Sent
to "The Star, Johannesburg", Thu 24/09/2009 20:06, never published.
We need a snappy term for "starting a cricket match". Some ignorant radio announcers refer to cricket matches "kicking off"! Indeed, they use it for all kinds of events including hockey, which has a perfectly good term of its own, to "bully off".
"Bowling the first ball" is a long-winded and uninteresting term, and is not in fact the start. It is preceded by something else: The Toss.
I therefore look forward to commentators, including yours, in future referring to the start of a cricket match as the cricketers "tossing off".
