Point to prove

How's that a cliché? Cricketers say it a bazillion times

Is bazillion the criteria for a normal phrase turning clich-tastic? Give or take a few hundred mil

Used most by Maths nerds and cricketers trying to get back into the team

Playing for pride

You mean cricketers don't always play for money? Of course they do. But "pride" is the bottom-dweller's alleged motivation to compete

But isn't it one of the deadly sins? Not deadlier than getting sacked by the selectors

Most used in Dead rubbers

Peach of a delivery

What about them jaffas then? Those are good too

So that's why Shahid... Yup

Wonderful cricket shot

As opposed to Hoicks, heaves and thwacks to midwicket

Wins bonus points for Reminding the Americans, who we are forever trying to win over, the name of the sport

Right on the money

What, like Hansie Cronje was? Not really

Is this about landing it on the "proverbial" coinWarmer

Hitting the jackpot at the IPL auction then? Bingo

Gave himself room

Feeling cramped in an open field? You need some space to swing your arms

So Chris Gayle must need plenty? Indeed

And Jonathan Trott probably can do with a few more men on the crease Or a bigger bat

On top of your game

What's the bottom of your game? When you get bowled off a long hop

And the middle of your game? When you get a boundary after nearly playing on

What's three-fourths of your game? Do you have to take things so literally?

That's how I play the game Well, I quit

It's not cricket

What's not? Anything that's unfair

So cricket's the byword for fairness? Yes

The sport where bowlers are penalised for no-balls through free hits? Um sure

Where batsmen can change their grip and bat the other way without warning Look here…

Where running out a non-striker for backing up is considered poor form? Were you a bowler in your youth?

Out of the park

What is? The ball

Even if it's only just over the rope? Yes. It's called poetic license

Ask questions of the batsman

Like "How do you do, guv?" or "Does your ancestry include traces of farm animals"? More like good-quality bowling

So "Howzzat? Precisely

Knocking on the selectors' door

Who's there? Rookie

Rookie who? Rookie 'ere, been knockin' forever so will you open up already?

Make the ball talk

Sounds like an interrogation It is. Of the batsman

So what does the ball say? "I seam to frighten you"

Marshall his troops

Are India and Pakistan going to war? No

Have England and Australia finally decided to shed the cloak of civility? No

Then who is getting his troops ready and for what? A cricket captain getting ready to battle the opposition

On the cricket field? Yes

Pity. Shane Warne would have made a magnificent general And Ricky Ponting a scrappy foot soldier

A good lad

As opposed to? A prima donna

So we aren't talking about the Indians here? A cheap and unnecessary shot

Okay, so we're talking about players like Sachin Tendulkar here? Now, there's a good lad

A rare talent

How rare Not much. You'll see one every other year or so

So medium to well done, then? Or overdone

Up the ante

In other words Raise the stakes

How? By taking a wicket or hitting a boundary, most likely

So, by playing cricket? Yes

Cracker-jack of a match

Used to describe A run-a-ball chase situation

Subliminal advertisement message delivered "Let's eat something crispy-fried"

A rush of blood

In other words A filthy hoick caught at midwicket

What's blood got to do with it? Well, you can't blame the player these days, can you?

That's the way he plays

A polite way to describe Ugly shots

Used most often for Virender Sehwag and Tillakaratne Dilshan

So they gets runs from unconventional shots? Yes

The MCC coaching manual should have a chapter on them And title it "True-life tales of what happens when you don't follow the manual"

Give the bowler the first hour

Whatever for? His people get so little these days, go on, be nice

What'll he do with it? Give it a kiss, a bit of a polish, and tuck it away in a showcase for the world to see.