(cricket) to continue batting (normally to prevent what would otherwise result in losing a match)


crickety

en-adj

crickety (comparative more crickety, superlative most crickety)

more crickety (comparative)
most crickety (superlative)

a crickety night


TCCB

(UK, cricket, historical) Initialism of Test and County Cricket Board.


Old Trafford

(cricket) A cricket ground adjacent to the Manchester United stadium.


cricket pitch

The twenty-two yard strip between the two wickets, where the batsman faces the bowler.


ask the question

en-verb

ask the question (third-person singular simple present asks the question, present participle asking the question, simple past and past participle asked the question)

asks the question (present singular third-person)
asking the question (participle present)
asked the question (participle past)
asked the question (past)

(cricket, informal) To make an appeal to the umpire against the batsman.


get one's eye in

get one's eye in (third-person singular simple present gets one's eye in, present participle getting one's eye in, simple past and past participle got one's eye in)

gets one's eye in (present singular third-person)
getting one's eye in (participle present)
got one's eye in (participle past)
got one's eye in (past)

(chiefly UK, sports) To become accustomed to the playing conditions, and thus bring one's hand-eye coordination to a reasonable level.


go upstairs

go upstairs (third-person singular simple present goes upstairs, present participle going upstairs, simple past went upstairs, past participle gone upstairs)

goes upstairs (present singular third-person)
going upstairs (participle present)
went upstairs (past)
gone upstairs (participle past)

From the practice of the third umpire having a room with an elevated position.

(cricket, of an umpire) To request a decision by the third umpire (traditionally by making a sign of a TV set with the hands)


scorebox

(cricket) An enclosed structure in which the scorers sit; often behind the scoreboard


trouble the scorers

trouble the scorers (third-person singular simple present troubles the scorers, present participle troubling the scorers, simple past and past participle troubled the scorers)

troubles the scorers (present singular third-person)
troubling the scorers (participle present)
troubled the scorers (participle past)
troubled the scorers (past)

(cricket, informal, almost always in the negative) To score a run.


sixer

(cricket, colloquial) A shot in which the ball passes over the boundary without touching the ground, for which the batting team is awarded six runs.


misfield

misfield (third-person singular simple present misfields, present participle misfielding, simple past and past participle misfielded)

misfields (present singular third-person)
misfielding (participle present)
misfielded (participle past)
misfielded (past)

The verb is derived from mis- (prefix meaning ‘badly; wrongly’) + field (verb). The noun is derived from the verb.

prefix

Coordinate term: mishit

(transitive) To field (“catch or intercept and play”) (a ball) clumsily or ineptly; in cricket this can result in the batsman scoring another run.

(intransitive) To field a ball clumsily or ineptly.

pelata pallo huonosti

(transitive) to field (a ball) clumsily or ineptly; (intransitive) to field a ball clumsily or ineptly


misfield

(baseball, cricket, rugby) A failure to field (“catch or intercept and play”) a ball properly.


cricket whites

(cricket) The traditional clothing worn by cricketers, consisting of white trousers, shirt and optionally sweater.


2021, Neha Bedi, Sachin Bajaj, The Sardar of Spin
I can ascertain that even in the present era where T20 cricket has redefined spin bowling and spinners have started bowling doosras and teesras and fire the deliveries in, you can expect Bishan Singh Bedi to stick to his original definition, and insist that, 'A spinner is one who turns the ball...'


Snickometer

In cricket, there is the "third eye" to decide close run-out decisions, and also Channel 4 is introducing a technological innovation called Snickometer designed to end debates whether or not a batsman has actually made contact with the ball.

1999 July 7, L. Hibbert, “Decisions you can't argue with”, in Professional Engineering, volume 12, number 13, →ISSN, pages 26–27:

Alongside the snickometer moments there was the Saturday morning Roadshow, the Analyst, Jargonbusting, a sympathetic interview, an orginal feature, an e-mail question answered.

2002, Mark Nicholas, Jargonbusting: Mastering The Art of Cricket, Channel 4 Books, foreword of original by Simon Hughes, →ISBN, Foreword, page 6:

And we have the Snickometer to put beyond doubt whether the batsman touched the ball with his bat or gloves and not his ear or his arse.

2007, Robert MacGregor, I Can't Take Any More Crap!, Troubador Publishing, →ISBN, Umpiring, Cricket, Test Matches, Bad, page 237:

(cricket) a device that combines slow-motion video and a graphical representation of sound waves recorded from stump and pitch microphones to determine whether a small noise (a snick) occurred as the ball passed the bat and/or pad, and thus whether the batsman made contact with the ball.


notcher

From notch + -er. Cricket scorers originally kept score by making notches in wood.


runathon

(informal, cricket) A match in which a large number of runs are scored


runscorer

South Africa's leading runscorer Jacques Kallis, who captained the side for one Test against Australia in Johannesburg three years ago, will be skipper in Cape Town.

2009 March 13, AAP, “Aussies relax amid Proteas' captain chaos”, in Herald Sun:


on the front foot

(cricket, of a batsman) Having the weight on the front foot in order to play an attacking stroke


bodyliner

(cricket) A bowler who uses bodyline tactics.


across the line

(cricket) Describing the action of a batsman in moving the bat in a direction lateral to that of the incoming ball