Why is called a yorker

Mark US English. Daniel British. Libby British. Mia British. Karen Australian. Hayley Australian. Natasha Australian. Veena Indian. Priya Indian. Neerja Indian. Zira US English. Oliver British. Wendy British. Fred US English. A yorker can also mean to cheat or deceive.

It has been known that locals of York want to trick or deceive outsiders and hence the term yorker. This is another hypothesis, according to which yorked in cricket is derived from. A yorker is certainly a bowl that approaches the batsman suddenly.

Bowlers who are able to swing the ball while simultaneously bowling yorkers are extremely difficult to face. Another version of yorker developed in modern times is a wide yorker.

The advent of T20 cricket increased its use. Of course, these positions switch sides for left- and right-handed batsmen. Fielding positions very close to the bat have earned themselves the name "silly" because of the obvious risk of being hit hard from a firm stroke. But this does leave positions such as "gully", "third man" and "point". Can anyone elucidate further? Chris Bertram, Birmingham Cover or covers presumably refers to where the pitch covers were usually kept when not in use.

Keith Mills, Alne, Yorks I believe the position of 'point' originated during the eighteenth century and was so called because it was the position to which the batsman hit the ball off the 'point' of the bat i. The position of gully first became recognised during the first decade of the twentieth century. The player who popularised it and was its earliest exponent was A. A glorious googly? A brutal bouncer?

A deadly doosra? All these will have their proponents, I'm sure, but all would be wrong. When it comes to a heart-stopping instant of sheer, visceral pleasure, there is only one winner. Nothing beats the yorker. From Lasith Malinga skittling Kenya with a burst of unplayable missiles, to Waqar Younis blasting Brian Lara off his feet, it is the quintessential death ball, and the most devastating weapon in a fast bowler's armoury.

But why is a yorker a yorker, and where does it come from? I play my cricket in York, where the natives are known, at least in some quarters, as Yorkers. Does this mean that this is the home of the delivery, then, and are the locals experts in bowling the ball?

I donned my academic research hat, one that looks suspiciously similar to my regular cricket hat, and set off to find out.

Even from a cursory online search, it is clear that plenty of theories abound. For proper etymological work, however, the only sensible place to start is the Oxford English Dictionary. There, three forms of yorker are listed - the bowling variety, the demonym, and the cryptically intriguing "something that is used to tie a trouser leg beneath the knee".

Less than a decade on, and the inverted commas had gone, as well as any ambiguity, as the Sporting Magazine noted that, "A fast Yorker is as disagreeable a first ball as an incoming batsman could receive. When it comes to why it is so-called, the OED plumps for a geographical explanation, suggesting that it probably was from York, as a ball introduced by Yorkshire players.