Cricket Slang Glossary

The youngsters are always creating new terms but some slang never dies, so take a look at our list and polish up on your cricket lingo so you're never left dumbfounded at the nets again.

Axe - another name for a bat, also known as a Stick or Willow. The oldest surviving bats may date back to 1729 but these names are certainly timeless. No matter what you call it, an aluminium bat is no Willow. Someone should have told that to Dennis Lillee back in 1979.

Watch as he tries to slightly bend those rules here.

Badged - when a player is hit in the helmet by a Bouncer, usually on or close to the helmet badge, hence the name. Brett Lee was notorious for 'Badging' batsmen and West Indian Devon Smith was unlucky enough to feel the full wrath of one of Lee's infamous Bumpers

Watch Binger's Badging here.

Beamer - a full toss that reaches the batsman at head height - often referred to as a Headhunter. Although typically an accident, it can be used to either scare or hurt the batsman. Check out Waqar Younis' use of the beamer against Andrew Symonds here, before watching Brett Lee do some damage to former teammate Shane Warne here.

Blockhole - the area between where the batsman takes guard and his or her toes. This is the target area for a Yorker.

Check out Lasith 'Slinga' Malinga at his Blockhole best here.

Bodyline - a tactic involving bowling directly at the batsman's body with a heavy contingent of leg-side fielders in place in an attempt to force the batsman into being caught or hurt. Bodyline tactics marred the 1932-33 Ashes Tour in Australia.

Watch the ABC's documentary 'Bodyline' here.

Bouncer or Bumper - a short-pitched ball delivered generally at pace aimed at reaching the batsman anywhere from above chest to over head height. The 'slow bouncer' is beginning to cement its place into T20 cricket but it's still no match for the venom of a 1970s-80s Windies bumper, for which Michael Holding was a master.

Watch as 'Whispering Death' dishes up some brutal Babylon heat to Brian Close here.

Bunny - a batsman is frequently dismissed by the same bowler, therefore becoming that player's bunny or rabbit. Glenn McGrath dismissed Michael Atherton a record 19 times. Hence why Atherton was and will always be McGrath's bunny.

Click here for the complete list of the top Test bowlers and their bunnies.

Carry the bat - to carry your bat is to open and bat through the entire innings without being dismissed, after your entire team has been bowled out or retired hurt. This is a rare feat more common to first-class cricket rather than Tests.

Click here for a list of those Test batsmen to survive an entire innings after opening.

Cherry - the red marks left on a bat from a red cricket ball. The riper the cherries on your bat, the more respect you'll receive in the pavilion... apparently. This term in no way related to Warrant's hair metal classic 'Cherry Pie', but here it is anyway.

Chin Music - a series of bouncers (bumpers) bowled in an attempt to intimidate the batsman/batsmen. Mitchell Johnson wreaked havoc on the English in the latest Ashes series with his use of this tactic.

Watch Mitch deliver some very sweet Chin Music to the poms here.

Cow Corner - a section of the fields between deep mid-wicket and wide long-on where fielders are rarely placed due to a lack of shots being played there - leading to the concept that cows could happily graze in that area without disturbance. The phrase is rumoured to have been coined on the fields of Dulwich College where there was the corner of a field containing livestock.

Daisy Cutter - when a ball rolls along the pitch or bounces more than 2 times, sometimes known as a Grubber.

Watch two of our favourite Daisy Cutters, including a former Australian Prime Minister, here.

Diamond Duck - when a batsman is dismissed (most likely run out) without facing a ball. It would have to be one of the most humiliating forms of dismissal, with the blame usually shifting to your reckless mate down the other end after he or she decided on that stupid single.

Watch Shahid Afridi receive that coveted, rare honour here.

Dolly or Sitter - the most simple of catches. Mike Gatting dropped one of these against India back during the 1993-93 season.

Watch Gatting's humiliating dropped Dolly here.

Doosra - invented by Saqlain Mushtaq, coined by Moin Khan, a finger spinner's answer to the googly.

Watch as Mushtaq bamboozles Damien Martyn with his signature ball here.

Downtown - taking a bowler Downtown is the smash his delivery straight back over his head for a six.

Watch Aaron Finch go Downtown here.

Flipper - a delivery developed by Clarrie Grimmett but mastered by Shane Warne, the Flipper is a leg spin delivery with under-spin, causing the ball to bounce lower than expected. The aim is to tempt the batsman into a cut or pull shot so the low trajectory can either find the stumps or a pad for an LBW.

Here's the 'King of Spin' dismissing Alec Stewart with the Flipper back in 1994.

Gun - a highly competent batsman, the complete opposite to a Hack.

Let's bask in the glory of Sir Viv Richards here.

Hack - a poorly skilled, cross-batting batsman who may rely on a bit of luck to put runs on the board. We're not going to single anyone out here because we're pretty confident you already knows who these guys are.

Heavy Ball - is when a delivery is quicker than it looks and hits the bat harder or higher than is expected.

Jack - a number 11 batsman. It's rare that these guys ever make a real impact but every once in a while they'll pull a Rabbit out of the hat and exchange it for a Gun. Who can forget Glenn McGrath's 61 against New Zealand?

Watch as he reaches his one and only Test 50 here.

Jaffer - commonly known as a Beauty or a Peach in Australia, the Jaffer is simply one of those balls that even the batsman is in awe of. There's a fair share of Jaffers dished-up in world cricket, but here's one that caught our eye .

Maximum - a term resulting by the 'creativity' of the IPL commentary team. We hope this one doesn't make it to our shores because it isn't too popular here at ACA HQ. We'd also like to note that a Six isn't the maximum amount of runs you can score off a ball, so in turn this term becomes redundant. Next!

Nick - also referred to as an Edge or a Snick. Maybe someone should explain this one to Stuart Broad.

Watch him take the term Nick to the next level here.

Plumb - an LBW appeal, which, to most, is clearly out. Umpires have been known to overlook some of these appeals.

Here are two of those howlers... back-to-back.

Rabbit - incompetent lower-order batsman, also known as a Ferret. A pavilion housing multiple Rabbits is usually referred to as a Hutch. Rabbits also tend to become Bunnies throughout their careers. Sri Lankan Roshan Jurangpathy finished his two-Test career with an average of 0.25. Now, that's a Rabbit!

Reverse Tang - also known as Reverse Swing or Irish Swing, is when the bowler manages to get to the ball to swing in the air. It occurs when an older ball favours the 'shiny' side, swinging late in an attempt to bowl or trap the batsman LBW.

Instead of going too in-depth into the science behind this phenomenon we thought we'd just show you how it's done here.

Seed - delivering a good Seed down the pitch gives you just as much pride as seeing your child graduate or receiving the 'Employee of the month' honours for August. Even though this is a glossary of terms already established, we thought we'd throw a curve ball (not a cricket term) and coin the term a 'Nick Cave' for a bad Seed.

Sniff - a bouncer that flies so close to the nose the batsman can smell the ball.

Watch as Jeff Thompson gives Faoud Bacchus a Sniff.

Spitting Cobra - when a delivery 'spits' dangerously off a length, usually resulting in the batsman being Badged.

Relive this brutal David Saker Spitting Cobra that rocketed into Jeff Vaughan's helmet, forcing him to retire hurt.

Skipper - the team's Captain. Steve Waugh will go down as cricket's most successful Test captain. His 57 matches at the helm returned 41 wins, nine losses and seven draws, resulting in a win ratio of 71.92%. Only Ricky Ponting (62.33%) has gone close to this phenomenal stat.

Slog - a hard, often reckless shot aimed at finding the boundary through the air. Common in T20 cricket where many have perfected it. One of those masters is David Warner.

Watch him slog a switch-hit shot for six here.

Yorker - a fast-paced ball aimed at pitching in or close to the Blockhole. It is usually used as a change-up ball, in an attempt to bowl the batman, force a misguided half volley or trap them LBW.

The Pakistanis have had a great love affair with the in-swinging yorker and here's a perfect example from Waqar Younis.