Cricket Ball
In this eon of batsman dominant cricket bowlers need some superior and different kind of skills to survive. The game has now undergone a revolution. Now, novel and innovative aptitudes are required for survival as a bowler. It cannot be the old and contemporary wicket to wicket bowling technique which will prove effective at all times. Repetitive bowling in the same areas need not necessarily distress a batsman. And, in the diminutive T20 format of cricket even a miscued boundary on a respectable delivery can change the course of the game! So, a bowler needs some constructive and pioneering proficiency to deliver better results.
Slower ball can well be used by a bowler at will for deception of a batsman. It is a magnificent tool to make a batsman play either too early and miscue it or completely make him miss the delivery! Slower ball is actually bowling at a pace which is much slower than usual. And an effective implementation involves mingling it along with faster ones. This innovation was probably a brainchild of Franklyn Stephenson. Slower Ball can also serve as an operative tactic to stop the flurry of runs when a batsman is on the attack in the concluding juncture of an innings.
Bowling a slower bowl is not all the same. A batsman must not get notified afore that “it’s a slower bowl” and capitalize on the open opportunity. The follow-through of a bowler must necessarily remain the same as of a normal delivery. The key is to reduce the reaction time for the batsman and not let the batsman adjust his short. So, it requires good amount of practice and expertise to actually drive a well settled batsman to play an errant shot!
Some decent slower ball bowlers at present in world cricket are: Angelo Mathews and Malinga of Sri Lanka, Bollinger and Lee from Australia and Shoaib Akhtar of Pakistan. At the same time Zaheer Khan, The maestro Sachin, Munaf Patel and Sreesanth are some names from India. The prodigies- McGrath and Warne too from Australia had mastered bowling a slower bowl. Ganguly, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Steve Waugh are some other virtuous retired players who also were equipped with this skill.
Slower ball can be implemented by various methods. The various resulting types of slower balls include the off cutter, the leg cutter, back of the hand bowl, palm ball, split finger and action speed. These forms are manifested by retired as well present day bowlers. A slower ball is a must have in a bowlers tummy in this inventive spiralling cricketing world. We have even seen a new innovation in the form of slower bouncer used by J.Anderson of England and many other bowlers. So, finally I feel bowlers have to keep devising and developing novel deliveries as long as pioneer batsman like Pietersen (who invented a switch stroke) are present in the game!
Tags: Angelo Mathews, Batsman, Bowler, Cricket, Franklyn Stephenson, Malinga, Slower Ball, Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, Zaheer Khan
