Fast bowling

Grip

The first thing a fast bowler needs to do is to grip the ball correctly. The basic fast bowling grip to achieve maximum speed is to hold the ball with the seam upright and to place the index and middle fingers close together at the top of the seam with the thumb gripping the ball at the bottom of the seam. The image to the right shows the correct grip. The first two fingers and the thumb should hold the ball forward of the rest of the hand, and the other two fingers should be tucked into the palm. The ball is held quite loosely so that it leaves the hand easily. Other grips are possible, and result in different balls – see swing and seam bowling below. The bowler usually holds their other hand over the hand gripping the ball until the latest possible moment so that the batsman cannot see what type of ball is being bowled.

Run-up

Typical action of a fast bowler, starting with Run-up at the extreme left

A fast bowler needs to take a longer run-up toward the wicket than a spinner, due to the need to generate the momentum and rhythm required to bowl a fast delivery. Fast bowlers will measure their preferred run up in strides and mark the distance from the wicket. It is important for the bowler to know exactly how long his or her run-up is because it must terminate behind the popping crease. If the bowler steps on or beyond this, he or she will have bowled a no-ball, which affords the batsman immunity from dismissal, adds one run to the batting team's score and forces the bowler to bowl another ball in the over.

Action

Brett Lee bowling against South Africa at the WACA in 2005

At the end of the run-up the bowler will bring his lead foot down on the pitch with the knee as straight as possible. This aids in generating speed but can be dangerous due to the pressure placed on the joint by this action. Knee injuries are not uncommon amongst fast bowlers: for example, the English pace bowler David Lawrence was sidelined for many months after splitting his kneecap in two. The pressure on the leading foot is such that some fast bowlers cut the front off their shoes to stop their toes from being injured as they are repeatedly pressed against the inside of the shoe. The bowler will then bring their bowling arm up over their head and release the ball at the height appropriate to where they want the ball to pitch. Again, the arm must be straight although this is a stipulation of the laws of cricket rather than an aid to speed. Bending the elbow and "chucking" the ball would make it too easy for the bowler to aim accurately at the batsman's wicket and get them out.

Mitchell Johnson bowling. Note the "sling shot" action.

Fast bowlers tend to have an action that leaves them either side-on or chest-on at the end of the run up. A chest-on bowler has chest and hips aligned towards the batsman at the instant of back foot contact, while a side-on bowler has chest and hips aligned at ninety degrees to the batsman at the instant of back foot contact. West Indian bowler Malcolm Marshall was a classic example of a chest-on bowler, while Australian pace bowler Dennis Lillee used a side-on technique to great effect.

While a bowler's action does not affect their bowling speed, it can limit the style of balls that they can bowl. Although this is not a hard and fast rule, side-on bowlers generally bowl outswingers, and chest-on bowlers generally bowl inswingers.

A variant on the fast bowler's action is the sling (sometimes referred to as the slingshot or javelin), where the bowler begins his delivery with his or her arm fully extended behind their back. The slinging action generates extra speed, but sacrifices control. The most famous exponent of the slinging action was Jeff Thomson, who bowled at extraordinary pace off a short run up. Other international examples include Fidel Edwards, Shaun Tait, Lasith Malinga and Mitchell Johnson.

Follow through

Matthew Hoggard begins his follow-through in training.

After the ball has been released, the bowler "follows through" at the end of his or her action. This involves veering to the side so as not to tread on the pitch and taking a few more strides to slow down. Striding on to the protected area of the pitch at the end of a delivery can damage the surface, making rough patches that spin bowlers can exploit to get extra turn on the ball; doing so is illegal according to the laws of the game. Bowlers who persistently run onto the pitch can be warned, with three warnings disqualifying a bowler from bowling again during the innings.

Line

In modern cricket, the two lines usually aimed for by fast bowlers is the so-called corridor of uncertainty, the area just outside the batsman's off stump, or actually on the stumps. It is difficult for the batsman to tell whether or not such a ball is likely to strike their wicket, and thus to know whether to attack, defend or leave the ball. This technique was historically known as off theory (contrast leg theory), but it is now so routine that it is rarely given a name at all, or forgotten about completely. Of course, variation in line is also important and deliveries aimed at the leg stump can also serve a purpose.

Precise mastery of the line of the ball is best used when a batsman is known to have a weakness hitting a particular shot, because a bowler with an effective line can place the ball in the weak spot time after time. Failing to overcome a persistent inability to hit balls on a certain line has been enough to end the careers of innumerable batsmen once they had been found out by skilled line bowlers.

Length

Often, when the fast bowler is angry, he refers to the bouncer, in which the bowler aims to knock the batsman's head off with a short pitched delivery. If this doesn't work, the fast bowler will try to break the batsman's toe along with the stumps, in order to please the score books. A good length ball or salmon ball is one that arrives at the batsman at around waist height. There is no fixed distance to a good length, or indeed any other length of ball in cricket since the distance required will vary with the speed of the ball, the state of the pitch and the height of the bowler and batsman. It should be noted that bowling a "good length" in this sense is not always appropriate – in some situations, on some pitches and against some batsmen other lengths will be more effective. The diagram to the right should help explain what the different lengths mean.

A ball that bounces a little way before the good length and rises to the batsman's abdomen is said to be short pitched or described as a long hop and is easier for a batsman to hit as he will have had more time to see if the height or line of the ball has deviated after bouncing. A short-pitched ball is also at a more suitable height for the batsman to play an attacking pull shot. A ball that bounces significantly before the good length and reaches shoulder or head height is a bouncer and can be an effective delivery. Any ball short enough to bounce over the batsman's head is usually called wide by the Umpire. Bowling short pitched or wide balls is a bad idea as they are relatively easy for the batsman to defend or attack.

At the other end of the scale, balls that bounce slightly closer to the batsman than the good length are said to be full pitched or overpitched or described as a half volley. These are often easier for the batsman to play than the good length because they do not have time to move much after bouncing off the seam and, arriving at the batsmen low to the ground, are ideal for drive strokes. However, in conditions favourable to swing bowling full pitched bowling gives the ball more time to move through the air challenging the batsman weigh up the risk of being able to play drives against uncertainty about the swing. Closer still to the batsman's feet is the yorker. An effective yorker's length will be difficult to pick early, forcing the batsman back into the crease. Additionally, because it bounces at the batsmen's feet, a well bowled yorker is not playable by a conventional cricket shot. If the ball fails to bounce at all before reaching the batsman it is labelled a full toss or beam ball. It is very easy for a batsman to play such a delivery as it will not have deviated at all from bouncing off the pitch.

Because the three effective lengths (good length, bouncer and yorker) are all interspersed by lengths that are easy for the batsman to hit, control of length is an important discipline for a fast bowler. In addition to all the above variables, batsmen control how far out of the crease they face, further complicating the bowler's task of correct length estimation. Spin bowlers on the other hand are almost always aiming for the good length, but need a much finer control of flight and line to be effective. A fast bowler tries to be physically fit throughout his cricket career, which may span more than a decade. Needless to say that is tough to do and needs a lot of discipline and luck.

Bouncer

A bouncer (or bumper) is a ball aimed to pitch in the first half of the pitch, meaning it has had time to rise sharply to chest or head height by the time it reaches the batsman. This causes two problems for the batsman who receives the ball. If he or she attempts to play it, their bat will be at eye-level making it difficult for them to watch the ball onto the bat and time their shot correctly. If he or she leaves or misses the ball, it may strike him or her a painful blow on the head or chest and occasionally result in injury. For this reason, bowling spells containing many bouncers are said to be intimidatory bowling.

The usual response to a bouncer is for the batsman simply to duck underneath it, but this requires fast reflexes and a strong nerve and the batsman is sometimes hit in any case. The natural reflex is to attempt to defend one's head with a straight bat but this should be suppressed if possible as the likely result of this will be that the ball flies off the bat at an uncontrolled angle making for an easy catch. Most batsman have panicked and lost their wickets in this fashion several times in their career after prolonged spells of bouncers.

Physically powerful batsmen often attempt to strike the ball on the rise, even though this obstructs their vision of the ball since it is not uncommon that their sheer brute force combined with the speed of the ball will cause it to fly to the boundary. This possibility, combined with the difficulty that the wicketkeeper will have trying to stop a high ball means that bouncers can be expensive in terms of runs against skilled batsmen.

Slower ball

Slower ball grip

A slower ball is a ball delivered exactly like a usual pace delivery in terms of action and run-up but where the grip is changed slightly to slow the ball down. This deceives the batsman, who will likely attempt to play the ball as though it were at full speed, causing him or her to mistime their shot. The result is usually that the ball strikes lower down the bat resulting in it leaving the bat at a slower speed (a cricket bat has a middle – hitting the ball at this point will result in the maximum possible energy being transferred to the ball; as the ball is hit away from the middle so the energy transferred, and hence the speed, will decrease). Also, the bat will generally have travelled further when it hits the ball and be in the upward part of its arc, causing the ball to leave the bat at a steeper angle. The combination of these can be a slow-moving, looping ball that is relatively easy to catch. In an extreme case, the batsman plays the shot so early as to completely play over the ball, and be clean-bowled.

One of a number of different grips is illustrated to the right. Essentially the only difference is that the middle and index fingers are split and come down on each side of the seam. This causes more drag on the ball as it leaves the hand, slowing down the delivery. Slower balls are also bowled by using the off break grip and finger action used by off spinners. A slower delivery may also be achieved – less commonly – by using a leg spin grip and wrist action or by supporting the upper aspect of the ball with only one finger or with the knuckles.

The slower ball is particularly effective against a batsman seeking to score quickly. Consequently, its prominence has increased with the development of one-day cricket and Twenty20 cricket, and particularly when "bowling at the death" (at the end of an innings) where batsman will attack with abandon.

A more experienced batsman will be able to adjust his/her shot mid-stroke, momentarily pausing so as to middle the ball when it is hit.

Another version of the slower ball also known as the SLOB, is released with the top fingers only. Aimed as a "beamer", the method of delivery causes the ball to drop dramatically in flight and arrive at a yorker length. This was most famously used by Chris Cairns to Chris Read causing him to duck into a full length ball which went on to the stumps.

Yorker

A yorker ball bounces off the pitch right in front of (or is aimed at the toes of) the batsman's feet, an area known as the block hole. Because of the usual stance of the batsman and the regulation length of the cricket bat the bat is not usually held near the ground while the batsman prepares to strike the ball, so playing a yorker requires the batsman to alter the height of his or her bat very quickly after detecting a yorker has been bowled. This is difficult, and the yorker can often squeeze through the gap and break the wicket. Successfully playing this type of delivery is also known as digging out a yorker.

Bowling a yorker requires pinpoint accuracy since bowling it slightly too long will result in a full toss or full pitched delivery that is easy for the batsman to play because the ball has not deviated by bouncing off the pitch. It also has most of its value as a surprise ball. For these two reasons, yorkers are not common deliveries in most circumstances.

In the latter stages of an innings in one day cricket, batters seek to attack every ball bowled. In such circumstances, the yorker is a particularly effective delivery, both in taking wickets and preventing boundaries from being hit. Therefore, the yorker is very frequently bowled in these circumstances, and bowlers who can bowl yorkers accurately are prized in this form of cricket.

Pakistani fast bowlers Imran Khan, Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram, and the West Indian fast bowler Joel Garner, and also Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga are widely regarded as amongst the best exponents of yorkers.

Cutters

Leg-cutter grip

Off-cutter grip

A cutter is a fast ball that is spinning, that is, a delivery that is rotating around the opposite axis to the seam instead of keeping the seam straight. While this rotation is nowhere near as much as that achieved by a spin bowler, the small variations it can produce are still enough to make a batsman uncomfortable due to the speed of the ball. Cutters can be an effective way for a seam bowler to get the ball to move if he or she is not receiving much assistance from the pitch.

A ball rotating around the seam will move either right or left when it hits the pitch, depending on which way the ball is spinning. A ball bouncing to the right is said to be an off cutter as it is travelling from off stump to leg stump for a right-handed batsman. Conversely, a ball that bounces to the left is a leg cutter, travelling from leg to off stump for a right-handed batsman. Cutters are usually aimed so that they hit the pitch just outside the batsman's off stump and move away from the wicket. This will cause the ball to catch the outside edge of the bat instead of the middle and fly up to be caught in the slips.

To bowl a cutter, the bowler employs a different grip. The two grips are shown to the right, with the uppermost one producing a leg cutter while the lower one shows the grip required for an off cutter. As well as changing the grip, the bowler must pull his or her fingers down the appropriate side of the ball as it leaves their hand to impart the required spin. The action of bowling a cutter also increases drag on the ball as it leaves the hand, causing the ball to slow in the same way as a slower ball and this can also help to confuse the batsman.

Reverse swing

Reverse swing is a phenomenon that makes the ball swing in the opposite direction to that usually produced by the orientation of the shiny and rough sides of the ball.^[4] When the ball is reverse swinging, the ball will swing towards the shiny side. Balls that reverse swing move much later and much more sharply than those swinging conventionally, both factors increasing the difficulty the batsman will have in trying to hit the ball. At speeds of over 90 mph a ball will always exhibit reverse swing, but as roughness increases on the leading side, the speed at which reverse swing occurs decreases.^[4] This means that an older ball is more likely to be delivered with reverse swing as its surface will have been roughened through use.

In reverse swing the seam is angled in the same way as in conventional swing (10–20 degrees to one side) but the boundary layer on both sides is turbulent. The net effect of the seam and rough side is that the ball swings in the direction opposite to where the seam is pointing to. The turbulent boundary layer separating later is similar to the effect produced by dimples in a golf ball. In case of the golf ball, turbulence is produced on both sides of the ball and the net effect is a later separation of boundary layer on both sides and smaller wake in the back of the ball and a lower net drag due to pressure differential between the front and the back – this enables the golf ball to travel farther.

The discovery of reverse swing is credited to Pakistan's cricketers, with Sarfraz Nawaz and Farrakh Khan both named as originators of the delivery.^[5]

Now, in one-day cricket the mandatory two new balls rule (which states that two new balls must be used at the start of each innings; one from each end) means that the chances of reverse swing are reduced drastically. With two new balls being used, the amount of wear that each ball is subject to is half as compared to usual.

Dippers

A dipper is a swinging ball deliberately bowled as a yorker or a full toss, the latter not normally being a ball that a fast bowler would choose to bowl. The indipper moves in to the right-handed batsman while the outdipper moves away.

To be effective, a dipper has to generate a lot of swing to make up for the variation in movement lost because the ball is not bouncing on the pitch. However, because the batsman usually expects a full toss to be an easy ball to score off, dippers have huge surprise value and can be extremely difficult to play especially if the bowler is very accurate and manages the yorker rather than a genuine full toss. Chaminda Vaas' bowling to Yuvraj Singh in the 2007–08 Commonwealth Bank Series is a classic example.

Deployment of bowlers

Most sides contain a mixture of fast bowlers who specialise in aggressive and/or seam techniques and those who specialise in swing. When the ball is new it usually swings very little but it will generate a lot of speed, bounce and variation off the seam (because the seam on a new ball stands out more than that on an old ball). So seam bowlers are usually chosen to bowl with the new ball either at the start of an innings or when a new ball has been taken, an option the fielding side has once a ball is 80 overs old. In contrast, swing bowlers are more effective once the ball has started to wear and reverse swing requires a well worn ball. Reverse swing bowlers can continue to extract large amounts of movement from balls well over 80 overs old.

Two seam bowlers are usually expected to bowl in tandem for the first 10 or so overs, after which time the ball may begin to swing and one or both of them is substituted for a swing bowler or a spin bowler. This is why most sides opt to include at least two seam bowlers who are known as opening bowlers. Seam bowling usually becomes very ineffective with older balls and is virtually useless after 60 overs or so and as a result the bowling places in the side are filled with swing or spin bowlers.

Deployment of fielders

Fielding for a fast bowler is usually aggressive, that is to say that it is set up for the purpose of getting a wicket rather than preventing the flow of runs. On occasion, particularly when the fielding team is batting last and is chasing a total, a defensive field is required. As a general rule it is difficult to bowl defensive fast bowling – that task is better suited to spin bowlers.

The various techniques of fast bowling lend themselves to three ways of getting the batsman out. They may be bowled or caught LBW either by speed, the yorker or by seam or swing causing the ball to move in toward them, in which case placement of fielders is irrelevant. Swing or seam may be employed to move the ball away from the batsman in which case the ball will strike the outside edge of the bat and may be caught in the slips. A badly-played bouncer will either fly off the outside edge as above or may result in a mistimed shot that can be caught near the boundary.

It follows that the most effective field placements for aggressive fast bowling are to pack the outfield and the slips cordon and gully since these are the positions in which the batsman is most likely to be caught. Placing fielders in the outfield has the additional benefit of limiting the number of places where a batsman can score a boundary. Other close fielding positions such as silly mid on/off and the various midwicket and cover positions are generally redundant.

In contrast, a defensive field for fast bowling will pack the positions such as gully, point and cover in a full circle round the batsman. One or two slips and one or two outfielders will remain in case of a catch. Because batsmen usually try and play shots down on to the ground rather than risking being caught this field can stop most boundaries while remaining close enough to the pitch to attempt to run out the batsmen if they attempt a single. Defensive fast bowling is difficult because a skilled batsman set this type of field will simply trust his or her technique and score from boundaries that they hit over the midwicket ring and away from any outfielders present.

Bowling an over

The primary goal of any bowler is to take the wicket of the batsman. The secondary goal is to prevent the batsman scoring runs. The latter is often a route to the former as a batsman deprived of runs will often become frustrated and is more likely to attempt risky shots to score. In addition, stopping the batsman from scoring keeps the same batsman at the crease to face consecutive balls which may be formed into a tactical sequence.

Counter-intuitively, the best approach for a fast bowler is not to bowl constantly at the wicket as such predictability allows the batsman to simply defend his or her wicket and pick off the occasional bad ball. A far more effective approach is to introduce variation of line and length, leaving the batsman unsure as to whether to attack, defend or leave. The majority of balls in a well-bowled spell will usually be swinging or seaming balls that pass at waist height, just outside the off stump and move away from the batsman because this is the area where it is most difficult for the batsman to choose the most appropriate response. Common variations and their tactical application are discussed below.

The precise balls chosen by the bowler during an over will depend on the situation of the match, the skill of the batsman and how settled the batsman is at the crease. It is common to attack batsmen who have recently come to the wicket with successive short-pitched balls or bouncers with the dual aim of getting them out and stopping them from settling into an attacking mode of play for as long as possible. Short balls are more risky against batsmen who have settled at the crease since they make easy boundaries, but most bowlers will still mix a few in during a spell, just to keep the batsman guessing.

Most batsmen prefer to play shots off either the front or back foot and this will influence the bowlers' choice of balls. It is difficult to play short balls off the front foot so bowlers will bowl more short balls at batsmen who prefer the front foot. Likewise, it is hard to play yorkers and full pitched balls off the back foot so those are the deliveries of choice against back foot players. If a bowler can successfully get a batsman playing off his or her less-favoured foot with a sequence of appropriately pitched balls he can then gain an element of surprise by suddenly throwing down the opposite kind of ball – a yorker after a succession of short balls or a bouncer after a succession of full balls. An unobservant or complacent batsman can easily be caught unawares and lose their wicket.

Another variation, especially against batsmen who have settled at the wicket and are starting to score more freely, is to switch the line of attack from the area just outside the off stump to bowling directly at leg stump. The batsman has to react to these balls as he otherwise runs a high risk of being bowled or trapped LBW but as he or she does so his or her bat moves over to the leg side, leaving the off side vulnerable. If the bowler can induce enough movement to the off side with swing or seam techniques it will often catch the outside edge of the bat offering a catch or strike the stumps directly.

Surprise is a big element in bowling, and bowlers will often shun common tactical approaches in the hope of simply confusing the batsman into playing the wrong shot. For example, bowling a yorker at a new batsman who will likely be expecting bouncers or at least standard line and length balls has been the cause of many batsmen losing their wicket first ball.