It’s ICC Cricket World Cup time!  India has qualified for the semi-finals and the excitement and expectation has gripped Indians all over the world.  What does cricket have to do with incinerators you may ask?  It’s all about terms you wouldn’t come across in normal life.  Just like cricket has some terms that wouldn’t make sense to someone who doesn’t follow cricket, incineration too has terms which are not common parlance.

Experts in their own areas of specialty use terminologies which are Greek and Latin to the common man.

Take for example, the cricket report in today`s media which claims "Tamim chopped Shami onto his stumps" or "Sarkar drilled Hardik Pandya into Kohli`s hands."  Do these statements make any sense to a non-cricket lover? He probably thinks about some violence happening on the cricket field (which actually did happen in the stands between Pakistani and Afghan fans)!

There was a cartoon, a while ago, in a British daily, showing an old lady knitting and listening to cricket commentary on the radio and commiserating when the commentator said "This bowler has one long leg and a short leg". She was under the impression that cricket was a game played by the physically challenged!

What is a "Death over"?  Which is the "Cow corner"?  Do "Chinamen" play cricket?  What is a "Wicket Maiden" doing on the cricket ground?  Like there is a "third man", is there a fourth and fifth man and so on?  What is "chin music" and which is the "corridor of uncertainty"?  And why is the ball "dead"?  Why is the batter doing "gardening" on the pitch?  One would be horrified to hear of the "mine field" in the cricket ground.  How is it that a "night watchman" has become a cricketer?

Similarly when it comes to incineration, there are terminologies used such as "starved air", "scrubber bleed", "gas washer", "baffle", "destruction efficiency", " thermal shock", "thermal inertia", "residence time", etc. which are meaningless to the common individual. Is a "bag house" full of bags?  Why pay a "tipping fee" when you are already giving a tip?

We are sure many of these names have been derived from the earliest times, out of one`s own experience, like the name ''pig iron'' originated in the early days of iron-ore reduction when the total output of the blast furnace was sand cast into ''pigs'' a mass of iron roughly resembling the shape of a reclining pig!

Nevertheless, all this makes interesting reading because it introduces an element of inquisitiveness to one`s work and leisure.