A different ball game

What it is supposed to mean You need different skills for the different formats.

As in "Swaziland may be the tiniest of minnows, but watch out for their sharp piranha-like teeth in the Twenty20s. It's a totally different ball game."

What it really means "Oh god, we're playing five ODIs after the Tests? I want to go home."

Someone has to lose

What it's supposed to mean You can't win them all.

As in "The boys gave it their all, but the other side got to 450 for 2, the umpiring was an atrocity, we got food poisoning on the third day and the pitch was a bog… someone has to lose, you know."

What it really means We lost. We're rubbish.

We've got a game on our hands

What it means This match is getting interesting

What it really means This game was getting so predictable, I was running out of cliches, but after this boundary/wicket/catch I can now use this one

What it doesn't mean I handled my Wisden Almanack right after doing the washing up and I've now got the stats from the third day of the Minor Counties West v Gloucestershire in the 1976 County Championship all over my palms

Submitted by: Valentin Gerlier, UK

Still in the game

What it is supposed to mean So it's 50 for 3, but you can't rule anything out.

As in "The side batting second have a long tail, they're carrying three passengers and they've lost both openers in the first five, but they're still in the game".

What it really means These no-hopers deserve to be demoted, but we can't say that on air, can we?