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Glossary

Cricket glossary for managers

59 terms in plain English: the formats, the rules that decide a match, the stats on the table, the roles in a squad and the language of the auction room. Each one says what it is, why it matters, and how it shows up in Masterstroke.

Formats and competitions

  • 100-ball cricketThe 100-balls-a-side format used by The Hundred: five-ball sets, ends that change every ten balls, a 25-ball powerplay and a 20-ball limit per bowler.
  • One Day International (ODI)The 50-over format: bowling limits, the three fielding-restriction phases, the two new balls, and why it rewards pacing an innings.
  • PlayoffsThe knockout stage of a franchise league: why finishing top two gives a second chance, and how the eliminator and qualifiers lead to the final.
  • Points tableThe league standings: two points a win, one for a no result, and net run rate to separate teams level on points.
  • T20 (Twenty20)The 20-over format: how long it lasts, what each bowler may bowl, and where the fielders are allowed to stand.
  • Test matchThe five-day format: sessions, two innings a side, the follow-on, declarations, the new ball at 80 overs and how a draw happens.
  • Tour (bilateral series)How international cricket is scheduled: a touring side plays a host across several formats, in a calendar the boards agree years in advance.
  • World Test ChampionshipThe two-year league for Test nations: which series count, how points percentage decides the table, and the neutral-venue final for the mace.

Match play and rules

  • Day-night TestTest cricket played into the evening under floodlights with a pink ball that behaves differently at twilight. It changes the toss, the sessions and the plan.
  • Death oversThe closing overs of a limited-overs innings, usually the last four or five, when batters swing at everything and bowlers live on yorkers and changes of pace.
  • DeclarationA captain closes the innings early to leave time to bowl the opposition out. Time it right and it wins Tests; time it wrong and it loses them.
  • DLS methodDuckworth-Lewis-Stern converts overs and wickets into a resource percentage so that a shortened target is fair to both sides.
  • Draw, tie and no resultA draw is a Test that ran out of time, a tie is two equal scores, and a no result is a limited-overs match the weather killed. They are not the same thing.
  • ExtrasRuns credited to the batting side without the bat being involved. Wides and no-balls count against the bowler; byes and leg byes do not.
  • Follow-onIf the side batting second trails by 200 or more, it can be made to bat again immediately. A powerful weapon that comes with a tired-bowlers tax.
  • Free hitThe delivery after a no-ball in limited-overs cricket, on which the batter cannot be out to the bowler. A free swing, and a strong reason not to overstep.
  • Impact playerA tactical substitute in some T20 leagues: one named player can replace a member of the XI mid-match, turning a side into twelve specialists.
  • Middle oversThe phase between the powerplay and the death, when the field spreads, spinners bowl and the batting side must score without losing wickets.
  • New ballA fresh ball is harder, shinier and moves more. Tests offer a second new ball after 80 overs; ODIs start with one from each end.
  • OverSix legal deliveries from one end by one bowler. Wides and no-balls do not count, and the same bowler cannot bowl two overs in a row.
  • Pitch conditionsHow the surface decides the match: grassy pitches help seam, dry ones turn, flat ones make runs, and every Test pitch changes across five days.
  • PowerplayThe opening phase of a limited-overs innings when only two fielders may stand outside the 30-yard circle, and why it sets the tempo of the match.
  • Session (Test cricket)A day of Test cricket is three sessions of about two hours, split by lunch and tea, and each one is a small contest in its own right.
  • Super overA one-over-a-side eliminator used to decide tied limited-overs matches. Two wickets and you are done, and if it ties again, you play another.
  • TossThe coin toss before every match, where the winning captain chooses to bat or bowl first based on the pitch, the weather and the format.

Numbers and stats

  • Batting averageRuns scored divided by times dismissed, so not-out innings raise it. The core Test statistic, and a misleading one in T20.
  • Bowling averageRuns conceded per wicket taken. Lower is better, and in Test cricket anything under 25 marks a genuinely good bowler.
  • Economy rateThe runs a bowler gives away per over. The core measure of a limited-overs bowler, and the reason a wicketless spell can still win a match.
  • Net run rate (NRR)A team's run rate for the tournament minus the run rate it has conceded. The tiebreaker that decides most tight tables, with one rule people forget.
  • RankingsTeam and player rankings are rating points built from recent results, weighted by the strength of the opposition. Beat a better side and you climb faster.
  • Required run rateThe runs per over a chasing side still needs. Runs required divided by overs remaining, recalculated after every ball.
  • Run rateRuns scored per over. Divide runs by overs faced, remembering that 17.3 overs means 17.5, not 17.3.
  • Strike rateFor batters, runs per hundred balls. For bowlers, balls per wicket. Same name, opposite goals.

Roles and craft

  • All-rounderA player good enough to be picked for either batting or bowling. The piece that balances an XI, and the hardest one to find.
  • Batting orderThe sequence in which the eleven batters go in, and why each position asks for a different skill.
  • BouncerA short-pitched fast delivery that rises towards the batter's chest or head. A weapon for wickets and intimidation, with a limit on how many an over.
  • CaptainThe on-field leader: calls the toss, sets the field, changes the bowling, decides declarations and reviews, and carries the result.
  • Fielding positionsThe names of the places a captain can put nine fielders, from first slip to long-on, and how the 30-yard circle rules shape them.
  • FinisherA lower-middle-order batter who wins the match at the end: clearing the rope on demand, reading the chase and staying calm as the rate climbs.
  • NightwatchmanA lower-order batter sent in late in the day to protect a top-order batter from facing the last few overs before stumps.
  • Opening batterThe two batters who face the new ball. In Tests they blunt it; in T20 they exploit the powerplay. Different jobs with the same name.
  • Spin bowlingSlow bowling that turns off the pitch. Finger spinners and wrist spinners, what each variation does, and why spin wins the middle overs.
  • Swing and seamSwing is movement through the air, seam is movement off the pitch. Both belong to the new ball, cloudy skies and green surfaces.
  • Tail-enderThe batters at nine, ten and eleven, picked for their bowling. When they score, the tail is said to wag, and it changes matches.
  • WicketkeeperThe fielder behind the stumps who takes catches, stumpings and every ball the batter misses. Modern sides expect the keeper to bat, too.
  • YorkerA full-length delivery that pitches at the batter's feet or the base of the stumps. The hardest ball to hit for four, and the death bowler's stock delivery.

Squad building and management

  • Board expectationsThe results a club or national board expects from its manager for the season, set against the squad's strength, and reviewed at the end.
  • Form and moraleForm is a player's recent output; morale is the mood behind it. Both shift the odds on the field and both can be managed.
  • Mega auctionA mega auction returns almost every player to the pool and rebuilds the league; a mini auction fills the gaps between them.
  • Overseas playersFranchise leagues cap how many foreign players a club may field, usually four in the XI, so every overseas slot has to count.
  • Player auctionThe IPL-style market where franchises bid from a fixed purse for players in sets, from marquee names down to base-price bargains.
  • PotentialThe upper limit of what a player can become. Youth with high potential is the cheapest value in the game, if you can wait for it.
  • PurseThe fixed pool of money a franchise can spend on players. Retentions come out of it first, and what is left has to buy a whole squad.
  • RetentionBefore a mega auction, franchises may keep a limited number of their players, paying a fixed cost from the purse and removing them from the pool.
  • Right to match (RTM)An auction rule that lets a franchise re-sign a player it released by matching the highest bid, after the bidder has had one chance to raise it.
  • Snake draftA draft where the pick order reverses every round, so last in round one picks first in round two. The Big Bash uses it for overseas players.
  • Squad rotationResting players across a congested schedule to manage fatigue and injury, especially fast bowlers, without weakening the side too much.
  • Trade windowThe period, outside the auction, when clubs may exchange players for other players or for cash, usually with the player's consent.
  • TrainingHow a squad improves between matches: choosing what to work on and how hard, and balancing gains against fatigue and injury.