Fertile fields

Recent correspondence on the subject of surgeries persuades me to join the ranks of the pedants.

My beef is with the cricket commentators like the one who told me that a batsman ‘‘bisected the two fielders on the boundary.’’

To bisect is to divide into two equal parts, but I know that batsman has never trained as a surgeon, and anyway I can’t see four equal body parts lying on the grass, so I assume what was bisected was the gap between the two fielders, not the fielders themselves.

I also note that my team suffered a defeat ‘‘to’’ the opposition – I thought they ‘‘lost to’’, or were defeated ‘‘by’’, them. And while that was happening, there was a good catch ‘‘from’’ fielder X, but it seemed to me the ball came to him, not from him, and was caught ‘‘by’’ him.

Digressing a little, I note that where rugby players once had skills, they now have skill sets. Does this make them better players?

Ah, sports grounds are fertile fields for pedants.

Ken Klitscher, Masterton