The batsmen seek to survive as many balls as possible before losing their wicket, without attempting to score many runs and avoiding aggressive shots. Sometimes regarded as boring to watch, and sometimes as producing tense finishes. Batting order
The order in which the batsmen bat, from the openers, through the top order and middle order to the lower order. Beach cricket
An informal form of the game played on beaches, particularly in Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and cricket-playing Caribbean countries. Beamer
A delivery that reaches the batsman above waist height without bouncing. This is illegal and an automatic no-ball. Further sanctions are applied to repeat offences, though the exact rules have changed several times. Since 2019, if the umpire believes that the beamer was dangerous and risked injury to the batsman, they issue a first and final warning to the bowler; a second dangerous delivery results in the bowler being banned from bowling for the remainder of that innings. Beat the bat
When a batsman narrowly avoids touching the ball with the edge of their bat, through good fortune rather than skill. Considered a moral victory for the bowler. The batsman is said to have been beaten. In some cases, this may be expanded to "beaten all ends up". Beehive
A diagram showing where a number of balls, usually from a particular bowler, have passed the batsman. Compare pitch map.
An international tour often includes a Test series, an ODI series and a T20 series, each of between two and five matches. Session
A period of play, from start to lunch, lunch to tea and tea until stumps. Shelled a Dolly
dropped a really easy catch (Dolly). Shepherd the strike (also farm the strike)
of a batsman, contrive to receive the majority of the balls bowled, often to protect a weaker batting partner. Typically, involves declining taking singles early in overs, and trying to take singles late in overs. Shooter
a delivery that skids after pitching (i.e. doesnt bounce as high as would be expected), usually at a quicker pace, resulting in a batsman unable to hit the ball cleanly. Short
1. (of a fielding position) close to the batsman, but not so close as silly; the opposite of deep. 2. (of a delivery) see short-pitched. Short-pitched
a delivery that bounces relatively close to the bowler. The intent is to make the ball bounce well above waist height (a bouncer). A slow or low-bouncing short-pitched ball is known as a long hop. Short of a length
describes a short-pitched delivery that is not so short as a bouncer. Short run
a would-be run that does not count because, when turning for an additional run, one of the batsmen failed to ground some part of their body or bat behind the popping crease. Shot
the act of the batsman hitting the ball with their bat. Short Stop
When the wicket keeper stands upfront, the fielder placed right behind the wicket keeper is called a Short Stop.