Do you have strong feelings about this? Here at King Cricket we favour ‘batsman’ and ‘fielder’.
Why ‘batsman’?
The word ‘batter’ has plenty of meanings. It doesn’t need any more. Batter is what you dip a fish in before you fry it. Batter is what people do to you if you look at their pint funny. Also, baseball has batters and baseball is from the United States.
Why ‘fielder’?
Not sure. Because it’s slightly shorter maybe? It doesn’t really have any other meanings. Maybe that’s all it is.
Why not ‘bowlsman’?
Indeed, why not? We might start using this word.
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May 17, 2011 at 11:54 am
I’m going to start calling batsmen runsmongers.
May 17, 2011 at 12:06 pm
I’ve always preferred “wicketeers”.
May 17, 2011 at 12:12 pm
The baller balled well today… 😛
May 17, 2011 at 12:13 pm
There is only one rule in this, and that is tradition. Nothing good ever came of change – just ask Lesley Ash. There are batsmen, bowlers and fielders because there have always been batsmen, bowlers and fielders. If you can’t imagine WG Grace saying “batters”, don’t say it.
And another thing. Exactly the same applies to “back of a length”, “nicking off”, and “cow corner”.
“Ah yes, Carruthers. The bowlsman sent one down back of a length, which being the batter I am noted to be, I duly dispatched over cow corner for a DLF maximum. Truly a Citi Moment of Success if ever such there were. Sick.”
May 17, 2011 at 12:18 pm
Are we right to hate ‘nick off’?
What’s wrong with ‘edge it’?
May 17, 2011 at 8:04 pm
Surely “cow corner” isn’t new? It’s maybe become more popular in commentary owing to T20.
May 18, 2011 at 11:46 am
Was CB Fry aware of the term? Therefore it’s new.
May 19, 2011 at 11:31 am
I still believe, based on no evidence or facts, that if we did reanimate the corpse of CB then he would indeed be familiar with cow corner. The internet, which everyone knows is never wrong, suggests that the term was coined at Dulwich College when part of ground was inhabited by cows. That must have been more than 50 years ago?
May 17, 2011 at 12:34 pm
Nick off? Isn’t that something Aussies tell each other to do?
May 17, 2011 at 12:54 pm
I still remember Joe Mangle in Neighbours proclaiming “crikey, what a ripper!” about something good. We sat there laughing at the Aussie using a term for farting 🙂
May 17, 2011 at 1:28 pm
Joe Mangle: “Aw, fair suckatha sauce bottle”
Argument won.
May 17, 2011 at 12:53 pm
I’d say listen to Danny Morrison, then say the opposite, but he probably uses the proper terms. Complete with overly enthusiastic usage of the sponsors too…
May 17, 2011 at 5:31 pm
Great appeal there from the man in mauve.
May 17, 2011 at 1:31 pm
I also much prefer the term “good batsmanship” to plain old “good batting”
May 17, 2011 at 3:07 pm
With Spartacus on Sky 1 ‘Battiatus’ could be used I suppose.
May 17, 2011 at 3:53 pm
Having thought more about this I’ve decided that I might be able to accept a change, but only if the nomenclature is taken directly from a game of Dungeons and Dragons.
Batsman = Blademaster
Bowler = Sling-Demon
Spin Bowler = Sling-Demon Arcana
Fielder = Defender of the Sacred Land
Wicket Keeper = Guardian of the Gate
“The Champion Blademaster of the land of those they call Kent-people, who is known as The Key, faces now the chiefest of the terrible horde of Sling-Demons of Lancastria, James son of Ander, who issues forth the Sacred Ball of Glory or Death towards the brave and unflinching Blademaster, who with dizzying speed unleashes his weapon of purest willow straight down upon the deadly orb…
…and there’s no run.”
May 17, 2011 at 3:59 pm
Oh God, the comments have self-contained in-jokes now.
May 18, 2011 at 11:48 am
But at least its not a “running joke”, eh?
Eh?
May 18, 2011 at 3:23 pm
Bert, this is the single greatest comment of all time.
May 17, 2011 at 4:12 pm
Batsman and bowler are at least self-explanatory. If anything need be changed, it is the meaning of the word “wicket”. It should be illegal to use the same term to mean a bunch of sticks, a piece of land, and a human being.
May 17, 2011 at 5:50 pm
I feel I should say something about the term ‘batsman’ being sexist to reflect the growth in women’s cricket.
Rachel Heyhoe-Flint.
Will that do?
May 17, 2011 at 8:32 pm
Can we make the ‘manhole covers’ joke about female boxes now?
May 17, 2011 at 10:40 pm
That’s Baroness Heyhoe-Flint of Wolverhampton to you.
May 18, 2011 at 6:53 am
Hopefully the IPL will adopt the term “Batter” and then as supporters we can look forward to yelling “Batter, Batter, Batter, Batter S-Wiiinnngggg Batter, can’t hit it, can’t hit it, can’t hit it, S-Wiiiinnnngggg batter.”
May 19, 2011 at 3:28 pm
In cricket, the word ‘batter’ is not used because this is cricket, not baseball. In the IPL, on the other hand, it is not used because nobody has sponsored it yet.