Definition

Noun: A bosie ball is a specific type of delivery in the sport of cricket. It is a deceptive ball bowled by a spin bowler that appears to be spinning in one direction (e.g., from the leg side to the off side for a right-handed batsman) but actually spins in the opposite direction upon pitching.

Usage

The term is used exclusively in the context of cricket to describe this particular bowling technique. It is a technical term understood by players and followers of the sport. - The bowler's most dangerous weapon was his well-disguised bosie ball. - The batsman was completely fooled by the bosie ball and was clean bowled.

Advanced Usage

• The term bosie ball is synonymous with googly, which is the more common modern term for this delivery, especially in countries like England, Australia, and South Africa. The word bosie is itself a colloquial shortening of Bosey, named after its inventor, English cricketer Bernard Bosanquet.
• It is a core component of a leg spinner's repertoire, used to deceive the batter.

Variants and Related Words

• Googly (n): The standard synonym for a bosie ball.
• Wrong'un (n): Informal Australian and English synonym for a googly/bosie ball.
• Leg break (n): The standard delivery that spins the opposite way to a bosie/googly.

Synonyms

• Googly
• Wrong'un

Related Phrases

• To bowl a bosie: The action of delivering this type of ball.
  • The leg-spinner decided to bowl a bosie to the new batsman.

Noun

1. a cricket ball bowled as if to break one way that actually breaks in the opposite way