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Cricket Language / Terminology

bouncer: a ball that is bounced high enough to hit a batter's head or shoulders.

bowled: an "out" which is achieved by a ball that hits the batsman's wicket, whether or not touched by the bat. 

 

bowler: the bowler is the player bowling (throwing) ball at the batsman.

 

bye(s) Run(s) scored when the ball goes past the wicket-keeper without having been touched by the batter, and runs can be scored. The runs are added to the team total as "extras", but not credited to batsmen... nor charged to bowlers.

caught (out): an "out" resulting from a hit caught by a fielder in the air, i.e. before touching the ground.

 

crease: the line in front of each wicket.

duck: a zero individual score, "awarded" to a batter who is "out" without scoring a single earned run.

fielder: the person who is fielding who tries to prevent the opposition from scoring.

four, or boundary: a ball hit by the batsman that reaches the fence, counting as four runs.

full toss: a ball that reaches the batter without a bounce.

half century: an individual score of 50 runs or more by a batter.

innings: the total number of runs scored by a team during its time at bat.

"It is not cricket": an expression meaning, any action that is deceptive, unfair or underhanded...i.e. contrary to the spirit in which cricket is supposed to be played.

lbw (leg before wicket): a ball which is intercepted by a batter's body before it hits the wicket...an umpire will rule the batter "out" if he is sure that the sticks would have been hit.

leg bye : run(s) scored when the ball hits the batter's legs, and goes off into the field . The runs are added to the team total as "extras", but not credited to batters... nor charged to bowlers. NOTE: leg-byes are not allowed when there is an lbw "out" (see definition), or if the ball has been intentionally kicked or deflected by the batter.

leg side: that half of the field, as bisected by a line joining the wickets and extended both ways, where the batter's legs are placed. Also called "on side".(see definition of "off and on side").

Limited and Unlimited Over games: "Limited Over" games are those where each team is allowed to bat only for a designated number of overs. Typically, 20, 30, 40 or 50 overs are set as the limit for each team's innings. "Unlimited Over Games" are those where no over restriction is placed on a team's innings.

maiden over: a set of six pitches delivered by a bowler in which no earned runs are scored.

no-ball: a ball delivered by a bowler who has "crossed the line" he is supposed to bowl from, or violated some other rule. When an umpire calls "no ball", the batter cannot be out except when running and gets tagged.

off side: that half of the field, as bisected by a line joining the wickets and extended both ways, which is in front of and away from the batter, i.e. the other half of the field (as opposed to his "leg" or "on" side).

opening batsman: one of the first two batters sent in to start a team's innings.

 

out: the term used when a batsman can no longer play. They may have been bowled, caught out, run out and their turn at batting has finished.

over: the set of six pitches delivered from one wicket to the other by a bowler.

run(s): the term used to instead of point. A safe crossing(s) from wicket to wicket, by a batter (and his partner) after hitting (earned runs), or off a fielding error. Each crossing scores one run to the batting team.

run out: when a fielder strikes the wickets towards which a runner is headed, before he gets to it.

six, or over-boundary: a hit that flies over the fence without a bounce, scoring six runs.

stumped: an "out" which is made by the wicket-keeper, catching the batter out of his ground when he is trying to hit...and misses..

stumps: The three upright wooden sticks at each end of the pitch. Sitting on top each set of stumps are two bails. A term also used to describe the end of a days play.

ton or century: an individual score of 100 runs or more by a batter.

wicket(s): the terms "wicket", and "wickets", are used in different and important ways. "THE wicket" is the strip of field between the two sets of sticks marking the bases. "A wicket", used as singular or plural, is a count of the number of "outs" in an inning, so "95 for 7 wickets" means 95 runs scored, for 7 "outs". "THE wickets", always used in plural, are the set of three sticks or "stumps" marking the base, as in "He stood in front of the wickets". It helps to know the context in which the word is being used!

wicket keeper: the fielder who stands directly behind the wicket. position roughly equivalent to baseball's "catcher".

wide ball: a ball that travels too far from the batter for him to have a reasonable chance of hitting it. The bowler has to bowl the ball again, and a penalty run is scored for the batting team.