Hello everyone! Here I am to tell you more about Cricket training methods. This time it is about bowling technique. Well, there is no such thing in this cruel world known as bowling technique. Some will say that the bowler just have to pick the ball up and throw it towards the batsman to get him out! Well, how true is that? You may have heard that there are different types of bowlers- Pace bowlers, Medium pace bowlers, spin bowlers,etc.. What advantage does this difference gives them? Frankly speaking, it's all about angles! The more you try to play with angles, the more successful bowler you are!
Now let us begin with pace bowling. If you want to become a successful pace bowler you need to learn mainly all the balls in the book. First of all you need to learn the art of swing bowling. Pace bowlers usually bowls at the beginning of a match when the ball is
new. To take maximum benefit of this situation the bowler has to swing the ball. Now how difficult is that? Well there is nothing easy in this world! The basic thing one must know of swing bowling is the grip. Being a fast bowler you ought to hold the ball with your index finger and the middle finger on either side of the ball. Now for the ball to swing, you have to maintain one side ofthe ball i.e. to keep the shine of the ball. Have you seen bowlers rubbing the ball on their pants? Well they does this on one side of the ball. While one side of the ball is rubbed, the other side becomes shinier than that side. The shinier side shows the direction of the swing. Well, you may be wondering that's so simple! This is just basic of swing bowling! You have to position your wrists in the direction of the shinier side and you need some pace behind it for the ball to do the talking.
For eg. A right handed bowler is bowling to a right handed batsman. If he wants to bowl an out-swinger then he has to hold the ball with the shinier side towards the index finger and the wrist position towards the first slip. To bowl an in-swinger hold the shinier side towards the middle finger and vice versa.
In this way you can master the art of swing bowling by rigorous practise. But if you cannot swing the ball as you desire then can you survive as a bowler? Yes, you can! Have you heard bowlers bowling in express speed? What is the role of speed in pace bowling? Well, its all about pace in pace bowling! But not just pace, it's more about line and length in pace bowling. If your line and length are good, you will be a successful bowler. Pace variation is also an important factor, mainly in the death overs or when the batsmen will try to hit at everything on offer. Pace variation makes it difficult for the batsman to time the ball and may lead to edges, the ball may loop in the air or even miss the ball. Some common deliveries used by fast bowlers to bowl slow balls are off-cutters, leg-cutters, back of the hand delivery, etc..
While all this was about pace bowling, now lets focus on spin bowling. There are mainly four types of spinners. For Right Handers: Leg break bowlers and off break bowlers and for Left Handers: Slow left arm orthodox and left arm chinaman. While off breakes can also be called left arm orthodox for left handers, similarly, leg breaks can also be called left arm chinaman for left handers. Now we will talk about off spin and leg spin.
The above image shows us the grip of a leg spin bowler and how the ball goes after being pitched
The above image shows us the grip of a off spin bowler and how the ball goes after being pitched
In an off Spin delivery, for a right handed batsman, the ball is pitched on the off stump line or outside it and the ball spins back towards the middle or leg stump. In a Leg spin delivery, for a right handed batsman, the ball is pitched on the middle or the leg stump and after pitching, the ball spins away towards the off stump or outside it.
Usually spinners bowl in the middle and the end overs when the ball is a bit softer and easy to grip for spinners, but some tactical captains sometimes use their spinners in the starting overs. Confidence is the key to success for any spinner as he becomes the target of the batsmen to hit runs.
Line and length of a spinner must be in control all the time even if he is getting hit for runs. He must have a couple of variations up his sleeve too! In this modern era of Twenty-20 cricket, it has become very difficult for spinners who doesn't have much variations. A disciplined line and variations help a bowler to outfox the batsman and get his wicket.
Now let us begin with pace bowling. If you want to become a successful pace bowler you need to learn mainly all the balls in the book. First of all you need to learn the art of swing bowling. Pace bowlers usually bowls at the beginning of a match when the ball is
new. To take maximum benefit of this situation the bowler has to swing the ball. Now how difficult is that? Well there is nothing easy in this world! The basic thing one must know of swing bowling is the grip. Being a fast bowler you ought to hold the ball with your index finger and the middle finger on either side of the ball. Now for the ball to swing, you have to maintain one side ofthe ball i.e. to keep the shine of the ball. Have you seen bowlers rubbing the ball on their pants? Well they does this on one side of the ball. While one side of the ball is rubbed, the other side becomes shinier than that side. The shinier side shows the direction of the swing. Well, you may be wondering that's so simple! This is just basic of swing bowling! You have to position your wrists in the direction of the shinier side and you need some pace behind it for the ball to do the talking.
In this way you can master the art of swing bowling by rigorous practise. But if you cannot swing the ball as you desire then can you survive as a bowler? Yes, you can! Have you heard bowlers bowling in express speed? What is the role of speed in pace bowling? Well, its all about pace in pace bowling! But not just pace, it's more about line and length in pace bowling. If your line and length are good, you will be a successful bowler. Pace variation is also an important factor, mainly in the death overs or when the batsmen will try to hit at everything on offer. Pace variation makes it difficult for the batsman to time the ball and may lead to edges, the ball may loop in the air or even miss the ball. Some common deliveries used by fast bowlers to bowl slow balls are off-cutters, leg-cutters, back of the hand delivery, etc..
While all this was about pace bowling, now lets focus on spin bowling. There are mainly four types of spinners. For Right Handers: Leg break bowlers and off break bowlers and for Left Handers: Slow left arm orthodox and left arm chinaman. While off breakes can also be called left arm orthodox for left handers, similarly, leg breaks can also be called left arm chinaman for left handers. Now we will talk about off spin and leg spin.
The above image shows us the grip of a leg spin bowler and how the ball goes after being pitched
The above image shows us the grip of a off spin bowler and how the ball goes after being pitched
In an off Spin delivery, for a right handed batsman, the ball is pitched on the off stump line or outside it and the ball spins back towards the middle or leg stump. In a Leg spin delivery, for a right handed batsman, the ball is pitched on the middle or the leg stump and after pitching, the ball spins away towards the off stump or outside it.
Usually spinners bowl in the middle and the end overs when the ball is a bit softer and easy to grip for spinners, but some tactical captains sometimes use their spinners in the starting overs. Confidence is the key to success for any spinner as he becomes the target of the batsmen to hit runs.
Line and length of a spinner must be in control all the time even if he is getting hit for runs. He must have a couple of variations up his sleeve too! In this modern era of Twenty-20 cricket, it has become very difficult for spinners who doesn't have much variations. A disciplined line and variations help a bowler to outfox the batsman and get his wicket.
