Nelson (cricket)

Nelson is a piece of cricket slang terminology and superstition.

The name, applied to team or individual scores of 111 or multiples thereof (known as double nelson, triple nelson, etc.) is thought to refer to Lord Nelson's lost eye, arm and leg (Nelson actually had both of his legs intact, the third missing body part is mythical).^[1] Longtime cricket historian and scorer, Bill "Bearders" Frindall once referred to it online as "one eye, one arm and one etcetera", implying that Nelson's alleged third lost body part was "something else", however this is equally mythical...

It is thought by the superstitious that bad things happen on that score, although an investigation by the magazine The Cricketer in the 1990s found that wickets are no more likely to fall on Nelson and indeed, the score at which most wickets fall is 0 (a duck). It may be considered unlucky because the number resembles a wicket without bails^[2] (a batsman is out when the bails fall from a wicket).

Umpire David Shepherd made popular the longstanding practice of raising a leg or legs from the ground on Nelson in an effort to avoid ill fate.^[3] When crowds noticed this, they would cheer his leg-raising.

The equivalent superstitious number in Australian cricket is 87, or the "Devil's Number", thirteen shy of 100.^[4] Statistics have shown that more Australian batsmen are in fact dismissed on the surrounding numbers.^[5]

On 11 November 2011, in a match between South Africa and Australia with the time at 11:11 with South Africa requiring 111 runs to win, the majority of the crowd and umpire Ian Gould did Shepherd's leg raise Nelson for that minute with the scoreboard reading 11:11 11/11/11.^[6]

Notes and references

1. ^ Booth, Lawrence. Arm-ball to Zooter: A Sideways Look at the Language of Cricket. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0140515817. 
2. ^ http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Kolo-Toure-and-the-Top-10-sporting-superstitions-article28387.html (Retrieved 2010-09-04)
3. ^ David Shepherd (2003-04-12). "David Shepherd's Umpire Guide - My Quirks". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/2929691.stm. Retrieved 2007-01-19. 
4. ^ Bill Frindall (2001-09-11). "Stump The Bearded Wonder No 10". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/sports_talk/1530730.stm. Retrieved 2009-06-30. 
5. ^ Geoff McClure (2007-11-20). "Why 87 is anything but Australian cricket's magic number". The Age. http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/why-87-is-anything-but-australian-crickets-magic-number/2007/11/19/1195321694999.html?page=fullpage. Retrieved 2009-06-30. 
6. ^ http://www.espncricinfo.com/south-africa-v-australia-2011/content/story/540090.html