Listening to a group of cricketers talking could, for the uninitiated, be like listening to a group of aliens discussing life on their planet. Therefore The Japan Times is proud to present an unofficial cricketing dictionary.
Ashes -- A small wooden urn containing the ashes of a burned bail from the 1882 Australia-England test series. The Aussie win was said to be the "death" of cricket -- hence the urn which is played for every other year between the two old rivals.
Bail -- More often used in connection with NFL and NBA players, in cricket this is one of the two small pieces of molded timber that sit atop the stumps.