The basics of bowling.

Darren Gough bowling

In the sport of cricket, bowling is the action of propelling the ball toward the wicket defended by a batsman. A player skilled at bowling is called a bowler. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1312x1526, 974 KB)Darren Gough bowling for Essex against Cambridge UCCE, at Fenners cricket ground in Cambridge, 10 April 2005. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1312x1526, 974 KB)Darren Gough bowling for Essex against Cambridge UCCE, at Fenners cricket ground in Cambridge, 10 April 2005. ... Darren Gough (born September 18, 1970, Monk Bretton, Barnsley, Yorkshire) is an English cricketer. ... This article is about the sport. ... Cricket ball A cricket ball is a hard, solid ball used to play cricket. ... M*A*S*H, see Sticky Wicket (M*A*S*H episode). ... Warwickshire batsman Mike Powell A batsman in the sport of cricket is, depending on context: Any player in the act of batting. ... One of the worlds leading off-spin bowlers Muttiah Muralitharan sends down another delivery A bowler in the sport of cricket is usually a player whose speciality is bowling, analogous to a pitcher in baseball. ...

A single act of bowling the ball towards the batsman is called a ball or a delivery. Bowlers bowl deliveries in sets of six, called an over. Once a bowler has bowled their over, one of their team mates will bowl an over from the other end of the pitch. Bold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textA delivery or ball in cricket is a single action of bowling a... Bold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textBold textA delivery or ball in cricket is a single action of bowling a... In the sport of cricket, an over is a set of six consecutive balls bowled in succession. ...

There are rules in the Laws of Cricket governing how a ball must be bowled. If a ball is bowled illegally, an umpire will rule it a no ball. If a ball is bowled too wide of the stumps or high for the batsman to be able to hit it, an umpire will rule it a wide. The laws of cricket are a set of rules framed by the Marylebone Cricket Club which serve to standardise the format of cricket matches across the world to ensure uniformity and fairness. ... An umpire in cricket (from the Old French Nompere meaning not equal, i. ... In the sport of cricket a no ball is an illegal delivery by the bowler. ... In the sport of cricket, the term stump has three different meanings: part of the wicket, a manner of dismissing a batsman, and the end of the days play (stumps). // The stumps are three vertical posts which support two bails. ... In the sport of cricket, a wide is one of two things: The event of a ball being delivered by a bowler too wide or high to be hit by the batsman, and ruled so by the umpire. ...

History

In the early days of cricketing history, underarm bowling was the only method employed. Initially, all bowling was performed with an underarm action. Later, an English woman, who used to play cricket alongside the gentlemen and who was attired in the dress of the day for a lady – a long, widely blousing dress – was having difficulty in bowling with an underarm action due to the blousing dress, and to counter this she began to bowl with a roundarm delivery method.

Soon after, a man who saw this action began to employ it in matches, however, the roundarm method was quickly banned and determined to be illegal. When it was accepted the rules stated that the arm could not be raised above the shoulder. It was quickly found, however, that a raised arm imparted more accuracy and generated more bounce than the roundarm method. Again, the governing body banned the method. It was not until the method was finally accepted by cricketing authorities and grew rapidly in popularity amongst all players. Underarm bowling had almost disappeared from the game.

An infamous "underarm bowling incident" occurred during a match in 1981, in which the bowler took advantage of the fact that underarm bowling was still legal by rolling the ball along the ground. By doing so he avoided the possibility that the batsman would score a six from the last ball to tie the match. Trevor Chappell bowls underarm An infamous incident involving an underarm delivery occurred on February 1, 1981 when Australia was playing New Zealand in a One-Day International, the third of five cricket matches in the final of the Benson & Hedges World Series Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. ...

As a result of this incident underarm bowling was subsequently made illegal in all grades of cricket, except by prior agreement of both teams, as it was not considered to be within the spirit of the game.

The bowling action

Philadelphian cricketer Bart King bowling

Bowling the ball is distinguished from simply throwing the ball by a strictly specified biomechanical definition. Image File history File links John_Barton_King_Bowling. ... Image File history File links John_Barton_King_Bowling. ... Philadelphian Christie Morris at Haverford College around 1900 The Philadelphian cricket team was a team that represented Philadelphia in first-class cricket between 1878 and 1913. ... John Barton King (1873 - 1965) was an American cricketer, and the most prominent player in the US during crickets brief North American Golden Age. King played club cricket for the Tioga and Belmont clubs in Philadelphia, and also played a number of international games between 1892 and 1912, including...

Originally, this definition said that the elbow joint must not straighten out during the bowling action. Bowlers generally hold their elbows fully extended and rotate the arm vertically about the shoulder joint to impart velocity to the ball, releasing it near the top of the arc. Flexion at the elbow was allowed, but any extension of the elbow was deemed to be a throw and would be liable to be called a no ball. This was thought to be possible only if the bowler's elbow was originally held in a slightly flexed position.

In 2005, this definition was deemed to be physically impossible by a scientific investigative commission. Biomechanical studies that showed that almost all bowlers extend their elbows somewhat throughout the bowling action, because the stress of swinging the arm around hyperextends the elbow joint. A guideline was introduced to allow extensions or hyperextensions of angles up to 15 degrees before deeming the ball illegally thrown.

Goals of bowling

In terms of strategic importance in a game, the priorities of a bowler are, in order of importance:

1. Get batsmen out.
2. Prevent batsmen from scoring runs.

Getting batsmen out is the primary goal because once out a batsman can no longer bat in the same innings, so the potential for scoring more runs is gone. Actually preventing the scoring of a run at any point is relatively unimportant, and bowlers will often deliberately bowl so as to make it easier for batsmen to score runs, in order to build overconfidence, tempt them into a miscalculated shot, and thus get them out. Conversely, some bowlers can and will bowl in order to stifle the scoring of runs. This can cause the person batting to become frustrated and opt to play a more aggressive or less competent stroke to break the patch of non-scoring, subsequently increasing his or her chances of getting out. This style is more prominent in one-day cricket where run getting comes at more of a premium. An innings, or inning, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably baseball and cricket – during which one team attempts to score while the other team attempts to prevent the first from scoring. ...

This contrasts with baseball, in which the primary goal of pitching is to prevent the other team from scoring runs. This is reflected in the difference in terminology of attack and defence between the sports. In baseball, pitching is considered the defensive role, whereas in cricket bowling is primarily an offensive role and is referred to as the attack or charge. This article is about the sport. ...

Bowling tactics

David Masters in midflight, illustrating the position of the body during a delivery at the end of a run up, prior to bowling the ball.

To achieve the goals of bowling, a variety of tactics have been developed. Naively, bowling directly at the batsman's wicket seems a good idea, as this provides chances to get the batsman out bowled or leg before wicket. However, most batsman are capable of defending against such deliveries, especially if they expect them. A more promising line of attack is to bowl away from the wicket, and entice the batsman to play a shot at the ball in the hope of scoring runs. A mistimed stroke or deviation of the ball in flight can result in the ball being hit in an unintended direction, either on to the wicket or - more likely - to a fielder for a catch. David Daniel Masters born 22 April 1978, Chatham, Kent, England is an English cricket player who has played for the cricket teams of Kent and Leicestershire. ... M*A*S*H, see Sticky Wicket (M*A*S*H episode). ... In the sport of cricket, leg before wicket (LBW) is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed. ... Line and length in cricket refers to the direction and point of bouncing on the pitch of a delivery. ...

Some different types of bowling tactic:

• Bodyline
• Leg theory
• Off theory

Bill Woodfull evades a Bodyline ball. ... Leg theory is a bowling tactic in the sport of cricket. ... Off theory is a bowling tactic in the sport of cricket. ...

Bowling Restrictions

In one day cricket, there is a limitation on the number of overs each bowler can bowl. This number depends on the match length, and is usually 20% (a fifth) of the total overs in the innings. For example, the usual limit for twenty-over cricket is four overs per bowler, for forty-over cricket eight per bowler and for fifty-over cricket ten per bowler. There is, however, no limit on how many overs each bowler may bowl in first class cricket matches. A night match at Old Trafford One-day cricket is a version of the sport of cricket that is completed in one day, as distinct from Test cricket and first-class cricket which can take up to five days to complete. ... An innings, or inning, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably baseball and cricket – during which one team attempts to score while the other team attempts to prevent the first from scoring. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

See also

• Cricket terminology
• Over
• Bowling machine