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Word of the Week (240): DILSCOOP (*new CSW15*) (probability 26855), by David Sutton

Oh look, cricket has given us a new benjamin, DILSCOOP, a shot in cricket that is performed by scooping the ball backwards over the head of the wicket-keeper, named for its principal exponent, the Sri Lankan cricketer Tillakaratne Dilshan. Admittedly, it's a benjamin that is very unlikely to be played, and you might think the same would apply to the shot itself, but there is plenty of footage of it on YouTube for those interested.

That's the only new cricket-related word, but other sports have made their contribution to CSW15. For example, tennis now allows us to use BAGEL as a verb (BAGELED/BAGELLED, BAGELING/BAGELLING), meaning to defeat in a tennis set by six games to love. It also adds the surely overdue BALLBOY and BALLGIRL.

Football gives us the interesting O-hook GALACTICO, an internationally famous footballer, as well as FOOTSAL, a new variant of the existing FUTSAL, a form of association football played indoors with five players on each side.

One can now play MINIGOLF, while hockey adds PUCKSTER, a hockey player, LINEMATE, a hockey player on the same line as another, and WRISTER, a shot played with the wrist.

Rugby adds JACKLING, the winning of the ball, by the defender's team, after a tackle and before a ruck has formed, and now allows us to inflect SCRUFF as a verb (SCRUFFED, SCRUFFING), meaning to engage in a scrummage.

We'll look at some more sports next week.

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