I was watching with my boys who are not exposed to a lot of cricket, leave alone Test cricket.
5yo: Appa, what's a maiden over?
Me: An over in which no runs are scored.
11yo: Why is it called a maiden over? It's men's cricket?
Me: (having to think for a quick answer)
Erm.. an over in which batsman could not score is...(suddenly on guard).. let's say a ball is a lady and a bat is a gentleman, when they never meet and didn't get married, the bowler has bowled a maiden over..
13yo: The batsman defended a few times in that over. So the ball surely met the bat...?
Me: (At my wits end by now).. Maybe it's just Old English way of saying no runs scored...! Ok please have these potato chips and pass around the packet. (That surely distracted them)
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May I humbly suggest that such overs be called bachelor/brahmachari overs in women's cricket, just to make it even and easier to explain to pre/early teens..!?
