Cricket pieces_Surnames

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Contributed by Venkatesh Govindarajan 23-Aug-2016 ( 223 views )

Cricketing surnames and proper common nouns

Abandon all seriousness before you start

reading this! The intention is to leave you

smiling and refreshed.

There are a handful of English surnames

which become common nouns when the

first letter is changed from Upper Case to

lower case. In fact, when it comes to

international cricket, one may use the term

‘groundful’.

Of all the men (alive and deceased) who

have represented their respective countries

in the international arena, right from when

the first ball was bowled in the very first

Test held in Melbourne, there are over 300

players who have/had surnames which are ‘very common’ Proper Nouns! Of these, the ‘Smith’s

take the top spot with a cool 10%. These guys have represented Australia (Aus), England (Eng), New

Zealand (NZ), South Africa (SA), West Indies (WI) and Zimbabwe (ZIM). One could have a Smith’s

Thirteen and a Smith’s Second String Thirteen!

If one looks for colours, there are many a ‘Brown’ - 13 of them, with England accounting for 8. The

‘Black’, ‘Gray’ and the ‘White’ are relatively fewer.

In the domain of zoology, there is ‘Lamb’, ornithology finds its place in ‘Bird’, ‘Bill’ and ‘Heron’;

entomology is present as ‘Roach’; metallurgy as ‘Steel’; and geology as ‘Clay’ (the silicate mineral)

and ‘Emery’ (Aluminium oxide mineral used as an abrasive).

The botanist takes interest in ‘Wood’, ‘Flower’, ‘Rose’, ‘Moss’, ‘Vine’, ‘Root’ and ‘Mold’ (fungus), while

the gourmand will rivet his eyes on the ‘Rice’ and the ‘Bean’.

Among professions, eminent ‘Smith’s aside, ‘Cook’ and ‘Butcher’ lead the pack, with ‘Archer’,

‘Butler’, ‘Barber’, ‘Miller’, ‘Turner’, ‘Porter’, ‘Nurse’, ‘Ironmonger’, ‘Hunter’ and ‘Mason’ bringing up the

rear. The churchgoers have a ‘Bishop’, ‘Priest’ and ‘Pope’. There is a ‘Friend’ who could be your

‘Guest’, and a ‘Guy’ who may have been a habituated ‘Walker’. The royals are very much present as

‘King’ and ‘Prince’.

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About the author

G Venkatesh (born 1972) is a senior lecturer in Energy and Environment, at Karlstad University in S...

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Then, there are the man-made objects – ‘Bell’, ‘Drum’, ‘Lock’, ‘Lever’, ‘Ball’, ‘Key’, ‘Cotter’ (the last

one is the name given to a pin used for fastening and is familiar to engineers). One finds edifices

like ‘Wall’, ‘Home’, ‘Banks’, ‘Hall’, ‘Booth’ and ‘Ford’; and landforms like ‘Mead’, ‘Dale’, ‘Cave’ and ‘Hill’.

There is also a ‘Hole’ perhaps formed by a falling meteorite in the ‘Street’.

For the English teacher, there is a host of verbs and a plethora of adjectives. The set of verbs

reads thus: ‘Love’, ‘Read’, ‘Park’, ‘Burn’, ‘Hunt’, ‘Sleep’, ‘Wade’, ‘Foster’, ‘Garner’, ‘Close’, ‘Parry’, ‘Trim’,

‘Buy’, ‘Fry’, ‘Hone’ etc. The adjectives of the positive degree are the opposites ‘Young’ and ‘Old’,

‘Crisp’, ‘Gaunt’, ‘Slight’, ‘Sharp’, ‘Slack’, ‘Small’, ‘Bland’, ‘Gay’ etc. The only one which is of a

superlative degree is ‘Best’. There has not been a ‘Good’ or a ‘Better’, though a wicket keeper by

the surname of Gould once played for England (the ‘L’ is silent).

The physiologist has only ‘Hands’ and ‘Palm’ if ‘Butts’ and ‘Butt’ are kept out (for obvious reasons)!

The astronomer has only the ‘Moon’ so far; maybe there will be a ‘Jupiter’ or a ‘Mercury’ in the

future.

India has been kept out wantonly, as the scope is limited to English surnames. If all surnames had

been included, the Parsi ‘Engineer’, ‘Merchant’ and ‘Contractor’ would have been part of the list led

by ‘Cook’ & ‘Butcher’. (Talking of ‘Cook’ and ‘Butcher’, a ‘Lamb’ in between would provide the

missing link. Sadly, we do not have a ‘Roast’, there is only a ‘Fry’).

There will be many more to come. Perhaps a ‘Book’, ‘Pen’ or a ‘Car’ (different from the Carrs who

have played international cricket). Before closing, a random selection of such surnames which one

can associate with more than one cricket-playing country:

Smith (Aus, Eng, WI, NZ, SA)

Butcher (Eng, WI)

Bill (SA, NZ)

Wood (Aus, Eng)

Cook (Aus, Eng, SA)

White (Eng, WI, NZ, Aus)

Brown (Aus, Eng, WI, SA, NZ, ZM)

Young (Aus, Eng, NZ)

Bell (NZ, SA, Eng)

Woods (Aus, Eng)

Ward (SA, NZ, Eng, Aus)

Gray (WI, NZ)

As you are reading this, new players with interesting surnames may have made their debuts, and

possibly could be added to this list of “Very Proper Common Nouns”. Have a Butcher’s!

Keep smiling and enjoy this gentleman’s game.

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