Glossary of Cricket Terms - T

T

Tail

common colloquialism for the lower order of a batting line-up.

Tail-ender

a player who bats towards the end of the batting order, usually a specialist bowler or wicket-keeper with relatively poor batting skills.

Tape ball

Target

The score that the team batting second has to score to beat their opponents. This is one run more than what the team batting first managed.

Tea

the second of the two intervals during a full day's play is known as the tea interval, due to its timing at about tea-time. In matches lasting only an afternoon, the tea interval is usually taken between innings.

Tea towel explanation

a popular comic explanation of the laws of cricket.

Teesra

A variation delivery for an off spin bowler, Saqlain Mushtaq has been credited with creating it. Teesra comes from the Urdu meaning "the third one".

1. A doosra with extra bounce.
2. A ball that drifts in from wide of off stump and turns away from the right hander sharply with extra bounce.
3. A finger spinner's back-spinner. Similar to a wrist spinner's slider or flipper.

The actual definition of this ball has yet to have been definitively announced.

Ten-wicket match

A two-innings match in which a bowler takes ten or more wickets in total.

Test cricket

Test match

a cricket match with play spread over five days with unlimited overs played between two senior international teams. Considered the highest level of the game.

Textbook Shot

A shot played by the batsmen with perfect technique, also known as a cricket shot

Third man

position behind the wicket-keeper on the off-side, beyond the slip and gully areas

Third umpire

an off-field umpire, equipped with a television monitor, whose assistance the two on-field umpires can seek when in doubt.

Through the gate

"bowled through the gate": dismissed with a ball that passes between the bat and the pads before hitting the wicket.

Throwing

of a bowler, an illegal bowling action in which the arm is straightened during the delivery.

Tice

An old name for a yorker.

Tickle

An edge to the wicket-keeper or slips. Alternatively a delicate shot usually played to third man or fine leg.

Tie

the result of a cricket in which the two teams' scores are equal and the team batting last is all out; or in a limited overs match, the allotted overs have been played. Not to be confused with a draw, in which neither team wins but the scores are not equal.

Tied down

A batsmen or batting team having their run-making restricted by the bowling side.

Timed match

a match whose duration is based on a set amount of time rather than a set number of overs. Timed matches usually have a draw as a potential result, in addition to the win/loss or tie that can be achieved in limited overs cricket. All first class cricket is currently played under a timed format.

Timed out

Timeless match

a match which is played until both teams have completed their allotted innings or overs, regardless of how many days are required. Many early first class matches were played in a timeless format, but the need for advanced scheduling has meant that timeless matches are seldom played today.

Timing

the art of striking the ball so that it hits the bat's sweet spot. A "well-timed" shot imparts great speed to the ball but appears effortless.

Toe-crushers

Ton

see century.

Top order

the batsmen batting in the top 4 in the batting order. These are generally the most skilled batsmen in the team, equipped with the technique and temperament to continue batting for long periods, often for hours or a whole day.

Top spin

forward rotation on the ball, causing it to increase speed immediately after pitching.

Toss

Tour

An organised itinerary of matches requiring travel away from the team's usual base. Used especially in international cricket for the representative team of one nation playing a series of matches in another nation.

Tour match

any match on a tour which does not have full international status; most typically matches played as a warm-up between the travelling international team and a local club or composite team.

Track

another term for the pitch.

Trundler

a reliable, steady medium-pace bowler who is not especially good, but is not especially bad either.

Twelfth man

Traditionally, the first substitute player who fields when a member of the fielding side is injured. In Test matches, twelve players are named to a team prior to the match, with the final reduction to eleven occurring immediately prior to play commencing on the first day. This gives the captain some flexibility in team selection, dependent on the conditions (e.g. a spin bowler may be named to the team, but omitted if the captain feels that the pitch is not suitable for spin bowling).

Twenty20 (or T20)

a form of limited overs cricket in which each team has one innings with a maximum length of twenty overs.