What's it all about

Find out in our A to Z

Ashes -- Test series between England and Australia are played for The Ashes. In 1883, Australia beat England at The Oval for the first time in England. This led an English sporting paper, The Sporting Times, to publish a mock obituary of English cricket, which concluded with the words, "The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia."

Box -- Curiously known in cricket catalogues as an 'abdominal protector', this is a batsman's best friend and the first piece of cricket equipment a new player should own. The only thing worse than tucking in a cold box from one's own bag is borrowing a warm, sweaty one from someone else's.

Cap -- In first-class cricket, the sign that a player has been recognized as a full member of that particular team. A county player is awarded his cap once he has demonstrated that he can be a regular first-team player.

Century -- One hundred runs scored by a single batsman in a single innings. Multiples of one hundred are referred to as double and triple centuries. Fifty runs would be referred to as a 'half century'.

Dead ball -- When the ball is not in play, it is said to be 'dead'.

Eleven -- See XI. Also, the most random number in the universe. Ask people for a random number and 11 will be the number chosen more than any other.

Four -- A ball which crosses the boundary after having first touched the ground, and which scores four runs.

Golden Duck -- A quite excellent Chinese restaurant in Maidstone. Also a special case of a duck in which the batsman is out on his first delivery of an innings.

Hit wicket -- The striker is out hit wicket if, in playing the ball or setting off for his first run, he breaks the wicket with his bat, person or clothing.

Injuries -- If a batsman or bowler gets injured before he is needed, hard luck. Other players in the team can fill in for an injured bowler, but no allowance is made for an unfit batsman - he can struggle through as best he can, or the team can make do without him. Real man's game, cricket!

Joke bowler -- Inept bowler employed because he has turned out as a favour to the captain, who had only nine men an hour before the start, who said as he arrived "I fancy a bowl today."

Knee roll -- Tthe thickened part of the pad that protects the batsman's knee. Most usually spoken of when commentators use it as a crude guide for judging the height of a possible lbw: a ball that hits the batsman above the knee is likely to pass over the wicket.

Lord's -- A cricket ground in St John's Wood, north London, generally considered the 'home' of cricket.

Maiden -- An over in which no run is scored off the bat, nor from a wide or no-ball.

No-ball -- A delivery ruled unfair by the umpire for one of several reasons, usually to do with the position of the bowler's feet.

Out -- A batsman gets out, or just is out. That said, there are numerous ways for a batsman to get out.

Pad -- Usual term for the device known as a leg-guard only in cricket catalogues, a cane and canvas structure strapped to the lower leg to protect it against the impact of the ball. Also worn by the wicketkeeper.

Run -- The basic unit of scoring. To complete a run, each batsman must run from the position he stands in as the bowler bowls to make his ground at the other end, without being run out. Having completed the first run, they may turn and run more runs, as long as it is safe to do so without being run out.

Score -- A batting side's score is expressed as a total of runs scored for wickets lost, e.g. 176 for 5 or 176-5.

Stumps -- The three posts which hold the two bails. The bails rest in grooves at the top of the stumps. Together, the stumps and bails comprise a wicket. The three stumps are individually known as the off stump, the leg stump and the middle stump. Please see this diagram for a graphical representation of the wicket.

Toss -- After naming their players, the captains toss a coin. The winner of the toss may elect to bat or field first. Unless the conditions are very likely to favour his swing or seam bowlers, the winning captain will usually choose to bat.

Umpire -- One of the two officials who control the game on the field. At first-class level, these are usually respected ex-players with a detailed knowledge of the game. This is true of some club umpires too, but sadly, not of Village cricket.

Wicket -- The structure of three vertical stumps and two horizontal bails, 28 inches high by nine wide, at either end of the pitch, that it is the batsman's primary responsibility to defend.

Yes! -- The call from one batsman to the other indicating that he should run.

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