A-Z of cricket

Cricket is an in-depth game, it’s full of idiosyncrasies and nuances unlike any other sporting theatre. We are all drawn to the great game for different reasons – the individual battles, the statistics, the history – the list is endless. 

My cricketing A-Z isn’t about detailing the basics – that path is well-trodden. It’s written for things I love in cricket - those that have made an impact on me, that draw me to the game. They may not be played in the “V” but they are a part of what makes cricket sing for me.


  • Agricultural
  • Allrounders
  • Ambrose, Curtly
  • Apartheid
  • Arthurton, Keith
  • Ashes

B is for...
Part 1: Bartlett to Blunt via The Basin
  • Bartlett, Gary
  • Basin Reserve
  • Blackwash
  • Blogs
  • Blunt, Roger
Part 2: Bodyline to bunnies, with a victorious stop in Brisbane
  • Bodyline
  • Books
  • Bradman
  • Brisbane, 1985
  • Bunnies
 
Under construction:
The list below is a starting point, I’ll look to fill them out and write about each letter (and topic) over the coming months. The actual topics will undoubtedly change - some added, others removed. You’ll notice a strong New Zealand and West Indian bias – they shaped my love of the game.

I’d love your thoughts on others – I’m not looking for the ordinary or the mundane, but your ideas may help develop a better list. Make a comment on any topics you think hold water – there’s too many for one old man…


C 
  • County Cricket
  • Caps (numbers and hats) 
  • Club cricket 
  • Cricketers of the Year (Wisden)
  • Cricket Max 
  • Calypso kings 
  • Cow corner
  • Cowdrey lecture
  • Century of centuries
  • Crowe, Martin
D
  • DRS 
  • Day-night cricket
  • Doosra (and the other variations) 
  • Depression
  • Ducks 
  • Donald, Allan
E
  • Eden Park 
  • ESPNCricinfo
  • Egg and bacon
  • English cricket 
  • Excalibur
F
  • Fire in Babylon era
  • Fixing 
  • Five-for
  • Fifteen degrees
  • First class cricket
  • Flat track bully 
  • Finding a bride
G
  • Grace, W G
  • Greig, Tony (and the grovel comments)
  • Gilchrist, Adam 
  • Global village – cricket in any medium
  • Gingers who’ve graced the whites
H
  • Hawk eye and hotspot
  • Hat tricks
  • Helmets 
  • Hired guns - T20 mercenaries 
  • Hundreds
  • Hooper, Carl
  • Home and away – records with a difference
  • Hughes, Merv
I
  • IPL 
  • Ink 
  • ICC
J
  • John Wisden (it should be Wisden, John but “J” is not that common in cricket)
  • Joy 
  • Jones; Andrew (Jed)
K
  • Kolpak
  • Knights 
  • Keeper batsman (those with the gloves now need to hold a bat - gilchrist changed the game)
  • KP saga – it’s bigger than the man
  • Kenya; ICC Knockout Trophy 2000 
L
  • Lord's 
  • Lara, Brian Charles
  • LBW
  • Lefties 
  • Lillywhites
  • Live streaming 
  • Lashings
  • Laker, Jim
M
  • Murali
  • Modi, Lalit
  • MCC
  • Mankad
  • Mercenaries 
  • Mongoose short blade bats (and other bat oddities)
  • Mace
  • Marshall, Malcolm
  • Memorabilia
N
  • New Zealand
  • Night tests 
  • No balls 
  • Numbers 
  • Nelson
O
  • ODIs 
  • Over (8 balls became 6)
  • Obstructing the field
  • One thousand runs before the end of May 
  • Olympics 
P
  • Packer, Kerry
  • Pakistan – a generation of cricketers who will never play an international at home
  • Pavilion
  • Pink balls
  • Player microphones
  • Pukekura Park, New Plymouth
  • Power plays
Q
  • Queenstown Recreation Ground
  • Qadir, Abdul 
  • Quicks 
  • Queues
R
  • Review
  • Records
  • Richards, Viv
  • Runners 
  • Rest days 
  • Richardson, Alan 
  • Richardson, Richie
  • Raja, Wasim
  • Richardson, Mark 
S
  • Statistics 
  • Switch hit
  • Sirs - the cricketing Knights 
  • Social media 
  • Sledging
  • Sutcliffe, Bert and Herbert
  • Spirit of cricket 
  • Silver fern
  • Super subs
T
  • T20
  • Test matches
  • Taylor, Claire 
  • Twelfth man (Billy Birmingham)
  • Third umpire
  • Sachin Tendulkar
  • Tied test
  • Test championship 
  • Team unity 
  • Triple hundred (or nearly) – 299 for Crowe
U
  • UDRS 
  • Umpires
  • Underarm 
  • UAE 
  • Urn 
  • Unfulfilled potential
V
  • (Playing in the) V 
  • Viv 
  • VVS Laxman
  • Vitriol 
W
  • West Indies
  • (The three) Ws 
  • Wisden
  • WSC
  • The Wall
  • Warney
  • World Cup 1992 in NZ
  • Women in cricket
  • White line fever
  • Waddle, Bryan
X
  • X-factor
  • XI – memories of school boy cricket
Y
  • Yellow book - cricket's bible
  • Yuvraj 
Z
  • Zimbabwe 
  • Zaltzman, Andy 
  • Zulu 

Thanks to those who had offered suggestions, especially @CaptMikeYates and @TheSwitch_Hit. Cheers, lads.

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