Thursday, October 22, 2009

A

Young Cricketer. "Yes, I cocked one off the splice in the gully and the blighter gathered it."
Father. "Yes, but how did you get out? Were you caught, stumped or bowled, or what?"
Cartoon from Punch, 21 July 1920.

Agricultural shot

this is a swing across the line of the ball (resembling ascything motion) played without much technique. Often one that results in a chunk of the pitch being dug up by the bat. A type of a slog.^[5]

All out

when an innings is ended due to ten of the eleven batsmenon the batting side being either dismissed or unable to bat because of injury or illness.^{[citation needed]}

All-rounder

a player adept at both batting and bowling.^[6] In the modern era, this term can also refer to a wicket-keeper adept at batting.

Anchor

a top-order batsman capable of batting for a long duration throughout the innings. Usually batsmen playing at numbers 3 or 4 play such a role, especially if there is a batting collapse. An anchor plays defensively, and is often the top scorer in the innings.^[7]

Appeal

the act of a bowler or fielder shouting at the umpire to ask if his last ball took the batsman'swicket. Usually phrased in the form of howzat (how-is-that?). Common variations include 'Howzee?' (how is he?), or simply turning to the umpire and shouting.^[6]

Approach

The motion of the bowler prior to bowling the ball. It is also known as the run-up. Also the ground a bowler runs on during his run up. Eg: "Play was delayed because the bowler's approaches were slippery."^{[citation needed]}

Arm ball

a deceptive delivery bowled by an off spin bowler that is not spun, so, unlike the off break, it travels straight on (with the bowler's arm). A particularly good bowler's arm ball might also swingaway from the batsman in the air (or in to him when delivered by a left-armer).^[1]

Around the wicket or round the wicket

a right-handed bowler passing to the right of the stumps during his bowling action, and vice-versa for left-handed bowlers.^[8]

Ashes, the

the perpetual prize in England v Australia Test match series. The small wooden urn contains ashes collected after burning the bails used when Australia first beat England in England, atThe Oval in 1882 (the first Test match between the two nations was in Melbourne in 1877).^[1]

Asking rate

the rate at which the team batting needs to score to catch the opponents score in a limited overs game.^[1]

Attacking field

A fielding configuration in which more fielders are close in to the pitch so as to take catches anddismiss batsmen more readily, at the risk of letting more runs get scored should the ball get past them.

Attacking shot

A shot of aggression or strength designed to score runs.^[9]

Average

A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowler (including wides and no-balls) divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler. A batsman's batting average is defined as the total number of runs scored by the batsman divided by the number of times he has been dismissed.^[9]

Away Swing

see out swing^[9]