Beamer - A delivery aimed at waist height, without bouncing
The bowler is bowling beamers at the inexperienced
batsman. He will be out soon.
Bouncer - A fast, short-pitched bowl, aimed at the batsman/batswoman’s head
It’s good job she’s wearing a helmet with
those bouncers coming down the wicket.
Bunny - A batsman that is frequently dismissed by the same bowler
Unfortunately for Mark, he has become Paul’s
bunny. Paul has bowled him out yet again.
Century - A score of at least 100 runs by a single batsman/woman
That is the first time he has scored a century.
Well done to him.
Cow corner - An area of the pitch, the ball rarely goes to
The ball has gone down to cow corner. It will
take a few seconds before a fielder gets there.
Daisy cutter - When a delivery rolls along the ground or bounces twice
The batsmen had no chance of hitting that
daisy cutter.
Dibbly dobbly - A delivery that’s easy to hit, but difficult to score from
The batsman wasn’t expecting that dibbly
dobbly. He completely missed it
Dolly - A very easy catch
I can’t believe he dropped that dolly. It was such an easy catch.
Duck - Batsman/woman out, without scoring
a run
She’s out for a duck. That’s the third time this season.
Golden duck - Same as a duck, but in this case, by first delivered ball
They bowled the top batsman out for a golden
duck. They should win the match easily now.
Gun - A highly skilled batsman.
Tom is considered the gun in our team. He
scores the most runs, almost every time.
Jaffa - An extremely well bowled delivery
That was an incredible jaffa. Probably the best delivery you will see all day.
LBW – Leg Before Wicket
The ball was going to hit the wicket, so the umpire had to give LBW.
Plumb – Directly at the wicket
That was plumb. The LBW couldn’t have been clearer.
Silly point - A fielding position very close to batsman/woman
The silly point is a very dangerous position
to play in, for the fielders.
Slogger - A batsman/batswoman promoted up the batting order so that the team can score
quick runs
Grahame is a great slogger. He has added 47 runs in just 3 overs.
Sticky dog - A drying wicket, which is difficult to bat on
After the rain last night, the batsmen are
really struggling on this sticky dog.
Tailenders - Players, normally bowlers, towards the end of the batting order
It shouldn’t take them long to get rid of
these tailenders.
Take a bowler downtown – When the batsman/batswoman hits the ball over the bowler’s head
It was a good delivery, but the bowler saw
the ball fly over his head and reach the boundary for 4 runs. He was taken downtown.
Toe crushers - A ball aimed directly at the batsman/woman’s feet
Those toe crushers are really difficult to
defend.
Ump – Umpire
Come on ump, that was definitely out.
Yorker – A usually fast delivery pitched at the batsman/woman’s feet
Yorkers are his speciality. He gets a lot
of wickets bowling this way.
Why did you want me to come today Ed. You know I don’t know everything about the rules
of cricket.
Really? Didn’t you play it at school?
No girls didn’t play it then, but Jenny does now of course.
Just imagine:,maybe our daughter will play for England one day.
Her teacher told me that she’s a good all-rounder. She even got a golden duck last week.
That’s not a good thing Judy. It means she was out after one delivery. If she had faced
more than one, it would have been just a duck.
Oh, I see. I feel a bit foolish now. Well, you shouldn’t. There are lots of funny
slang expressions used in cricket. For example, the bowler just bowled a beamer.
So, when he aims at waist height? Yes. If it’s short-pitched and bounces over
the batsman’s head, then it’s a bouncer.
What about if the bowler delivers the ball along the wicket.
That’s a daisy cutter. It’s considered unsporting, so you won’t see one very often.
Are there any other slang expressions for bowling?
Yes, there is a dibbly dobbly, which is a delivery that is easy to hit, but difficult
to score from. Then there is a jaffa, which is a very well-bowled delivery. Finally, there
is a toe crusher which is also known as a yorker when the bowler deliberately aims at
the batsman’s feet.
Or batswoman. Yes of course! Maybe I should have used batsperson.
Are there any more expressions I should know? Yes, a few. The referees in cricket are umpires
or umps for short. When a batsman… Batsperson.
Ahh yes. A batsperson scores 100 runs it’s a century. Batters who hit the ball all over
the pitch are known as sluggers. A gun is a highly skilled batsperson, who scores a
lot of runs and takes a bowler downtown.
For a drink after the match? No! It means he or she will hit the ball for
4s and 6s. Oh, I see. I heard Jenny talking about a dolly.
What’s that? It’s a presumed easy catch, which is dropped.
Then you have a sticky dog, which is a drying wicket that is difficult to bat on. LBW, which
is being out, legs before wicket, and plumb is when the delivery is a clear LBW. A bunny
is a batsperson, who is often dismissed by the same bowler. The cow’s corner is a part
of the pitch the ball rarely goes to and the silly point is a dangerous fielding position
close to the batsperson.
I wouldn’t want to be there. Give me the cow’s corner any day.
Finally, you have the tailenders, who are the final batters. They are often not very
good at batting and are bowled out easily.
I can’t believe how many expressions there are. I hope I can remember them all.
Shall I repeat them? Another time Ed. I think it’s tea-time now.