There are many different variations of bowling in the game of cricket, from fast to spin and everything in between. In this blog we will be covering the main types of bowling techniques, all the variations and who sets the bar for each technique. For those of you who aren’t die hard cricket fans, fear not, we will be explaining everything in easy-to-understand terms.
Spin Bowling
Off-Spin
Also known as finger spin, off spinners will use their fingers to impart spin onto the ball. A right arm off spinners normal delivery will spin/turn the ball from left to right, this is known as an off break. Off spinners use variations that to ensure batsmen don’t get too comfortable. Here are the three main types:
Doosra - A doosra is a delivery that spins the opposite way to an off break. For a right arm bowler, a doosra will spin from right to left.
Top spinner - A top spinner is where the bowler will roll their fingers over the top of the ball, this will create more loop/dip. When the ball bounces, it will kick forward potentially rushing the batsmen.
Arm ball - This is a delivery that sees the bowler run their fingers down the back of the ball when released. The ball shouldn’t have much spin on and should go straight on with the arm.
So, who is best in class? Ravichandran Ashwin from India is one of the best off-spinners in the world and has the ability to bowl all of the above variations.
Leg Spin
Also known as wrist spin, leg spinners will flick their wrist when releasing the ball to impart spin onto the ball. A right arm leg spinners normal delivery will spin from right to left; this is known as a leg break. There are a couple of variations that leg spinners use to try and deceive batsmen, take a look at them below:
Googly - A googly is a delivery that spins in the opposite direction to a leg break. For a right arm bowler, this will spin from left to right. It can be quite deceiving to batsmen as the bowler often won’t change their grip with only a small change in action.
Flipper - A flipper is a delivery that will come out with back spin on the ball. This results in the ball going straight on and keeping very low, this can be quite difficult to play.
So, who is best in class? Adil Rashid from England is one of the best, with his variations often bamboozling batsmen.
Fast Bowling
Pace
Pace bowlers heavily rely on the speed in which they bowl to unsettle batsmen to take wickets. However, if there’s no lateral movement, top class batsmen will tend not to struggle too much. Therefore, pace bowlers will use variations in length and speed to deceive the batsmen.
Bouncer - This is a delivery that is pitched short, with the aim to get the ball up around the batsmen’s chest or head. If bowled correctly it can cause the batsmen to be unsettled and play a false shot.
Slower ball - A slower ball is where a bowler will intentionally bowl the ball slower than their normal delivery - this is to try and trick the batsmen and hopefully results in a bad shot. Bowlers try and disguise it as best as they can to ensure its effective. There’s a couple of different techniques that bowlers use:
Knuckle ball – The ball is held between the knuckles, difficult to disguise.
Back of hand – Griped normally but, the wrist flips upon release and the ball comes out the back of the bowler’s hand.
Finger roll – The easiest of the three, upon release the bowler will roll their fingers down the side of the ball resulting in a sower delivery.
Yorker - This delivery is aimed to land very full, around the batsmen’s toes. If bowled correctly, a yorker can be very difficult to play or score from.
Jasprit Bumrah from India and Australian Test captain Pat Cummings are probably the best in class. Both bowlers use their variations to take many wickets.
Seam
Seam bowling requires the bowler to release the ball with the seam presented upright so when the ball lands the seam of the ball hits first. This can result in the ball deviating offline, giving the batsmen less time to react, causing a bad shot.
Off cutter - An off cutter is where the bowler uses the seam to roll their fingers down the right-hand side of the ball. This imparts side spin causing the ball to deviate from left to right.
Leg cutter - A leg cutter is where the bowler uses the seam to roll their fingers down the left-hand side of the ball. This imparts side spin causing the ball to deviate from right to left.
Cross seam - This is where the bowler will grip the ball across the seam, when released the ball will spin backwards. If the ball lands on the seam, it will bounce normally; but if it lands on the leather, the ball will skid. The beauty with this delivery is not even the bowler knows what will happen, so neither will the batsmen.
So, who is best in class? Josh Hazlewood from Australia and South African Kagiso Rabada often cause batsmen lots of problems with the seam movement they generate.
Swing
Swing bowling is where the ball moves laterally in the air after the bowler has released the ball. It’s quite complex with how it works, with aerodynamics coming into play. For swing to happen, one side of the ball needs to be smooth and shiny and the other slightly rougher; however, the weather conditions play a part and need to be right, ideally overcast when the air is slightly thicker.
Out swing - This is where the ball will swing/move from right to left in the air for a right-handed batsman. To achieve this the shiny side of the ball must be on the right.
In swing - This is where the ball will swing/move from left to right in the air for a right-handed batman. To achieve this the shiny side of the ball must be on the left.
Reverse swing - This again is slightly more complicated as it’s the opposite to conventional swing, the ball will swing the same way the shinny side is facing. So, if the shiny side is on the left the ball will swing to the left. This only tends to happen when the ball gets older, and one side is significantly rougher than the other.
So, who is best in class? It’s got to be the king of swing, James Anderson. The English bowler is very well known for his ability to swing the ball both ways with ease.
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