Cricket terms explained
New to cricket, or playing Last Over with someone who is? These are the words you are most likely to hear, in plain English.
The basics
- Over
- Six legal deliveries bowled in a row by one bowler. The last over of a limited-overs innings is often the most dramatic part of a match.
- Delivery or ball
- One attempt by the bowler to send the ball towards the batter.
- Innings
- One team's turn to bat.
- Pitch
- The strip of hard ground, 22 yards long, in the middle of the field where most of the action happens.
- Crease
- The white lines near each set of stumps. The batter stands here to face the ball.
- Wicket
- The three stumps and two bails at each end of the pitch. "Taking a wicket" also means getting a batter out.
Scoring
- Run
- The basic unit of score. Batters usually earn runs by running between the two ends of the pitch.
- Boundary
- The rope around the edge of the field, and also a shot that reaches it.
- Four
- A shot that reaches the boundary after touching the ground. It scores four runs without any running.
- Six
- A shot that clears the boundary without touching the ground. It scores six runs, the most from one normal hit.
- Dot ball
- A delivery from which no runs are scored, shown as a dot on a scorecard. Last Over shows it as 0.
- Run chase
- When the team batting second tries to pass the score set by the other team.
- Target
- The score the chasing team needs. In Last Over, the target is always 12.
Bowling
- Yorker
- A ball aimed to land right at the batter's feet. It is hard to hit and common at the end of an innings.
- Bouncer
- A short, fast ball that rises towards the batter's chest or head.
- Full toss
- A ball that reaches the batter without bouncing, usually easier to hit.
- Run-up
- The bowler's approach before releasing the ball. In Last Over, this is your moment to get ready.
Batting
- Timing
- Meeting the ball at just the right moment, so that it travels far without much effort. It is the one skill Last Over tests.
- Follow-through
- The way the bat keeps moving after it hits the ball.
- Sweet spot
- The part of the bat that sends the ball furthest. The bright centre of the timing bar plays the same role in the game.