In Cricketese?

[Boco]

What's a phrase that says someone's in a jam (i.e. mutineers are shooting at him)?

[Edit]Perhaps a phrase indicating that a batsman(?) barely protected the wicket?[/Edit]

[Edit2]Even better, a runner trapped by fielders between wickets...something like run out.[/Edit2]

[Peter Triggs]

How about "He's batting on a sticky wicket" (i.e., in a dangerous/difficult situation).

[rjmatsleepers]

An individual could be "running out of partners" or perhaps "in need of a double strength box". The team could face "a long day in the field". The situation could be described as "a bit of a sticky wicket, that one". Or if it's danngerous and unprovoked, it might be a "bodyline scenario".

A batsman who will be run out can be described as "stranded in no mans land", but that is not a cricket original.

My favourite from last summer was "he could have dropped the ashes right there".

Are you planning a scenario around King Willow?

RJM at Sleeper's

[fairline]

Originally posted by rjmatsleepers
An individual could be .....perhaps "in need of a double strength box".

Or if it's danngerous and unprovoked, it might be a "bodyline scenario".

Only after Jardine and Larwood invented 'bodyline' (1930's); Boco's scenario is set in WW1.

[Stefan Härtel]

Speak English please.

[Boco]

Bodyline tactic harkens back to a golden era of Anglo-Aussie relations.

[fairline]

Its always amused me that Aussies get so upset about bodyline but have very little to say about Lilley's bouncers or Trevor Chappell's underarm last ball against NZ in the '80's

[Case]

Another cricket phrase suitable for a body of men in a tight spot is that they're "praying for rain" - though this might be a little confusing in a scenario set in a desert near the holy land (don't ask my why a game in which all play stops at at the slightest sign of rain was invented in England!)

Originally posted by fairline
Its always amused me that Aussies get so upset about bodyline but have very little to say about Lilley's bouncers or Trevor Chappell's underarm last ball against NZ in the '80's

Those were but minor blemishes on the otherwise noble history of Australian cricket.

...anyway, the Chappells were, and remain, dickheads. Everyone in Australia knew that at the time so it was never taken seriously.

[curtsibling]

Wow - A true cricket discussion, I am standing here in awe!!!

[fairline]

Originally posted by Case
Another cricket phrase suitable for a body of men in a tight spot is that they're "praying for rain" - though this might be a little confusing in a scenario set in a desert near the holy land (don't ask my why a game in which all play stops at at the slightest sign of rain was invented in England!)

It has to be the only sport where play stops for a nice cup of tea as well.

Those were but minor blemishes on the otherwise noble history of Australian cricket.

...anyway, the Chappells were, and remain, dickheads. Everyone in Australia knew that at the time so it was never taken seriously.

I was baiting there Case, sorry

If pressed, I'd have to admit that bodyline was a pretty despicable way of dealing with the second best cricketer ever. C'mon, you didn't think I'd admit that Don Bradman was better than WG Grace did you?

[duke o' york]

(To be) "Unable to deal with the turn of the pitch" - particularly good for the double meaning with mutineers.
(To be) "Stumped" is an obvious one, although it is also used to mean confused so may well be appropriate.
(To be) "Left swinging outside off stump" is not a reference to what Stan Collymore might get up to of an evening (look this one up any non-Brits. ), but instead the result of boldly going out to meet a perceived attack and then being totally fooled as to its nature and made to look very stupid.

[rjmatsleepers]

Here are a few more for the collection. A batsman may fail "to spot the wrong 'un". Geoffrey Boycott has managed to introduce the term "corridor of uncertainty" into cricket comentary. And one that has been adopted by other sports and had the meaning changed - "on the back foot". This now has the meaning of being on the defensive, although in cricket you can play a defensive shot on the front foot and an aggresive one on the back foot! It's a funny old language.

RJM at Sleeper's

PS Anyone who suggests that the Don was not the greatest batsman who ever lived is simply trying to bait our colonial cousins. Obviously that's a perfectly reasonable thing to do, but let's not go OTT.

[Boco]

Thank you, gentlemen.

How about phrases for "cheating" or "odd"? All I know are "That's not quite cricket" or "lbw".

[Boco]

Any phrase for a bowl (sp?) so hard it practically bores through the batsman?

[Edit]A football (soccer) term akin to 'a deer frozen in the headlights' of an oncoming car would work, too. Any ideas? [/Edit]

[rjmatsleepers]

Originally posted by Boco
Any phrase for a bowl (sp?) so hard it practically bores through the batsman?

[Edit]A football (soccer) term akin to 'a deer frozen in the headlights' of an oncoming car would work, too. Any ideas? [/Edit]

A ball that is so hard it practically bores through the batsman is called "a good ball". (And the person who bowled it used to be called "Harold Larwood".)

The most common expressions are "bouncers" or "short pitched deliveries" or "short of a length". A high ball that doesn't bounce is sometimes called "a beamer". Any ball that doesn't bounce is "a full toss".

If a spin bowler makes the ball bounce in the opposite direction to his normal delivery, that can be "a googley" or "a chinaman".

There is of course no cricketing term for cheating - the whole concept of cheating is quite alien to the game and would take a long time to explain to a cricketer.

RJM at Sleeper's