What Is a Diamond Duck in Cricket? (It’s Not What It Sounds)

Cricket games are very engaging and fun to watch. There are, however, some minor rules that can lead to cricketers’ dismissal. The batsman can lose his wicket if a bowler’s delivery knocks his bails off his leg; or if a fielder catches the batsman’s ball before it bounces. So these and many others can bowl out a batter. But what is a diamond duck in the game?

A diamond duck in cricket is when a player gets out from the game without handling any ball. It often happens as a wide ball from the striking zone leading to a run-out or timeout when the batsman attempted switching position.

You should see what’s more in the cricket game. Since unless you are very familiar with the game you might miss out on several facts regarding it. Read ahead for more information on a duck out and lots of other information.

What Is a Duck In Cricket?

A duck in a cricket game is being dismissed or thrown out without making any runs. However, the batter and the fielder can disagree about a dismissal though it rarely happens. In such cases, the fielder appeals before an umpire who makes the final decision.

The more time flows, cricket game gets more engaging and very entertaining to watch. Yet, no matter how many advancements and changes happen there, some people will always find a reason to hate cricket. 

 But one thing that is real for sure is that any die-hard fan of the game will never be perplexed about a move or a rule in the game. If anything, there’s nothing as sweet as seeping your favorite juice down in the summer, watching your best bowler creating a game trap for a batsman who ends in head over heels.

Therefore, if you are a beginner or struggling with some of the vocabularies today, I have some pleasantries for you.

When a cricketer is out for a duck, it means you are out because of achieving nothing. Usually, these dismissals are advantage shots by a fielding team but, they can also result from batsmen’s miscalculation on the pitch. Whenever a batter is out for a duck, the batter is said to have lost a wicket. While the fielding side who eliminated the batter is said to have taken the wicket.

Therefore, once a batter is out for a duck, there won’t be any further runs worth any points in that delivery. Due to this, the batter departs the game and will be replaced by a teammate. 

How Did The ”Duck” Become a Symbol Of Zero Score

The “duck” term became a symbol for a zero score in cricket after a contemporary newspaper on the 17^th of July 1866. It wrote that the Prince of Wales (Edward VII) had retired to the royal pavilion on a duck’s egg. So in cricket, the term is more of a shortening for a duck’s egg.

So the “duck” term originates from a bird’s egg-the duck. Since the egg has a zero (0) shape, thus the term’s usage is about being out of the game without making any point. (with a 0 score).

However, with the new developments of the cricket games, the term “duck” has been expounded with different meanings illustrating different kinds of dismissal without any score.

These types of ducks in the cricket game are:

• Golden Duck: – occurs when a cricket player is dismissed without scoring on the initial first ball of an innings.
• Diamond Duck: – it happens when a batter gets their dismissal without facing any single ball. It is often a result of a wide ball from the striking end, resulting in run-outs and timeouts.
• Silver Duck: – occurs when a batter leaves the game without scoring in the second ball of the inning.
• Bronze Duck: – cricket games have different innings with varying breaks. So a bronze duck refers to when a batter is out of the game’s third innings with no runs.
• Platinum Duck: – it is also known as a royal duck. It happens when a batter gets out from the first ball of the game’s first innings.
• Regular Duck: – it is when a batter gets their dismissal with zero runs. But it happens sometime after the first ball.
• Laughing Duck: – it happens towards the end of the cricket match when a batter gets dismissed for zero runs.

What Is a King Pair In Cricket

A king pair in cricket is when a batter gets their dismissal from the match because of a zero score in both innings on their first ball. It is like a batter gets dismissed in the first inning for zero and also gets dismissed from the second inning in their first ball. 

How Can a Batsman Get Out In Cricket?

A batter can get out in cricket when he gets bowled, stumped, caught, timed out, or ran out. Despite this, most of these actions are taken against the striker by the team that is opposing. The striker may also leave by handling the ball and hitting his wicket with his bat.

Cricket test matches come with the level of rules and standards that a team needs to meet. That’s why the cricket tests can take up to five days. Because the period is always full of timely activities all aimed at showing a team’s strength, stamina, and professionalism besides many other factors.

The teams playing in such matches are typically members of the International Cricket Council who have overcome multiple odds during their games.  However, at times the cricketer can get out of the game on their own perhaps when retiring, or a physical injury however these are somewhat rare cases. 

Here are some typical dismissal methods:

• Caught

If a batter hits a ball and in any chance, it is caught by the fielder before it makes contact with the ground, the batsman will be out right away. It appears that either the bowler caught the ball or the batter’s gloves made contact with the bat, or it was a miscalculated strike caused by the bowler catching the ball.

• Bowled

The batsmen in cricket games stand by their wickets. So if a bowler’s ball hits the wicket throwing down its bails, the striker who stands by the relevant wicket is said to have been bowled out. If the bowl is invalid, or if any other player has touched the ball before it hits the stumps, a batter can be on the safe side.

• Run Out

It happens if the fielding side manages to put down a wicket when the batsman is in motion, but the ball reaches the stumps before him. In the event, however, you cannot run as fast as you would like, as a batsman, you should do your best to ensure that part of your body or your bat remains behind the popping crease.

The dismissal is referred to as a run pout as it happens when the batsman is running between wickets attempting to complete a run for scoring when the opposing side gets the ball down before him. There’s always a special run-out if a batter attempts to leave the crease before the next bowl. 

• Stumped

At certain times, wicket keepers stand directly behind the wicket. In other words, if the striker steps ahead of the crease to meet an oncoming ball, and his body or his bat remains on the crease, the wicket-keeper must put down the wicket with the ball. The striker is out.

Additionally, if the ball bounces off a keeper and puts down the stumps, it is also stumping.

Besides the above typical dismissal methods, there are also some rare dismissal methods that the cricketers can also be victims of, but they hardly occur. These are:

• Timed Out

Every batsman must have understood the rules of play in cricket. A batsman is dismissed by timeout if by any means, he deliberately takes longer than three minutes to get ready for the next delivery or if he is not on strike. Usually, this occurs after an inning is complete and the teams are resuming a match after a break.

However, this hardly occurs because every batsman understands that the opponents can file an appeal in case of any delays during an ongoing match.

• Hit Wicket

A batman has absolute control over a wicket. So if by any means while striking or when beginning a run, his body or his bat shakes off his stump. The batsman is out right away. When this occurs, the batsman is safe if he survived a run-out or a ball from a fielder.

However, as a batsman, you won’t be safe if by any means any part of your equipment falls off and hits the stumps. For instance, it could be a hit that sends your helmet stumping the wicket down or if your cap got knocked off to the stumps.

• Hit the Ball Twice

If a batsman makes contact with the ball twice, he is out. So if you were the batsman and the ball hits you on the head you should avoid hitting it with your bat. However, you have to hope that it won’t hit your stumps as it falls off.

However, if you see the ball heading for the wicket you can make a second hit with any part of your body that does not involve the hand holding the bat.

• Retired

It happens if a cricketer leaves the pitch for any other reason other than incapacity or an injury without the umpire’s consent and fails to resume the inning. However, even upon resuming it’s only the opposing captain who can permit him back.  

As much as this case is rare, there have been several instances where players left their field of play (retired).  However, that has only happened on warm-up and tour matches that are considered practice matches. 

But if you ever think of opting out of an ongoing game make sure you have permission from the relevant persons. If you just retired out, you will have weakened your team; because substitutes are not allowed to bat.

• Handled the Ball

It happens when the batsman gets in contact with the ball using a hand other than that holding the bat. An exception to this rule is if a batsman is protecting himself from getting injured or receives permission from the fielding team to return the ball.

Can a Batter Get Intentionally Out In Cricket?

A batter can get out of a cricket match intentionally however if the opposing team does not want him out, they can appeal to the umpire. But in case the batter is determined to leave the game, he can do so without any permission and declare himself to have retired.

Getting out of a cricket match is not difficult but if a batter later decides he wants in, only the opposing captain can grant his entry. Furthermore, if the opposing team does not want a batter out, they can opt to drop their catch.

But if the batter wants his way out without declaring his retirement, he can swing his bat at his wicket knocking the three, stumps down instead of aiming at a bowler’s bowl. Even if the umpire recalls the batter, the batter has the final say.

However, some external reasons that can make a batter want his way out of a playing field include:

• The batsman may be having a bet about what number of runs he scores.
• A team may be short of players when the opposing has extra players. So the additional players may agree to play for their opponent team if they agree on specific runs. However, this does not happen at the international matches.
• If a team is playing against a weak team. The strong side may take that as a chance to give each of their players a practice match. So the players inside the game might often leave for the players on the bench.