Blocker is a cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

ing slang term for a defending batsman, the opposite of biffer

Biffer

Biffer is a cricketing slang term for an attacking batsman. A biffer is the opposite of a blocker, being a defending player.In earlier times cricketers were either amateur or professional...

. In earlier times (particularly pre-World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

) cricketers were either professional

Professional

A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...

 or amateur

Amateur

An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....

. Typically, but not universally, amateurs would be "biffers" and professionals "blockers".

The word derives from the natural tendency of such batsmen to "block" each delivery

Bowling (cricket)

In the sport of cricket, bowling is the action of propelling the ball toward the wicket defended by a batsman. A player skilled at bowling is called a bowler; a bowler who is also a competent batsman is known as an all-rounder...

, rather than try to score runs

Run (cricket)

In the sport of cricket, a run is the basic unit of scoring. Runs are scored by a batsman, and the aggregate of the scores of a team's batsmen constitutes the team's score. A batsman scoring 50 or 100 runs , or any higher multiple of 50 runs, is considered a particular achievement...

.

List of notable blockers in cricket history

Mike Atherton

Mike Atherton

Michael Andrew Atherton OBE is a broadcaster, journalist and retired England international cricketer. A right-handed opening batsman for Lancashire and England,and occasional leg-break bowler, he achieved the captaincy of England at the age of 25 and led the side in a record 54 Test matches...

 (former England Test

Test cricket

Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...

 batsman) Trevor Bailey

Trevor Bailey

Trevor Edward Bailey CBE was an England Test cricketer, cricket writer and broadcaster.An all-rounder, Bailey was known for his skilful but unspectacular batting...

 (former England Test batsman) Geoffrey Boycott

Geoffrey Boycott

Geoffrey Boycott OBE is a former Yorkshire and England cricketer. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's most successful opening batsmen...

 (former England Test batsman) Jim Burke

Jim Burke (cricketer)

James Wallace Burke was an Australian cricketer who played in 24 Tests from 1951 to 1959.- Early years :...

 (former Australia Test batsman) Bill Lawry

Bill Lawry

William Morris "Bill" Lawry, AM is a former cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia. He captained Australia in 25 Tests, winning nine, losing eight and drawing eight, and led Australia in the inaugural One Day International match, played in 1971...

 (former Australia Test batsman) Mark Richardson

Mark Richardson (cricketer)

Mark Hunter Richardson is a former New Zealand cricketer. He was a left-handed opening batsman. He represented New Zealand in 38 Tests from 2000 to 2004. During his cricketing career he played for Auckland, Buckinghamshire and Otago. His nickname, "Rigor", is short for Rigor mortis, given to him...

 (former New Zealand

New Zealand cricket team

The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...

 Test batsman) Chris Tavaré

Chris Tavaré

Christopher James Tavaré is an English retired cricketer, who played in thirty one Tests and twenty nine One Day Internationals from 1980 to 1989.-Life and career:...

 (former England Test batsman)Rahul Dravid

Rahul Dravid

Rahul Sharad Dravid , is a cricketer in the Indian national team, of which he has been a regular member since 1996. He was appointed as the captain of the Indian cricket team in October 2005 and resigned from the post in September 2007. Dravid was honoured as one of the top-five Wisden Cricketers...

(Indian Test batsman)