Bowling (cricket)
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Bowling is a key activity in the sport of cricket. The bowler is a member of the fielding team whose task is to "bowl" or "deliver" the ball to the batter. The bowler aims to dismiss the batter or, at least, to prevent them from scoring and runs.
The bowler must deliver the ball with a straight arm (see photo). A ball bowled with the elbow bent is a throw, an illegal delivery that the umpire will rule a no ball. If the bowler's front foot is not on or behind the popping crease when they release the ball, that is also a no ball. If the bowler bowls the ball out of the striking batter's reach, that is ruled a wide. No balls and wides are credited as extras to the batting team's total, and the delivery must be bowled again.
A bowler who can also bat well, is called an all-rounder. There are different types of bowler, and a cricket team will usually have a mix of different types.
The ball
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The cricket ball is a hard, solid sphere, traditionally red. It has a core made of cork, which is enclosed by a leather case with a slightly raised sewn seam, as illustrated in the photograph at right. In men's cricket, the ball's weight must be in the range from 5.5 to 5.75 ounces (156 to 163 grams), and its circumference from 8.81 to 9 inches (224 to 229 mm). In women's cricket, the ranges are 4.94 to 5.31 ounces (140 to 151 grams), and 8.25 to 8.88 inches (210 to 226 mm).
Fast bowling
[change | change source]A fast bowler uses simple speed to defeat a batsman. They can send the ball to the batsman at a speed of 145 km/h. They take a long run up before bowling each ball to build speed. Shoaib Akhtar of Pakistan was the first to bowl at a speed of 160 km/h.
Medium pace bowling
[change | change source]A medium pace bowler bowls more slowly. They often use other tricks to defeat the batter. They can get the ball able to curve in the air or change the speed or length (where the ball hits the ground) to fool the batter. Some are very accurate so they can repeatedly send the ball to a place which forces the batter to defend rather than scoring runs. Others grip the ball so that it lands on its seam; this makes the path of the ball unpredictable.
Spin bowling
[change | change source]A spin bowler usually bowls quite slowly and puts a lot of spin on the ball which makes it bounce at an angle off the ground. This makes the batter play each ball carefully. Generally spin bowlers give up the most runs but they all have "tricks" that they use to fool the batter and get him or her out. These tricks are given names such as the arm ball, googly, flipper, topspinner or doosra. Spin bowling is very much about fooling the batter rather than speed.
Off spin is when the ball spins towards a right-handed batter's bat (bowler's left to right). With more pace, there usually is less turn (amount of spin). Off-spin is also called an off-break or finger spin.
Leg spin, also called a leg break, is done by using the wrist to spin the ball from the bowler's right to left. This is varied with the top spin, when the ball comes on straight and low.