This is a general glossary of the terminology used in the sport of cricket. Where words in a sentence are also defined elsewhere in this article, they appear in italics. Certain aspects of cricket terminology are explained in more detail in cricket statistics and the naming of fielding positions is explained at fielding (cricket).
Cricket is known for its rich terminology. [1] [2] [3] Some terms are often thought to be arcane and humorous by those not familiar with the game. [4]
A right-handed bowler passing to the right of the non-striker's stumps in their run-up, and vice versa for a left-handed bowler. The opposite of over the wicket. [10]
A player on the batting side, or one of the two members of the batting side who are currently at the crease, or (in the context of a player's career) a player whose speciality is batting. [1] The term 'batsman' was used for most of the game's history, regardless of the player's gender, but the more gender neutral term 'batter' began to be adopted in the 2010s and was made official in the Laws in 2021. [18] [19]
Poor quality bowling which is easy to hit, allowing the batters to help themselves to runs, analogous to a self-service cafeteria or buffet. Occasionally employed deliberately as declaration bowling.
The player who has been appointed leader of their team. The captain decides which bowler will deliver each over, the placement of the fielders, the batting order, when to use the decision review system, whether and when to declare, and many other aspects of the game. The captain's tactical abilities can have a major impact on the outcome of a match. The captain often has substantial responsibilities between games as well, such as in team selection or representing the team in the media.
An opener batting through an entire innings, remaining not out at the conclusion. The rest of the team must be all out (not any other end of innings scenario). Regarded as an excellent performance by the opening batter. [1]
Formally organised cricket played by skilled amateurs. Considered a higher standard of play than purely recreational village cricket, but still lower than professional forms of the sport.
Collective term for multiple fielders in the slips. Sometimes also includes gully.
A run awarded to the batting team that is not credited to a specific batter. These are recorded separately on the scorecard. There are five types: byes, leg byes, wides, no-balls and penalties. Wides and no-balls are also recorded as runs conceded in the bowling analysis, the others are not attributed to the bowler. [1]
An informal version of cricket with sped-up rules, specifically designed to introduce children to the sport.
a fielding position on the boundary directly behind the wicket-keeper, to recover any byes or wides that evade the keeper. Occasionally seen at village cricket level but obsolete in professional cricket.
An invocation of the Umpire Decision Review System, referring the decision to the third umpire for review. [80]
The run rate needed by the batting team to win, in the second innings of a limited overs match. Calculated as the number of runs required for victory (not a tie), divided by the number of overs remaining. [1] Often shown on the scoreboard and updated automatically after each delivery. A high required run rate necessitates more aggressive batting.
A mistimed shot hit almost straight up in the air, to the sky. Usually results in the batter being caught out. Occasionally however the fielder positions themself perfectly to take the catch but misses it or drops it. Such an error is considered very embarrassing for the fielder.
a method of dismissing a batter, in which the wicketkeeper breaks the batter's wicket with the ball while the batter is outside their crease but has not attempted a run
Official system to challenge certain decisions made by an umpire. The third umpire then reviews the decision using various technological aids, such as slow motion television replays, ball tracking, a snickometer etc. A batter may challenge a decision of out, and the captain of the fielding side may challenge a not out decision. Teams are limited in the number of unsuccessful reviews per inning; if they have reached that limit they are permitted no further reviews. The umpires themselves can review run out, caught and no ball decisions, or whether a shot has scored a boundary. Only available in televised games, because the necessary equipment is provided by the broadcaster.
Virtual Eye – or 'Eagle Eye', as it is known in Australia – has been developed by a New Zealand-based company, Animation Research Ltd, and has provided ball-tracking services for series in Australia, New Zealand and Zimbabwe.
There is no longer a 'catch-all' sanction, but umpires are instead required to use their best judgement to determine whether a delivery is dangerous. If it is dangerous, it will lead to a first and final warning. If not, it will still be a No ball, but there will be no warning.
daddy hundreds – defined by his batting coach, Graham Gooch, as innings of more than 150
It was a nothing shot – a careless effort. It's amazing how often shots lacking conviction ricochet back onto the stumps.
1 Law 1 The Players 1.1 Law 1.1 - Number of Players Law 1.1 shall be replaced by the following: A match is played between two sides. Each side shall consist of 11 players, one of whom shall be captain. 1.2 Law 1.2 - Nomination of Players Law 1.2 shall be replaced by the following: 1.2.1 Each captain shall nominate 11 players plus a maximum of 4 substitute fielders in writing to the ICC Match Referee before the toss. No player (member of the playing eleven) may be changed after the nomination without the consent of the opposing captain. 1.2.2 Only those nominated as substitute fielders shall be entitled to act as substitute fielders during the match, unless the ICC Match Referee, in exceptional circumstances, allows subsequent additions. 1.2.3 All those nominated including those nominated as substitute fielders, must be eligible to play for that particular team and by such nomination the nominees shall warrant that they are so eligible. 1.2.4 In addition, by their nomination, the nominees shall be deemed to have agreed to abide by all the applicable ICC Regulations pertaining to international cricket and in particular, the Clothing and Equipment Regulations, the Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel (hereafter referred to as the ICC Code of Conduct), the Anti-Racism Code for Players and Player Support Personnel, the Anti-Doping Code and the Anti-Corruption Code.
Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called a leg spinner. Leg spinners bowl with their right-arm and a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery is called a leg break, which spins from right to left when the ball bounces on the pitch. For a right-handed batter, the ball breaks towards them from the leg side, hence the name 'leg break'.
Bowling, in cricket, is the action of propelling the ball toward the wicket defended by a batter. A player skilled at bowling is called a bowler; a bowler who is also a competent batter is known as an all-rounder. Bowling the ball is distinguished from throwing the ball by a strictly specified biomechanical definition, which restricts the angle of extension of the elbow. A single act of bowling the ball towards the batsman is called a ball or a delivery. Bowlers bowl deliveries in sets of six, called an over. Once a bowler has bowled an over, a teammate will bowl an over from the other end of the pitch. The Laws of Cricket govern how a ball must be bowled. If a ball is bowled illegally, an umpire will rule it a no-ball. If a ball is bowled too wide of the striker for the batsman to be able to play at it with a proper cricket shot, the bowler's end umpire will rule it a wide.
Fielding in the sport of cricket is the action of fielders in collecting the ball after it is struck by the striking batter, to limit the number of runs that the striker scores and/or to get a batter out by either catching a hit ball before it bounces, or by running out either batter before they can complete their current run. There are a number of recognised fielding positions and they can be categorised into the offside and leg side of the field. Fielding also involves trying to prevent the ball from making a boundary where four "runs" are awarded for reaching the perimeter and six for crossing it without touching the grass.
The Laws of Cricket is a code that specifies the rules of the game of cricket worldwide. The earliest known code was drafted in 1744. Since 1788, the code has been owned and maintained by the private Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in Lord's Cricket Ground, London. There are currently 42 Laws, which describe all aspects of how the game is to be played. MCC has re-coded the Laws six times, each with interim revisions that produce more than one edition. The most recent code, the seventh, was released in October 2017; its 3rd edition came into force on 1 October 2022.
The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. The wicket-keeper is the only member of the fielding side permitted to wear gloves and external leg guards. The role of the keeper is governed by Law 27 and of the Laws of Cricket.
In the sport of cricket, the term wicket has several meanings:
In cricket, an over consists of six legal deliveries bowled from one end of a cricket pitch to the player batting at the other end, almost always by a single bowler.
In cricket, a no-ball is a type of illegal delivery to a batter. It is also a type of extra, being the run awarded to the batting team as a consequence of the illegal delivery. For most cricket games, especially amateur, the definition of all forms of no-ball is from the MCC Laws of Cricket.
In the sport of cricket, a bouncer is a type of short-pitched delivery, usually bowled by a fast bowler, which bounces once and then reaches the batter at head-height.
In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter regardless of whether batting is their particular area of expertise. Historically, batsman and batswoman were used, and these terms remain in widespread use. Batters have to adapt to various conditions when playing on different cricket pitches, especially in different countries; therefore, as well as having outstanding physical batting skills, top-level batters will have quick reflexes, excellent decision-making skills, and be good strategists.
In cricket, an extra is a run scored by, or awarded to, a batting team which is not credited to any individual batter. They are the runs scored by methods other than striking the ball with the bat.
In cricket, a dismissal occurs when a batter's innings is brought to an end by the opposing team. Other terms used are the batter being out, the batting side losing a wicket, and the fielding side taking a wicket. The ball becomes dead, and the dismissed batter must leave the field of play for the rest of their team's innings, to be replaced by a team-mate. A team's innings ends if ten of the eleven team members are dismissed. Players bat in pairs so, when only one batter remains who can be not out, it is not possible for the team to bat any longer. This is known as dismissing or bowling out the batting team, who are said to be all out.
In cricket, a run is the unit of scoring. The team with the most runs wins in many versions of the game, and always draws at worst, except for some results decided by the DLS method, which is used in rain-shortened limited-overs games when the two teams have had a different number of opportunities to score runs.
Baseball and cricket are the best-known members of a family of related bat-and-ball games. Both have fields that are 400 feet (120 m) or more in diameter between their furthest endpoints, offensive players who can hit a thrown/"bowled" ball out of the field and run between safe areas to score runs (points) at the risk of being gotten out, and have a major game format lasting about 3 hours.
In cricket, a scorer is someone appointed to record all runs scored, all wickets taken and, where appropriate, the number of overs bowled. In professional games, in compliance with Law 3 of the Laws of Cricket, two scorers are appointed, most often one provided by each team.
A delivery or ball in cricket is a single action of bowling a cricket ball toward the batter. Once the ball has been delivered, batters may attempt to score runs, with the bowler and other fielders attempting to stop this by getting the batters out. When the ball becomes dead, the next delivery can begin.
The Ball of the Century, also referred to as the Gatting Ball or simply That Ball, is a cricket delivery bowled by Australian spin bowler Shane Warne to English batter Mike Gatting on 4 June 1993, the second day of the first Test of the 1993 Ashes series, at Old Trafford in Manchester. With his first ball against England, in his first Ashes Test, Warne produced a spectacular delivery that bowled Gatting out. It became recognised as being of significance not just in the context of the match, but more generally in signalling a revival of leg spin bowling.
Line and length in cricket refers to the direction and point of bouncing on the pitch of a delivery. The two concepts are frequently discussed together.
The First Test of the 1948 Ashes series was one of five Tests in The Ashes cricket series between Australia and England. The match was played at Trent Bridge in Nottingham from 10 to 15 June with a rest day on 13 June 1948. Australia won the match by eight wickets to take a 1–0 series lead.
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field, at the centre of which is a 22-yard pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. Two players from the batting team, the striker and nonstriker, stand in front of either wicket holding bats, while one player from the fielding team, the bowler, bowls the ball toward the striker's wicket from the opposite end of the pitch. The striker's goal is to hit the bowled ball with the bat and then switch places with the nonstriker, with the batting team scoring one run for each of these exchanges. Runs are also scored when the ball reaches the boundary of the field or when the ball is bowled illegally.
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