The nervous nineties is a commonly used term in cricket.[1][2][3]
The term refers to an alleged form of analysis paralysis felt by a batter when he or she has scored more than 90 runs in an innings and is nervous because of the pressure and desire to convert this into a century (100 runs), which is a celebrated milestone of individual success in the game. This situation is referred to as batter being in the nervous nineties. Batters may tend to bat in a more conservative manner when they are close to their century, in order to avoid getting out and thus missing out on the milestone. Batters dismissed on 99 are considered the unluckiest of the nervous nineties victims.
The opposing captain may position the fielders near the batter in order to create extra pressure to get the batter out by restricting the player to defensive strokes and requiring more risky play to score runs. These events happen despite a century being an arbitrary individual statistic that has no impact beyond the basic addition of more runs to the score.
But a large-scale analysis of more than 700 Test matches between 2004 and 2022 found no evidence for the existence of the nervous nineties. Batters actually score runs at an accelerated pace when in the 90s, faster on average than when in the 70s, 80s, or 100s.[4][5]