TAIL-ENDER

'Horace' c1890, a horse of such exquisite sensibility that when Fred Morley, the invariable Notts last man, left the Trent Bridge pavilion, it sidled unobtrusively towards the roller. ''Carr's Dictionary of extra-ordinary English Cricketers'' ^[1]

Tail-ender is a cricketing term for the last batsmen in a team who are not technically proficient in the art of batting, and as a result, do not contribute many runs to their side's total. Such players are, most usually, extremely talented bowlers such as A.P "Tich" Freeman ^[2], Anil Kumble^[3] or Jack Davey, "a Crown Prince of No. 11s" ^[4].
While still proudly present at amateur level ^[5], they are increasingly rare in the professional game^[6].

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References

References

1. 1977, Kettering, J.L.Carr) ISBN 0274563739
2. "Tich" Freeman and the decline of the Leg-Break Bowler Lemmon, D (1982, London, George Allen and Unwin) ISBN 0047960558 Appendix p132
3. Tail ender incites crowd
4. 1975 Wisden Easterbrook, B ''The Willing workhorses of First-Class Cricket'' p154 (1975, London, Sporting Handbooks Ltd ISBN 0850200482
5. Proudly self-titled
6. Their absence mourned