it's not cricket

it's not cricket

It isn't fair, sportsmanlike, or legitimate. I know you want to avoid confrontation, but it's not cricket to break up with someone by text message. I don't see why you think it's not cricket—everyone else does it all the time.

See also: cricket, not

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

It's not cricket.

 and It's not kosher.

It's not done.; It's not acceptable. You can't do that! It's not cricket!

See also: cricket, not

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

not cricket

Unfair, unsportsmanlike, as in It's not cricket to let him go without notice. This term, in which the sport of cricket is equated with upright behavior, survives in America despite the relative unfamiliarity of the sport there. [Mid-1800s]

See also: cricket, not

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

not cricket

contrary to traditional standards of fairness or rectitude. British informal

The game of cricket, with its traditional regard for courtesy and fair play, has been a metaphor for these qualities since at least the mid 19th century.

See also: cricket, not

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

it’s (just) not ˈcricket

(old-fashioned, British English, informal) it is not a fair or an honourable action or way of behaving

See also: cricket, not

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

not cricket

mod. unfair; illegitimate; unorthodox. (See affirmative examples at cricket.) What do you mean it’s not cricket? You do it.

See also: cricket, not

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

not cricket, it's/that's

Unsportsmanlike, unfair, dishonorable. Eric Partridge traced this term to 1867 but believed it was not widely used until the early twentieth century. Among the early references in print is Stanley Houghton’s 1914 play, The Partners, “. . . but it is not playing the game. In other words, Cynthia, it is not cricket.” Although cricket is a sport popular exclusively in Great Britain and most of its former colonies, the term crossed the Atlantic and became a cliché in the United States as well.

See also: not

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer