Cricket Glossary: 40+ Common Terms Explained

Cricket has a language all of its own. Whether you are watching your first match or brushing up on the jargon, this glossary explains the most common terms you will hear from commentators and fans.

Batting terms

• Duck — a batter dismissed without scoring a run.
• Golden duck — out on the very first ball faced.
• Century — an individual score of 100 or more runs.
• Half-century — an individual score of 50 to 99 runs.
• Strike rate — runs scored per 100 balls faced, a measure of scoring speed.
• Nightwatchman — a lower-order batter sent in late in the day to protect a specialist batter.
• Slog — an aggressive, high-risk swing aimed at hitting a boundary.

Bowling terms

• Maiden over — an over in which no runs are scored off the bat.
• Yorker — a delivery aimed at the batter’s feet, hard to hit away.
• Bouncer — a short, fast delivery that rises towards the batter’s head.
• Googly — a leg-spinner’s delivery that turns the opposite way to what the batter expects.
• Doosra — an off-spinner’s delivery that turns the other way.
• Economy rate — runs conceded per over by a bowler.
• Hat-trick — three wickets taken on three consecutive deliveries.

Match and situation terms

• Powerplay — a set of overs early in a limited-overs innings with fielding restrictions.
• Death overs — the final overs of a limited-overs innings, when scoring is usually fastest.
• Declaration — when a batting captain voluntarily ends the innings in a Test match.
• Follow-on — when the team batting second is well behind and asked to bat again immediately.
• All-rounder — a player skilled at both batting and bowling.
• Nightwatch — protecting wickets late in a day’s play.
• Run chase — the second innings, where a team tries to beat a target.

Fielding terms

• Slip — a fielder positioned next to the wicketkeeper to catch edges.
• Gully — a fielder just wider than the slips.
• Silly point — a close catching position very near the batter on the off side.
• Boundary rider — a fielder patrolling near the rope to stop fours and sixes.
• Direct hit — throwing down the stumps without a fielder’s help, often for a run out.

Keep this glossary handy while you watch, and the commentary will quickly start to make sense. For a deeper look at where fielders stand, read our guide to fielding positions.