Farm the strike -- Where a good batsman is batting with a tail-ender, he will often want to face as much of the bowling as possible, since he ought to be at less risk than his less proficient partner. To this end, he will aim to take a single from the fifth or sixth ball of an over, in order to put himself at the receiving end for the next.

Featherbed -- A pitch of gentle pace and predictable bounce on which batting is easy.

Fence -- Means by which the boundary is marked on some grounds. Curiously, a fielder may touch a boundary fence when stopping or catching a ball, but if he touches a boundary line or rope, the ball is deemed to have crossed the boundary.

Fielding positions -- See Backward, Bat-pad, Cover, Deep, Extra, Fine, Gully, Long, Mid, Point, Short, Silly, Slip, Square, Third man.

Fifty -- Fifty runs scored by a single batsman in a single innings. See also Century, Hundred.

Fine -- Fielding position behind the wicket and close to the longitudinal axis of the pitch.

Finger -- The umpire's index finger, raised in response to an appeal to indicate that the batsman is out.

Finger spinner -- Bowler who uses his fingers to spin the ball. For a right-arm bowler, this term is synonymous with off spinner.

First class -- Cricket played between recognized first class teams over three, four or five days, with two innings per team. What makes a first class team is not always clear -- the game's governing bodies occasionally have to rule on whether a particular match should count as first class.In India, first class matches are between state teams, in addition to Test matches and county games against touring teams. and Other countries have comparable domestic first class structures.

Fishing -- Playing with the bat away from the body at a ball outside the off stump. Such a shot is likely to yield nothing more than an edged catch to the wicketkeeper or slips.

Flash -- Batting shot, a cousin of the Harrow drive. The flash is an ambitious drive aimed at a ball too wide to reach easily. Safer than it looks, since any contact with the ball is likely to send it high over the slips' heads and first bounce into the third-man fence.

Flight -- Arguably a more important weapon even than spin in a slow bowler's armoury, flight is the art of varying the ball's arc and speed through the air in order to deceive the batsman. A spin bowler can make the ball dip suddenly in mid-flight, leaving a batsman who thought he had it covered a yard short of the pitch and unable to keep the ball down. Flighted bowling takes nerve and the confidence not to give in when the occasional ball's whistles over mid-on for six. By presenting the batsman with temptingly hittable balls, it encourages him to take risks.

Flipper -- A wrist-spinner's 'trick' ball, deceptively fast and low-bouncing. Difficult to bowl, but deadly when straight.

Follow-on -- If, in a two-innings match, the side batting second falls short of the other side's first-innings score by 150 runs in a three or four-day match, or 200 runs in a five-day match, the captain of the leading team may ask them to bat again immediately. By exercising this option, he gives his bowlers the chance to bowl the other side out again and win by an innings. (See Winning margin)

Footwork -- The stance is only a starting point -- it allows the batsman to move his feet easily into position to play balls of any length and direction. A short-pitched ball can be played most easily off the back foot ('playing back'). The batsman moves his back foot back towards the wicket and across into the line of the ball, giving him the maximum time to judge the speed and bounce of the ball. An overpitched ball is best played off the front foot ('playing forward'). The batsman moves his front foot forward and across, ideally alongside the point where the ball pitches. This allows him to hit it close to the ground, before it has bounced very high or deviated off the pitch. A good-length ball (pitching maybe 6-8 feet from the batsman from a slow bowler, slightly more from a fast bowler) makes neither of these methods easy, but a good batsman will usually play forward to a good-length ball. Against slow bowling, a batsman may 'use his feet' - i.e. leave his crease to bring himself closer to the pitch of the ball, or even to turn a good-length ball into a full toss. In doing this, he risks being stumped if he misses the ball, but it is a tactic that can upset a bowler's rhythm and accuracy.

Forward Stroke --  If the batsman advances his front foot down the wicket in order to play the ball as near as possible to where it pitches, he is said to be making a "forward stroke".

Four -- A ball which crosses the boundary after having first touched the ground, and which scores four runs.

Four ball -- Bad ball, likely to be hit for four.

French cut -- An attempted attacking batting shot in front of the wicket resulting in four fortunate runs behind the wicket off the inside or bottom edge of the bat.

Full, on the -- Without touching the ground. According to context, this may be between bowler and batsman, bat and fielder or bat and boundary. (In some cases, even between bowler and boundary, although this scores only four byes or wides, not six.)

Full toss -- A ball that reaches the batsman without pitching. Also known as a "full pitch".