Cricket Glossary

Cricket is a great sport, but it does have more than its fair share of potentially confusing terms and phrases.

For those of you who don’t yet know your Innings from your Maiden Over, here’s a handy glossary of those terms and others that tend to crop up more often than not...

All-rounder – A player who can play as a batsman or bowler with equal proficiency.

Batsman – The player who defends the wicket with his cricket bat. His aim is to hit the ball delivered by the bowler as far as possible so that he can score as many runs as possible.

Bowler – The player who bowls (that is, delivers the ball) to the batsman defending the wicket. His aim is to hit the wicket and thereby get the batsman out.

Boundary – The line that defines the outer edge of the playing field. A ball hit clear of this boundary (without first touching the ground) automatically scores a six.

Century – When a batsman has scored 100 he is said to have scored a century.

Duck – When a batsman has a score of 0 and is declared out, he is said to have scored a duck.

Half Century – When a batsman has a score of 50, he is said to have scored a half century.

Innings – The part of the game in which a team is batting. When one team has had its innings it is the turn of the opposition to bat.

Leg Before Wicket – Usually abbreviated to LBW, this is a description of the batsman who is dismissed for obstructing the wicket with his body, thereby causing the ball to hit his leg instead of the wicket itself.

Maiden Over – An over in which no runs are scored is referred to as a maiden over.

Out – When a batsman is dismissed, he is said to be out.

Over – A sequence of six balls being delivered to the batsman.

Run – A successful progression by the batsman from one wicket to the other to score one run.

Umpire – The name given to the referee in cricket matches.