york

The word “york” means in cricket, to bowl a yorker — a ball aimed to bounce right at the batsman's feet. In plain terms, a cricket term meaning to bowl that tricky low, fast ball aimed at the batsman's feet.

“York” is pronounced yawk (/jɔː(ɹ)k/ in IPA).

Here is “york” used in a sentence: “The bowler yorked him for a duck in the final over.”

“York” is a verb.

“York” is a very common word in modern English.

To york a batsman is to bowl a yorker, a delivery pitched right at their feet, at the base of the stumps. Because it lands so far up, the batsman has almost no time to bring the bat down, so a good yorker often sneaks under it and hits the stumps.

A yorker is the delivery produced when a bowler 'yorks' the batsman: a fast, full ball that pitches on or very near the batsman's feet. It is one of cricket's hardest balls to hit and is prized for taking wickets, especially in the closing 'death' overs of a limited-overs match.

Both are pitched very full, but a yorker bounces just as it reaches the batsman's feet, making it dangerous and hard to hit. A full toss does not bounce at all before reaching the batsman, which usually makes it easier to strike. A yorker that goes wrong often becomes a full toss.

A yorker gives the batsman almost no time to react and aims straight at the stumps or toes, so a slight misjudgement means being bowled or trapped. It is especially valuable at the death, when batsmen swing hard, because it is very difficult to hit for boundaries. Accuracy makes it lethal.