Cricket: A Glossary of Terms

Cricket is a team sport with various formats. Test matches span five days, while The Hundred lasts approximately two hours.

It is a highly social sport, and cricket clubs provide an excellent opportunity to meet new people, have fun, and develop new skills. The Tailenders' team will now elaborate on the different formats.

Cricket is a unique team game that comprises of three main elements: batting, bowling, and fielding. These individual skills make cricket stand out.

Although traditionally played with 11 players per side, cricket can be played anywhere and with anyone, making it a game for all. Is there a simpler way? 

To enjoy a game of cricket, all that is needed is a bat and ball, and something to use as wickets - such as a bin, a traffic cone, or lines marked on a wall. This will create a target for the bowlers and something to defend for the batter. The duration of the game is up to you.

It is an entirely new language

Cricket is a simple game, but it can be difficult to understand due to the abundance of jargon and terminology. To assist with this, here is a list of common batting shots and bowling styles.

Major cricket shots

Drive - played with a vertical swing of the club and a smooth follow-through of the ball along the ground.

Hook shot - the ball bounced up to chest height, and the batter used a horizontal bat to hook the ball to square leg or behind.

Pull shot - cross-batted shot is played with a horizontal bat to a waist-high bouncing ball.

Ramp -  a scoop shot by flicking the ball backwards over their head and past the wicketkeeper.

Switch-hit - a batter who is naturally right-handed may switch their hands to play as a left-hander (or vice versa) in order to gain an advantage.

Sweep - batter kneels down to play a cross-batted shot to a low-bouncing ball.

Reverse sweep - played in the opposite direction to the standard sweep, a cross-batted sweep shot.

Types of bowling

Seam/pace - Sometimes known as fast bowlers, their main focus is often on the speed at which they bowl. In men's cricket, a fast bowler typically bowls at speeds of over 80mph, while in women's cricket, the speed is usually around 65-70mph. Pace bowlers also aim to swing the ball, causing it to move laterally in the air before bouncing. Inswing makes the ball move towards a right-handed batter, while outswing makes it move away from the bat. Pace bowlers frequently use the ball's seam to manipulate its movement after it hits the pitch. The way the ball is held can impact its behavior when it reaches the batter.

Off-spin - Spin bowling is a slower technique where the bowler aims to deceive the batter by spinning the ball after it bounces. Off-spin bowlers use their fingers to spin the ball, causing it to deviate towards a right-handed batter or away from a left-hander. Although the ball may not spin much depending on the pitch, it can still be an effective way of bowling as it tests the batter's patience.

Leg-spin - A challenging skill to execute as it requires the bowler to spin the ball away from a right-handed batter by bowling it out of the back of their hand. Leg-spin is a challenging skill to execute as it requires the bowler to spin the ball away from a right-handed batter by bowling it out of the back of their hand. Unlike off-spin, leg-spin involves wrist spin rather than finger spin. Due to its difficulty, it is not as commonly used.

Simplify jargon

Average - Both batters and bowlers have an average. The batting average is calculated by dividing the number of runs scored by the number of times a batter is out. For example, if a batter scores 100 runs and is out four times, their average would be 25. If they were dismissed three times, their average would be 33.3. A higher average indicates better performance. The bowling average is calculated by dividing the number of runs conceded by the bowler by the number of wickets taken. A lower bowling average indicates better performance.

Bouncer - a short-pitched ball is one that passes the batter at chest height or above.

Bye - a run is scored if the ball has not hit the bat or any part of the batter's body.

Dead ball - a state in which players are unable to score or perform any active parts of the game.

Declaration - if, before all 10 wickets have been lost, the captain ends a team's innings.

DLS (Duckworth-Lewis-Stern) method - a mathematical formula used to determine a score when rain interrupts play in limited-overs cricket.

Duck - batter is out for a score of zero.

Economy rate - a bowler's average runs conceded per over.

Extras - no runs were scored off the bat. Any runs were due to byes, leg byes, wides or no-balls.

Four runs - when the ball bounces or touches the ground as it travels towards the boundary, it is considered out of play.

Full toss - a ball that reaches a batter without bouncing and is above waist height.

Googly - a leg-spinner's variation that turns away from a left-handed batter or into a right-handed batter.

Hawk-Eye - the technology tracks the trajectory of the ball to determine where it pitched and whether it would hit the stumps during an LBW review.

Leg-before-wicket (LBW) - the batsman can only be given out LBW if the ball hits their body, usually the pad, in line with the stumps and would have gone on to hit them. It is not possible to be out if the ball pitched outside the line of leg stump or if it hits the batsman outside the line of off stump, unless they are not offering a stroke.

Leg-bye - runs are scored when the ball deflects off the pads and the batsman runs, or when the ball hits the boundary.

Maiden - an over in which there are no runs to be scored.

Mankad - a dismissal that is somewhat controversial occurs when the bowler removes the bails instead of bowling after running up to bowl, resulting in the non-striker being dismissed.

Net run-rate (NRR) - a statistical method used to separate teams with equal points in a tournament format. It calculates the average runs per over scored by a team and subtracts the average runs against them.

Nightwatchman / Nightwatcher - a non-batsman may be promoted up the order towards the end of play to protect recognised batsmen.

No-ball - an illegal delivery, commonly referred to as a no-ball, is called when a bowler oversteps the crease. The batting side is awarded one run, and the bowler must bowl the delivery again. In one-day and T20 cricket, it results in a free hit, which means the batter cannot be out from that delivery.

Off side - the side of the field is the same side as the batter's bat.

On side - or the leg side refers to the side of the pitch that is on the same side as the batter's leg.

Powerplay -  in limited-over cricket, a set of overs is played with specific fielding rules. During the first six overs of a T20 game or the first 10 overs of a 50-over game, only two fielders are permitted outside the 30-yard circle.

Run-rate - average runs number per over.

Six runs - when the ball does not touch the ground before reaching the boundary (the rope or foam that encircles the entire playing area), it usually ends up in the stands.

Slower ball - the delivery is intentionally slower than usual to deceive the batter, in the hope that they will swing early at the ball.

Strike-rate - the average number of runs scored by a batter per 100 balls or, for a bowler, the average number of balls it takes to take a wicket per 100 balls.

Swing - when the ball deviates off its apparent line through the air. This can also be reverse-swing.

Tailender - a player who bats lower down the order and is not known for their batting ability.

Umpire - there are two umpires on the field of play - one at the non-striker's end and one at square leg - who decide if a batter is out and adjudicate on bowlers, extras, fours, and sixes. The third umpire, located in the stands, watches television replays to advise on whether a batter is out or not out.

How a batter can be declared out

There are ten ways a batter can be out in cricket - five are common and five are rare.

Typically, a batter will be caught, bowled, given leg before wicket (lbw), run out, or stumped (when the batter moves out of their ground and the wicketkeeper removes the bails with the ball in their hand).

The remaining five ways to lose your wicket range from uncommon to almost unseen.

Two uncommon methods in cricket are not frequently observed. The first is 'hit wicket', which occurs when a batter accidentally removes their own bails. The second is 'handled the ball', which happens when a batter touches the ball without permission from the fielding side.

The three ways a batter can be given out that are not commonly known are: hitting the ball twice (also known as 'double hit') - deliberately hitting the ball twice; obstructing the field - preventing fielders from executing a run out or a catch; and timed out, which is when a new batter takes too long to appear on the field.

It's worth noting that for the batter to be given out, the fielding team must appeal to the umpire by asking 'how's that?' which is often shortened to 'howzat'.