Delivery (cricket) in the context of "Wicket-keeper"

A cricket pitch is the rectangular central strip of a cricket field between the two wickets, where most of the action takes place. It is 22 yd (20.12 m) long (1 chain) and 10 ft (3.05 m) wide. The surface is flat and is normally covered with extremely short grass, but can be completely dry or dusty soil with barely any grass or, in some circumstances (that are rarely seen in high level cricket), made from an artificial material. Over the course of a cricket match, the pitch is not repaired or altered other than in special circumstances - meaning that it will change condition. Any grass on the pitch at the start of the game, for example, may disappear due to wear.

As almost all deliveries bowled will bounce off the pitch towards the batter, the state and type of a cricket pitch can significantly affect the outcome of a match. For example, a dusty and very dry pitch often favours spin bowling because the ball grips more on such surfaces, giving the team with stronger spin bowlers a potential advantage. The state of the pitch is so important that home teams can be fined or docked points if it is deemed unfit for normal play or dangerous for batters, with balls behaving unpredictably. Players may also face disciplinary action if found deliberately damaging or altering the pitch in violation of the Laws of Cricket. Because of these factors, coaches, players, and commentators often discuss how the pitch is "behaving" during a match—especially in first-class cricket or Test cricket, where conditions can change over several days. These changes also influence the coin toss decision, as captains weigh whether batting first or bowling first is more advantageous. For example, a captain might choose to bat first on a flat pitch but opt to bowl on a greener, more moist surface that offers early movement.

In cricket, bowling is the action of propelling the ball toward the wicket defended by a batter. A player skilled at bowling is called a bowler; a bowler who is also a competent batter is known as an all-rounder. Bowling the ball is distinguished from throwing the ball by a strictly specified biomechanical definition, which restricts the angle of extension of the elbow. A single act of bowling the ball towards the batter is called a ball or a delivery. Bowlers bowl deliveries in sets of six, called an over. Once a bowler has bowled an over, a teammate will bowl an over from the other end of the pitch. The Laws of Cricket govern how a ball must be bowled. If a ball is bowled illegally, an umpire will rule it a no-ball. If a ball is bowled too wide of the striker for the batter to be able to play at it with a proper cricket shot, the bowler's end umpire will rule it a wide.

There are different types of bowlers, from fast bowlers, whose primary weapon is pace, through swing and seam bowlers who try to make the ball deviate in its course through the air or when it bounces, to slow bowlers, who will attempt to deceive the batter with a variety of flight and spin. A spin bowler usually delivers the ball quite slowly and puts spin on the ball, causing it to turn at an angle while bouncing off the pitch.

In cricket, a dismissal occurs when a batsman's innings is brought to an end by the opposing team. Other terms used are the batsman being out, the batting side losing a wicket, and the fielding side (and often the bowler) taking a wicket. The ball becomes dead (meaning that no further runs can be scored off that delivery), and the dismissed batsman must leave the field of play for the rest of their team's innings, to be replaced by a team-mate. A team's innings ends if ten of the eleven team members are dismissed. Players bat in pairs so, when only one batsman remains who can be not out, it is not possible for the team to bat any longer. This is known as dismissing or bowling out the batting team, who are said to be all out.

The most common methods of dismissing a batsman are (in descending order of frequency): caught, bowled, leg before wicket, run out, and stumped. Of these, the leg before wicket and stumped methods of dismissal can be seen as related to, or being special cases of, the bowled and run out methods of dismissal respectively.

Caught is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket. A batsman is out caught if the batsman hits the ball, from a legitimate delivery, with the bat, and the ball is caught by the bowler or a fielder before it hits the ground.

If the catch is taken by the wicket-keeper, then informally it is known as caught behind or caught at the wicket. A catch by the bowler is known as caught and bowled. This has nothing to do with the dismissal bowled but is rather a shorthand for saying the catcher and bowler are the same player. (The scorecard annotation is usually c. and b. or c&b followed by the bowler's name.)

In cricket, an over consists of six legal deliveries bowled from one end of a cricket pitch to the player batting at the other end, almost always by a single bowler.

A maiden over is an over in which no runs are scored that count against the bowler (so leg byes and byes may be scored as they are not counted against the bowler). A wicket maiden is a maiden over in which a wicket is also taken. Similarly, double and triple wicket maidens are when two and three wickets are taken in a maiden over.

In cricket, a team's innings ends in one of the following ways. In cases 1 and 2, the team are said to be all out, because they do not have two players available to bat.

1. All but one of the batsmen are out.
2. The batting side only has one not-out batsman who is still able to bat (the others are incapacitated through injury, illness or absence; see retirement).
3. The team batting last scores the required number of runs to win.
4. The game runs out of time for either side to win, and so finishes as a draw.
5. The set number of overs (sets of 6 deliveries) have been bowled (in limited overs cricket).
6. The team's captain declares the innings closed.
7. The Match Referee decides that one team has forfeited the game.

Law 13 covers the end of the innings.

Spin bowling is a bowling technique in cricket, in which the ball is delivered relatively slowly but with rapid rotation, giving it the potential to deviate sharply after bouncing. A bowler who uses this technique is called a spinner, a spin bowler, or a slow bowler.

It is one of the two main approaches to bowling, the other being fast bowling.