Cricket Jargon

Batsman

Duck

If a batsman gets out without scoring any runs. A batsman out for a duck while facing his first delivery of the innings is out for a golden duck

Partnership

The runs scored while two batsmen bat together are called their partnership. There are ten partnerships per completed innings, labeled as first-wicket partnership to tenth-wicket partnership, in order.

Night watchman

A night watchman is a batsman who comes in to bat out of order towards the end of a day's play in a multi-day game, in order to 'protect' better batsmen

Sightscreen

A large screen positioned on the boundary so that it forms a backdrop behind the bowler, so that the striker can see the ball clearly. Sightscreens are white when a red ball is used, and black for a white ball.

Batsmen's Shots (Strokes)

The batting strokes can be divided into two categories: Straight bat and cross bat. The straight bat shots are played with the bat held close to the vertical, as are the blocks, drives and glances. Cross bat shots are played with the bat held more horizontally, like a baseball bat. These include cuts, pulls, sweeps and hooks.

Block
A defensive shot played with the bat vertical and angled down at the front, intended to stop the ball and drop it down quickly onto the pitch in front of the batsman

Cut
A shot played with the bat close to horizontal, hitting the ball in the arc between cover and gully.

Drive
An offensive shot played with the bat sweeping down through the vertical. The ball travels swiftly along the ground in front of the batsman. A drive can be an on drive, straight drive, off drive, or cover drive, depending in which direction it goes.

Edge, or Glance
A shot played off the bat at a glancing angle, through the slips area

Most of these shots can also be lofted, in an attempt to hit the ball over the close fielders (or the boundary).

Bowling

If a bowler completes an over without any runs being scored from it, it is termed a maiden.

Bowling Styles

A fast bowler bowls the ball as fast as practicable, attempting to
defeat the batsman with the pace of the ball. If the ball also swings in the air, or seams (moves sideways) off the pitch because of bouncing on the seam, it can be very difficult to play. Fast
bowlers are generally used with a new ball.

A fast bowler can also pull his fingers down on one side of the ball as he lets go, giving the ball a small sideways spin. This can cause the ball to move sideways off the pitch. If the ball moves from the leg side to the off side of a right-handed batsman, the delivery is called a leg-cutter, or an off-cutter if it moves from the off to the leg.

A spin bowler has a more ambling run-up and uses wrist or finger motion to impart a spin to the ball. The ball then spins to one side when it bounces on the pitch, thus also hopefully causing it to be hard to hit. Spin bowlers generally get more spin with a worn ball.

If the hand is twisted clockwise on release of the ball, then the spin on the ball is such that when it bounces, it will spin to the right. This is called off-spin bowling because, to a right-handed batsman, the ball spins from the off side to the leg side.

If the ball is twisted anticlockwise and released from the palm so that it 'rolls' over the base of the little finger, the ball will spin in the opposite direction. This is basic leg-spin because, to a right-handed batsman, it spins from leg to off.

Top-spinners are bowled with the wrist cocked a little towards the inside of the arm. If this action is more pronouced, it produces spin in the same direction as an off-spinner. A ball bowled in this
way by a leg-spin bowler is called a wrong 'un, or sometimes a googly. One of the most fascinating but trickiest of all is a ball bowled with the hand in the same position as a top-spinner, but released from under the hand, giving back-spin. This ball is called a flipper, a favorite and most successful delivery for Shane Warne.

Right handed spinners can be off-spinners, with simple off-spin and arm-ball deliveries, or leg-spinners with leg-spinners, top-spinners, wrong 'uns, and flippers.

A left-handed bowler who uses the same action as an off-spinner is called an orthodox spinner. A left-hander who bowls with the same action as a leg-spinner is called an unorthodox spinner and is more rare. The top-spinner and flipper retain their names, but the left-handed version of the wrong 'un is a Chinaman.

There is also medium pace bowling, which places more emphasis on swing and seam than pace. A swing bowler holds the seam of the ball at a certain angle and attempts to release the ball so that it spins with the seam at a constant angle. A seam bowler tries to keep the seam vertical, so that the ball hits the seam when it bounces on the pitch and deflects either to the right or left. 

The Yorker
A ball bounced very close to the batsman's crease

Courtesy : www.toneware.com