Tail

The lower order of a batting order is a common colloquialism. If the tail wags, it indicates that the lower order has scored significantly well, possibly enough to save the game. A “long tail” batting lineup contains more bowlers than usual and is regarded as weaker than usual.

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.  

Tampering

outside of normal wear and tear, scratching, scuffing, or otherwise altering the cricket ball. This is usually done by the fielding team to give their bowler an advantage so that the ball can spin or seam more effectively. This is an illegal action in the game.

Tape ball

A tennis ball wrapped in electrical tape to make an ersatz cricket ball. On the Indian subcontinent, it is common in informal games.

Target

The score that the team batting last must achieve in order to defeat their opponents. This is one run more than the team batting first, or an adjusted value determined by a rain rule in limited overs cricket.

Tea

Because it occurs around tea time, the second of two intervals during a full day of play is known as the tea interval. In afternoon matches, the tea interval is usually taken between innings.

Teesra

A finger spin bowler makes a back spin delivery.

Ten-wicket match

One bowler takes ten or more wickets in a two-inning match.

Test cricket (also Test match)

The highest level of the sport. Matches can last up to five days and have two innings per side. Senior international teams that have been granted Test status compete in Test matches.

Textbook shot

A shot played by the batters with perfect orthodox technique, exactly as shown in textbooks on batting.

Third man

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

Third umpire

an off-field umpire with a television monitor who can assist the two on-field umpires when they are in doubt.

Through the gate

“bowled through the gate” refers to being dismissed with a ball that passes between the bat and the pads before striking the wicket.

Throwing

An illegal bowling action in which the bowler’s arm is straightened during the delivery. Also known as chucking

Tice

A yorker’s old name

Tickle

A wicketkeeper’s edge or slips. A delicate shot, usually played to third man or fine leg.

Tie

the result of a cricket match 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 batter or batting team whose ability to score runs is limited by the bowling side.

Timber

the stumps (of wood). To achieve a Bowled dismissal, you must have “hit the timber,” or simply “Timber!”

Timed match

a match in which the duration is determined by the amount of time spent rather than the number of overs played. In addition to the win/loss or tie that can be achieved in limited overs cricket, timed matches usually have a draw as a possible outcome. Currently, all first-class cricket is played in a timed format.

Timed out

If a batter does not occupy the crease within a certain amount of time after a wicket falls, they are ruled out. The new batter is then dismissed in the same manner as if they had been bowled, stumped, run out, or caught.

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-crusher

A yorker bowled with inswing, aimed at the batter’s toes.

Ton

see century.

Top edge

the ball hitting the top edge of the bat when a batter plays a cross-bat shot

Top order

The batters in the top four spots in the batting order. These are typically the most skilled batters on the team, with the technique and temperament to bat for extended periods of time, often hours or even a whole day.

Top spin

The ball rotates forward, causing it to pick up speed immediately after pitching.

Toss

the traditional coin toss to determine which captain will have the option of batting or fielding.

Tour

An organized schedule of games that require travel away from the team’s usual base. In international cricket, a representative team from one country plays a series of matches in another country.

Tour match

any tour match that does not have full international status; most commonly, matches played as a warm-up between the traveling international team and a local club or composite team.

Track

another term for the pitch.

Triggered

when the umpire gives a batter out LBW almost immediately with little consideration for any other factor than the ball hitting the pads in front of the stumps. The batter is said to have been “triggered” or “trig’d” because the Umpire has an itchy trigger finger, ready to raise it to give the batter out easily.[citation needed]

Trimmer

a high-quality fast bowling delivery, particularly one that results in a batter’s dismissal by removing the bails without striking the stumps

Trundler

a consistent, medium-pace bowler who is not particularly good but not particularly bad. See also military medium.

Turn

manner in which a batter grounds the bat at the end of a run, change directions, and prepare to take another run. The correct execution is for the batter to turn towards the side of the field the ball was played to in order to judge whether another run is possible. See Turn blind, Two. Also the amount a spin ball changes directions – turns/spins – after hitting the pitch. For example, “That leg spin turned a lot.”

Turn blind

turn by a batter facing to the side of field away from that to which the ball was played, deprecated as it increases the danger of a run out.

Tweaker

A spin bowler’s informal (and often affectionate) nickname.

Twelfth man

When a member of the fielding side is injured, the first substitute player who takes the field. Prior to the start of a Test match, twelve players are named to a team, with the final cut to eleven occurring immediately before play begins on the first day. This allows the captain some leeway in team selection based on the conditions (for example, a spin bowler may be named to the team but omitted if the captain believes the pitch is unsuitable for spin bowling). “Each captain shall nominate 11 players plus a maximum of four substitute fielders in writing to the ICC Match Referee before the toss” in One Day International games.

Twenty20 (or T20)

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

Two

The batter calls for two runs, requiring their partner to commit to a quick turn. See No, Push, Yes, and Wait.