Origin of The Term
The term is a shortening of the term "duck's egg", the latter being used long before Test cricket began. When referring to the Prince of Wales's (the future Edward VII) score of nought on 17 July 1866, a contemporary newspaper wrote that the Prince "retired to the royal pavilion on a "duck's egg"". The name is believed to come from the shape of the number "0" being similar to that of a duck's egg. The Concise Oxford Dictionary still cites "duck's egg" as an alternative version of the term.
Read more about this topic: Duck (cricket)
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