Cricket Glossary
Learn the language of Cricket — answer-first definitions with real examples, beginner to pro.
12 terms
- Death-Overs BowlingAdvancedDeath-overs bowling is the skill of bowling the final overs of a limited-overs innings. This means typically overs 17–20 in T20 or overs 41–50 in one-day cricket. This means when the batting team is trying to hit every ball for a boundary.
- GlideAdvancedThe glide is a delicate deflection played to a full or good-length ball outside off stump. This uses an open bat face to steer the ball fine on the off side between slip and third man.
- GooglyAdvancedA googly is a deceptive wrist-spin delivery from a leg-spinner that turns the opposite way to the stock ball. This means toward a right-handed batter instead of away. This means disguised by an identical action.
- Late CutAdvancedThe late cut is a delicate batting stroke played to a short, wide ball outside off stump. This uses soft wrists to deflect the ball very fine to third man after it has almost passed the batter.
- Leg-CutterAdvancedThe leg-cutter is a pace bowling variation where the ball is cut off the middle and ring fingers to move towards the leg side off the pitch, acting like a slow leg-break.
- Off-CutterAdvancedThe off-cutter is a pace bowling variation where the ball is cut off the index finger and middle finger to spin towards the off side off the pitch, acting like a slow off-break without a full-length spin action.
- Off-SpinAdvancedOff-spin is a style of finger-spin bowling that turns the ball from off to leg. This means toward a right-handed batter. This means through finger action rather than wrist action, with the off-break as its stock delivery.
- Reverse SweepAdvancedThe reverse sweep is an attacking stroke where the batter kneels on the front knee and sweeps the ball to the off side. This means the mirror image of the conventional sweep, played in the opposite direction.
- Reverse SwingAdvancedReverse swing is a phenomenon where an old, asymmetrically worn ball swings in the opposite direction to conventional swing, deceiving batters conditioned to expect conventional movement.
- Sweep ShotAdvancedThe sweep is a cross-bat shot played on one knee to a (usually spinning) good-length ball, sweeping it around to the leg side to counter turn and length.
- Swing BowlingAdvancedSwing bowling is making a fast-bowled ball curve sideways through the air. This means toward the batter (inswing) or away (outswing). This means by exploiting the pressure difference created when one side of the ball is shinier than the other.
- Upper CutAdvancedThe upper cut is an attacking stroke played to a short, wide, high ball outside off stump, hitting it over the slips or gully area for four or six.
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