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In the sport of cricket, a duck refers to a batsman 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.^{[citation needed]}

Players who are dismissed by the first ball they face are said to have been dismissed for a golden duck.^[1] Players who are dismissed without facing a ball (usually run out) are out for a diamond duck ^[2], which may also be referred to a batsman out on the first ball of a match ^[3].

To be dismissed for nought in both innings of the same two-innings match is to be dismissed for a pair,^[4] because the two noughts together are thought to resemble a pair of spectacles; the longer form is occasionally used.^[5] To be dismissed first ball in both innings is to suffer the indignity of making a king pair.^[1]

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.^[6] As of 2007, the record for the most ducks in Test cricket is held by West Indies player Courtney Walsh, who was out for nought on 43 occasions,^[7] while the overall first-class record is 156, set by Worcestershire and England player Reg Perks.^[8]

One particularly high-profile example of a duck came in 1948, when Don Bradman was playing his final Test match for Australia, against England at The Oval.^[9] As things turned out, Australia won the match by an innings, and so they (and therefore Bradman) did not get to bat a second time. Had he scored just 4 he would have finished with a career Test batting average of 100, but that duck meant that in fact he ended with an average of 99.94.^[10]