Whats in a nick? Name, that is

Mike Selvey holds forth on the subject of cricket nicknames here, complaining about the lack of originality in some of the nicknames, the confusion that awaits when players with the same handles play in the same game and so forth. Reasonable points, not that I think anything important rests on which way the decision goes. If nothing else, it might lead to a little trivia game or two, trying to figure out the etymology of a particular nickname.

But, on the subject of nicknames, let me again acknowledge the pre-eminence of Australian sporting nicknames and the associated drive to quickly find one for a mate on the same team. I lived for 13 years in the US before moving to Sydney for a couple of years, and played on several softball teams. No nickname emerged. In Sydney, shortly after I played my first game for the Centrals, I had two nicknames ready to go. One was Dokic, and the other, my favorite, which has stuck to this day (I even have a Friendster alter ego with the same nickname): Chopper or sometimes, just plain Chop.

I'll leave it to you to figure out how I got those nicknames.