The agricultural shot is the wild slog of the ball, usually over midwicket or over square leg. It is executed by a swing of the bat across the line of the ball played in a crude manner, and without much technique. This may also sometimes result in some earth being scooped out when the bat hits the ground. It is …

It is a dismissal in which a cricketer who is good at playing a particular stroke gets out on that stroke very early. V V S Laxman, for instance, is good at playing the leg stroke. He’s played it on several occasions. But if he gets out early while playing it, it’s called a soft dismissal.

It is a form of bowling. The ball is held between the thumb, forefinger and the middle finger, and the ball is squeezed out of the fingers. It could result in an off-break, a leg-break, or a googly. Like in carrom, one never knows where the ball will land.

In cricket, a player’s batting average is the total number of runs he has scored divided by the number of times he has been out. Since the number of runs a player scores and how often he gets out are primarily measures of his playing ability, and largely independent of his team mates, the batting average is a good statistic …

Taking cue from sports bodies around the world, the ICC and Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations launched the ‘Hall of Fame’ as part of the centenary year celebrations. Initially, 55 cricketers – from Richie Benaud to Sunil Gavaskar – were inducted. The inductees received a Fame cap. The elected members also get a chance to recommend other cricketers as inductees. …

The words ‘on’ and ‘off’ originate from the offside and near side of a horse or carriage, the ‘offside’ being the opposite side, which a driver walks or rider mounts. The origin of the word ‘slips’ is hinted at in an early description of the long stop, who “is required to cover many slips from the bat”. Early cricket writers …

The 1995-96 World Cup series in Australia saw the first use of shirt numbers in international cricket, with most players assigned their number and some players getting to choose their number. Other countries soon adopted the practice, but it wasn’t until several years later that players would consistently wear the same number all year. Player numbering was first used in …

∼ Salil Dhawan

Cricket — Crickets, family Gryllidae (also known as “true crickets”), are insects somewhat related to grasshoppers and more closely related to katydids or bush crickets (family Tettigoniidae). They have somewhat flattened bodies and long antennae. There are about 900 species of crickets. They tend to be nocturnal and are often confused with grasshoppers because they have a similar body structure …

April 17 is celebrated as World Haemophilia Day across the globe by Haemophilia organizations. Celebration of this day is a broad step to increase awareness among the people around the world about the hereditary genetic disorder called Haemophilia. World Haemophilia Day – 17 April The World Federation of Haemophilia (WFH) decided to observe 17 April as World Haemophilia Day in …