Cow corner?
This might be a little embarrassing for me (and shocking for you, seeing as how it comes from a cricket aficionado), what exactly is cow corner? Deep mid-wicket? Or extra cover perhaps? Maybe third man?
I’ve come across that term a couple of times, the latest being in Rahul Bhattacharya’s Pundits from Pakistan.
February 17, 2006 at 3:37 pm
The way I understand is that it is somewhere in the region between Midwicket and Long on.
By the way, you might have put the wrong link. I don’t see any reference of “cow corner” in that article.
February 17, 2006 at 7:27 pm
The reference was in the book, not the link. The link was to more information about the book.
Let’s see if anybody knows for sure what cow corner is. It’ll also tell me if anybody other than you is reading this blog.
February 18, 2006 at 12:42 am
Here are a few definitions I found:
1) Cow corner
the area of the field (roughly) between deep mid-wicket and wide long-on. So called because few ‘legitimate’ shots are aimed to this part of the field, so fielders are rarely placed there - leading to the conceit that cows could happily graze in that area.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket_terminology
2) Region of the field, backward of deep square leg, where batsmen may hit the ball in the air when attempting to score boundaries.
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cow_corner
3) Cow corner:
An unconventional fielding position, more commonly found in the lower reaches of the game, on the midwicket/long-on boundary. The term is thought to have originated at Dulwich College where there was the corner of a field containing livestock on that edge of the playing area. Fielders were dispatched to the “cow corner”
http://www.icc-cricket.com/db/ABOUT_CRICKET/EXPLANATION/CRICKET_TERMS.html
So, I was more or less correct…
February 18, 2006 at 3:40 am
Looks like wiktionary is way off the mark. And the other two etymologies of the term are interesting, although contradictory.
February 27, 2006 at 6:15 am
yesh I spotted it in the book as well, though I am yet to make any headway with it…and wondered how much of an ignoramous i should feel for not knowing it at all
February 28, 2006 at 12:07 am
We’re all in the same boat.
Nothing to be ashamed of really, especially now that we’ve been enlightened. I just finished that book last night, BTW.