Skip to main content
Cricket Glossary
Learn the language of Cricket — answer-first definitions with real examples, beginner to pro.
98 terms
- Open Batting Stance (Chest-On Stance)IntermediateAn open batting stance turns your chest towards the bowler, with your front foot pulled back towards the leg side. Many T20 batters use it to see the ball with both eyes and to set a wide, stable base for hitting. It works in any format if you still turn side-on for off-side shots.
- Opening Batter (Opening the Batting)IntermediateOpening batters bat first and face the new ball. To be a good opener, build a tight defence, know where your off stump is and leave well early on. Talk with your partner, run hard and score from bad balls. In limited-overs cricket, openers also use the powerplay to score while the field is up.
- Out-SwingIntermediateOut-swing is conventional swing bowling where the ball curves in the air from leg to off (away from the body of a right-handed batter), enticing an edge towards the slip cordon.
- Over-Striding and Lunging When BattingIntermediateYou are over-striding if your front foot lands so far down the pitch that your head stays behind it and your weight is stuck between your feet. You then lunge with the arms and lose balance. A good drive has the head over the front knee, with the stride matched to the length of the ball.
- Paddle SweepIntermediateA paddle sweep is a gentle sweep that deflects the ball fine down the leg side, behind square towards fine leg. Get down on one knee with your front leg stretched towards the ball. Hold the bat almost flat and angled, then guide the ball using its own pace. It needs a precise angle more than power.
- Penalty Runs (5-Run Penalty)IntermediateUmpires award 5 penalty runs for unfair play. The batting side gets them when a fielder fields illegally or fakes a fielding action to fool the batters. They also get them when the ball hits a fielding helmet left on the ground. The fielding side gets 5 runs for some batting offences, such as damaging the pitch.
- Pink Ball and Day-Night Test CricketIntermediateThe pink ball is used in day-night Test matches, where play continues under floodlights. Batters often find it harder to see, especially at dusk. In a survey of elite players, the pink ball was rated less visible than the red ball when batting and fielding. It was rated hardest to see at dusk under lights.
- Playing Fast BowlingIntermediateTo play fast bowling, finish any trigger movement before the ball is released so you are still and balanced. Watch the ball from the hand, decide forward or back early and play the ball late under your eyes. Leave balls outside off stump and have a clear plan for the short ball.
- Playing Spin BowlingIntermediateTo play spin bowling, watch the bowler's hand to read which way the ball will turn and pick up the length early. Be decisive with your feet. Go right forward to smother the spin at the pitch, or right back to play it late off the pitch. Keep your bat in front of your pad and score by playing with the turn.
- Playing Swing and Seam BowlingIntermediateTo play swing and seam bowling, know where your off stump is and leave balls you do not need to play. Watch the seam and shine in the bowler's hand, then play late under your eyes with a straight bat and soft hands. Let the ball come to you instead of reaching for it.
- Playing the Ball LateIntermediatePlaying the ball late means meeting it close to your body, under your eyes, instead of reaching out in front for it. Your feet and backlift still move early. Only the contact happens late. It gives swing and seam less chance to beat you. It also keeps any edges soft.
- Power Hitting (Six Hitting)IntermediatePower hitting comes from a stable base, a still head and fast bat speed through the ball, not from swinging harder with the arms. Read the length early and clear your front leg if you need room. Swing through the line with a full face and full extension.
- Premeditation (Planting the Front Foot Early)IntermediatePremeditation means deciding your shot or foot movement before you have seen the ball. Planting the front foot early is the classic example. It leaves you stuck forward to a short ball or across the line to a straight one. Read the length first, then move.
- Pull ShotIntermediateThe pull shot is a back-foot, cross-bat stroke played to a short-pitched ball. It swings the ball around to the leg side, usually between mid-wicket and square leg.
- Run Chase and Required Run RateIntermediateIn a run chase, the required run rate is the runs you still need divided by the overs left. To pace a chase, break it into small targets, keep wickets in hand and avoid long runs of dot balls. Plan to attack harder when you have batters to come and fewer overs left.
- Running Out the Non-Striker (Mankad)IntermediateThe bowler can run out a non-striker who leaves their crease too early. If the non-striker is out of their ground before the bowler's arm reaches the top of the normal delivery swing. The bowler may break the wicket by hand or with a throw. It is a legal run out under Law 38.3, often called 'Mankading'. Once the bowler's arm passes that point, it is too late.
- Seam BowlingIntermediateSeam bowling is a style of pace bowling where the ball is gripped so the seam is upright and the ball lands on the seam. This causes it to deviate unpredictably off the pitch.
- Sidearm Throwdowns (Ball Thrower)IntermediateA sidearm, or dog stick, is a long-handled thrower that lets a coach deliver a hard ball at real pace without a bowler. It is ideal for grooving one length or shot. The ECB says only experienced adults should use one, and always from the full length of the pitch with a hard ball.
- Slider (Wrist Spinner's Straight One)IntermediateIn cricket, a slider is a wrist spinner's ball that slides straight on instead of turning, with a little backspin. It looks like a leg-break from the hand but skids through and holds its line. Batters playing for turn are beaten on the inside or trapped LBW.
- Slip CatchingIntermediateSlip catching is the specialist skill of catching edges in the slip cordon, the fielders placed behind the batter on the off side. It usually takes exceptional reflexes and soft hands.
- Slog SweepIntermediateThe slog sweep is a powerful, high-risk batting stroke where the batter sweeps a short-pitched or good-length ball over deep mid-wicket, aiming to hit it out of the ground for six.
- Slower BallIntermediateThe slower ball is a pace bowler's variation delivery, bowled well below their normal pace. It is meant to deceive a batter expecting the standard pace.
- Soft Hands in BattingIntermediateSoft hands means relaxing your grip at contact. The bat gives a little and the ball drops dead near your feet. It helps edges fall short of the slips and stops bat-pad catches against spin. Hard hands, pushing firmly at the ball, send edges flying.
- Square CutIntermediateThe square cut is a back-foot, cross-bat stroke played to a short, wide ball outside off stump. It slashes the ball square on the off side, toward point.
- Square DriveIntermediateA square drive hits a full, wide ball outside off stump square on the off side, through point or backward point. Step towards the line of the ball, extend your arms and bring the bat down at more of an angle than on a cover drive. Keep your head over the ball to keep it on the ground.
- Straight DriveIntermediateThe straight drive is a front-foot attacking stroke played to a full ball on or just outside off stump. It sends the ball back past the bowler, straight down the ground.
- Sweet Spot and Bat ProfileIntermediateThe sweet spot, or middle, is the part of the blade that sends the ball away hardest with the least jar in your hands. It sits where the bat maker has put the most wood. The bat's profile is the shape of its back: the spine, the edges and how high the thickest point sits. That decides where the middle is.
- T20 Batting ApproachIntermediateT20 batting means scoring quickly from the first ball while keeping enough wickets for the end. Attack the gaps in the six-over powerplay, rotate the strike and pick off bad balls in the middle overs, and save the biggest hitting for the death. Know your best scoring areas and which bowlers you want to target.
- Test Match Batting (Batting for a Long Time)IntermediateBatting in a Test or multi-day match is about time at the crease as much as runs. Leave well, defend tightly and score off bad balls. Break the day into sessions and short goals, and be ready to get through hard spells against the new ball.
- Throwing Mechanics – FieldingIntermediateThrowing mechanics in cricket fielding refers to the technique for generating an accurate, powerful, low-trajectory throw from the outfield or inner ring to the wicket-keeper or bowler's end stumps.
- Timed OutIntermediateUnder Law 40, the next ball must be ready to be faced within 3 minutes of a wicket falling or a batter retiring. If not, the incoming batter is out timed out. ICC playing conditions shorten this to 2 minutes in Tests and ODIs and 90 seconds in T20 internationals. The fielding side must appeal.
- Timing the BallIntermediateTiming the ball means meeting it with the middle of the bat at the right moment. The bat face should point where you want the ball to go. Keep your head still and over the ball, let it come under your eyes and swing smoothly through it. A well-timed shot travels further than the effort behind it suggests.
- Top HandIntermediateIn cricket batting, the top hand is the upper hand on the bat handle (for a right-hander, the left hand) and controls straight-bat strokes. A strong top hand keeps the bat face straight through the hitting zone.
- Top-SpinnerIntermediateA top-spinner is a spin delivery with forward overspin, so it dips in the air and bounces higher than the batter expects. It turns very little sideways. Wrist spinners use it to beat batters on length, causing top edges, LBWs and catches to close fielders.
- Why Your Drives Go in the AirIntermediateYour drives go in the air when you hit the ball before your head is over it or before the ball has reached you. The bat face opens or points up, so the ball lifts. Common causes are driving at balls that are not full enough, reaching away from the body and hitting too early. Get your head over the ball and play it later.
- Wicketkeeping: Standing Up and Standing BackIntermediateA wicketkeeper crouches with weight on the balls of the feet, gloves together and head still. They rise with the ball rather than ahead of it. Against pace, stand back far enough to take the ball at about waist height. Against spin, stand up close to the stumps, stay low and bring the gloves back to the stumps for a stumping.
- Wobble Seam and Scrambled SeamIntermediateWobble seam is a fast-bowling release where the seam wobbles from side to side in flight instead of staying upright. The ball may land on the stitching or the leather, so it can nip either way off the pitch. Even the bowler does not always know which way. Scrambled and cross-seam deliveries are related variations.
- YorkerIntermediateA yorker is a delivery bowled to pitch right at the batter's feet, under the swinging bat. It is one of the hardest balls to score off and a key death-overs weapon.
See these terms in your own swing
SwingVantage analyzes your swing against these benchmarks — free to start.
Analyze My Swing Free