Golden Duck: When a batsman outs on the first ball, why that is called as "Golden Duck"?  

In the sport of cricket, a duck refers to a batsman's getting out for a score of zero. The name is believed to come from the shape of the number "0" being similar to that of a duck's egg, an alternative version of the term given by the Concise Oxford Dictionary.
Players who are dismissed by the first ball they face are said to have been dismissed for a golden duck. Players who are dismissed without facing a ball (usually run out) are said to be out for a diamond duck . This is not to be confused with a platinum duck, which refers to a batsman who is out on the first ball of a match. Silver duck refers to a batsman who gets out on the second ball he faces without scoring a run.
To be dismissed for nought (zero) in both innings of the same two-innings match is to be dismissed for a pair, because the two noughts together are thought to resemble a pair of spectacles; the longer form is occasionally used. To be dismissed first ball in both innings (i.e., two golden ducks) is to suffer the indignity of making a king pair.
The first duck in a Test match was made in the very first Test of all, between Australia and England at Melbourne in March 1877, when Ned Gregory was caught by Andrew Greenwood off the bowling of James Lillywhite.
This should clear all doubts of yours over 'ducks' and 'golden duck' in cricket.

Answered by Sahil Sharma at 4:45 PM on November 18, 2008

Before the advent of electronic score board there happen to be score boards which were being updated by pasting stickers manually. In Australia, first of all it was seen that if a batsman gets out scoring zero, the zero gets messed up with other zeroes. hence all though out something to make the zero distinct. A sticker of duck was made and pasted in place of zero. It was well received by the audience and also it avoided the confusion. The duck sticker happened to be in yellow color to make it distinct. In Australia duck is a very lovely bird like by the peoples. Thus the Golden duck took birth and even today, the electronic score board shows the duck, specially in Australia. Mark this while any country plays in Australia, you will find this. To know more about this i am sure there might be an entry in the encyclopedia.

Thanks

Go to google.com and type golden duck in cricket and hit i am feeling lucky. Or place a minus mark just after cricket (golden duck in cricket-) and hit search. You will get a lot of links over there. Explore the encyclopedia entry and you will know more about this.

Answered by Sudam at 9:02 PM on November 17, 2008

hi..........In the sport of cricket, a duck refers to a batsman's getting out for a score of zero. The name is believed to come from the shape of the number "0" being similar to that of a duck's egg, an alternative version of the term given by the Concise Oxford Dictionary.Players who are dismissed by the first ball they face are said to have been dismissed for a golden duck. Players who are dismissed without facing a ball (usually run out) are said to be out for a diamond duck. This is not to be confused with a platinum duck, which refers colloquially to a batsman who is out on the first ball of a match. Silver duck refers to a batsman who gets out on the second ball he faces without scoring a run.To be dismissed for nought in both innings of the same two-innings match is to be dismissed for a pair, because the two noughts together are thought to resemble a pair of spectacles; the longer form is occasionally used. To be dismissed first ball in both innings,two golden ducks) is to suffer the indignity of making a king pair.

Answered by harsha at 7:33 PM on November 17, 2008

A golden duck is a term used in cricket, and denotes a batsman getting out for a score of zero under particular conditions. Up until about twenty years ago, the golden duck was a freak occurrence. A batsman was said to be out for a golden duck when he or she was run out without having faced a single bowl - usually as a result of a bad running decision by one player or another.

Answered by Satyakam at 6:44 PM on November 17, 2008