That cricket has a language all of its own is something that has long been acknowledged.
However, a survey has concluded that “Doosra” is the single most untranslatable term in the cricketing lexicon, after topping the poll of more than 300 language specialists with 21 percent of the vote.
It’s not difficult to see why. That single word describes a delivery bowled by an off-spin bowler that turns the opposite way from a conventional off-break in that it goes from leg to off, rather than off to leg and so spins away from a right-handed batsman.
For cricket aficionados, that all makes perfect sense. Whatever others make of it is anyone’s guess.
SURVEY
“Doosra” outscored second-placed “googly” and third-placed “mullygrubber” in a survey of linguists conducted by Today Translations, a London-based language firm with a global network of 2,600 linguists.
Jurga Zilinskiene, Today Translations’ managing director, said: “Cricket is not just a sport but also a language in its own right. Indeed, it is perhaps the world’s most untranslatable language.”
He said translation is often as much about translating culture as words.
“Sometimes, the equivalent idea — like doosra or googly — simply does not exist in both cultures. I believe, for example, that cricket is now starting to catch on in France,” Lithuanian-born Zilinskiene said.
“Can you imagine? But don’t worry. We at Today Translations are working on finding a good French translation for doosra,” she said.
ORIGINS
The word, in the cricketing sense, owes its origins to Pakistan, England’s opponents in the fourth and final Test starting at Lord’s today.
Former Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, who also played with great success for English county side Surrey, is credited with inventing the doosra, a word that in Urdu or Hindi means “second” or “other.”
It was a ball used to great effect by Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal in the tourists’ four-wicket third Test win at The Oval last week that cut England’s series lead to 2-1,
“Cricket has generated a richer terminology than any other sport and — some would say — than any other human activity aside from sex,” Zilinskiene said.
NO SURPRISE
That will come as no great surprise to both cricket followers and those who can’t stand the sport.
Harold Pinter, the late English Nobel Prize-winning playwright, once said: “I tend to believe that cricket is the greatest thing that God ever created on earth.”
“Certainly greater than sex, although sex isn’t too bad either ... Anyway, you can either have sex before cricket or after cricket. The fundamental fact is that cricket must be there at the center of things,” he said.
As many an appealing, if not necessarily attractive, bowler might have said: “Owzat?”
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite