"Cricket Lovely Cricket" the sport of Barbados and the West Indies Part 2

The Language of the game... Understanding Cricket terms.

All Rounder: A player who is capable of batting, bowling and fielding competently. The most famous person to fall in the category just so happens to be a Barbadian, he is Sir Garfield Sobers.

Appeal: A loud call made to the umpire for a batsman given out.

Averages: Batsman average equals number of runs scored, number of innings played minus the number of times not out. Bowler’s Average eaquals number of runs Conceded over the number of wickets taken.

Bails: Two wooded cross pieces over the top of the stumps.

Ball: The ball is round and cased in stitched red leather. It can be up to 9 inches but must not be less than 8.8125 inches. The weight should also not be less than 5.5 ounces and no more that 5.75 ounces.

Bats: Bats are traditionally made from English willow with a cane handle. They should not be longer that 38 inches or wider than 4.75 inches. The flat part of the bat is known as the blade and is used to hit the ball.

Batsman: Every member of the team is expected to bat in a match but it is only the first 5 batsman in a team that are considered specialist batsman. The opening pair are given the task of setting the foundation for the others to build on. The most fruitful opening pair in test cricket were Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes of the West Indies who over a period of 13 years amassed 6482 runs in 148 innings at an average of 47.31.

Bouncer: A fast short pitched delivery which reaches the batsman at shoulder height or above.

Boundary: The perimeter of the playing field that should be clearly marked. The boundary is the part of the perimeter nearest to the umpire. When the ball crosses or touches a boundary marker the batsman is said to have “struck a boundary”

Bowled: To be “Bowled” is a form of dismissal. For a batsman to be bowled the ball must hit the wicket and dislodge a bail.

Bowler: Each team will have four or five specialist bowlers. They are either fast bowlers or spin bowlers or variations of either.

Byes: These are any runs that are made when the ball passes the wicket untouched by the bat or body of the batsman.

Caught: This too is a form of dismissal. A batsman is out caught if he hits the ball with the bat, glove or hand holding the bat and it is caught by a fielder within the playing area before it hits the ground.

Century: 100 runs made by an individual batsman

Chinaman: The left arm bowlers off. Break to a right handed batsman. It is said to have derived its name from Ellis Achongh, a Trinidadian of Chinese decent who played for the West Indies. It was his unorthodox delivery getting and English batsman out that is said to have prompted the remark that he was “done in by a Chinaman”.

Crease: There are 3 sets of creases marked at each end of the pitch

1. The bowling crease is the line along which the stumps are set
2. The popping crease is positioned parallel to the bowling crease with four feet between them.
3. The return crease is at right angels from each end of the bowling creases extending past the popping crease.

Declaration: The Captain of a batting side can declare an innings over at any time. However the declaration is usually used in effort to effect a result in a game rather than let the match draw.

Delivery: Each time a ball is bowled it is called a delivery. There are six deliveries in every over.

Dismissal: A batsman can be dismissed in one of the following ways:

1. Bowled
2. Caught
3. Hit Wicket
4. Hitting the ball twice
5. Handled ball
6. Leg before wicket LBW
7. Obstructing the field
8. Run out
9. Stumped.
10. Timed Out

Dot Ball: The dot (period) is used instead of zero (0) by the scorer in the score book when no run comes of a bowled ball or delivery

Draw: Any match which fails to produce a result. Not to be confused with a TIE.

Duck: When a batsman is given out without having scored any runs. Courtney Walsh holds the record for this shameful term. He was out 39 times without scoring in his career.

Duckworth Lewis System: A mathematical system which sets revised targets in rain interrupted limited over matches.

Extras: Runs added to the bating teams score other than the batsman scoring. These include byes, leg byes, wides and no balls.

Fielding: There are 34 basic positions for a field set for a right handed batsman.

Flipper: A leg spin delivery with under spin that bounces lower than normal. An action first accredited to the Australian spin bowler Clarrie Grimmett who played Test Cricket between 1924 and 1936. The Flipper was perfected by Australian spinner Shane Warne.

Follow On: In a match two innings per side the team batting second can be asked to continue batting if at the end of their first innings they have failed to reach the total runs set by the first team or come within range of the total. This shortfall is determined be the number of days the game is to be played. In a five day match 200 runs. In a four day match 150 runs in a three day match 100 runs.

Free Hit: In the twenty/20 version of the game a NO BALL is followed by a free hit. The batsman cannot be bowled or caught from this delivery but he can be run out.

Full Toss: A ball which reaches the batsman without touching the pitch/ground.

More to follow.....