Your Cricket Bowling Action

[irtaza]

Hey guys,
This is just a general question. Im a fast bowler and ive been trying to add/modify little perks in my action/runup/follow through to bowl faster(other than working out), and i was wondering one question: is it better to fall sideways after point of delivery or is it better to be falling forwards? this obviously has to do with where you lean, so when i bowl i fall away to my left(im a right arm bowler), so my lean is to the left, but im not sure whether its better to be falling forwards at point of delivery or to the side.

btw im a side-on action bowler


Could someone clear this up for me?

ty

 

[Eon]

Run through the crease... Only way to bowl fast, because then all your momentum needs to be heading towards where you want the ball to go. If you fall away you will most likely spray it a bit and it could drop your pace a bit too.

Keep up nice and high, and get through the crease. If you know what i mean

 

[micoach]

Eon is dead right, 'falling away' is one of the most common technical errors in younger fast bowlers. If you tried to do it you would lose pace and might even end up chucking it down the leg side.

Head forwards as long as possible (without running on the danger zone of course).

 

[drainpipe32]

Just try and keep it natural. When you approach the crease do whatever feels right, you shouldn't try an change the natural course of action too much.

Stay side on, as it'll help you swing the ball a lot and give you accuracy, but you'll have to work hard to 'get up to speed'.

 

[Eon]

Pace will come as you practice... one of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to bowl is trying to bowl as fast as possible straight away. You end up spraying it all over the place and it isnt even that fast generally. If you are to watch most of the quicks in international cricket they arent trying at all when running in (with exceptions of course). Dale Steyn is the perfect example, he runs in with a good rythm and never really seems to be busting his butt doing so.

You need to stay relaxed and not tense; the only time you really need to put in effort is just before you release the ball, when you bowling arm is at less then 90 degrees from your neck. Maybe even just about once its in line with your neck.

 

[jongoh_1979]

Bowling Fast

Some good advice on this thread on keeping your momentum going toward the batsman and trying not to fall away in your delivery stride.

One piece of advice I would add for a fast bowler is regarding your lean. In your delivery stride, leaning back away from the batsman enables you to use your back and upper body as a catapult to help propel the ball faster down the pitch. Take the backward lean in this photo as a good example (and this guy is also a side-on bowler).

Additionally, it is important for side-on pace bowlers is also to pull down with their front arm in their delivery stride. For other little bowling tips, like pulling down and how to perfect your run-up have a look at this website on how to bowl fast in cricket.

 

[Seoken]

I've just dicovered a new thing for my action. I land with my left foot first then cross my legs then land on my left foot again i feel it has helped me with geting though the crease alot more smoothly. I reccomend trying this if it doesn't work oh well thats life.

 

[jongoh_1979]

I've just dicovered a new thing for my action. I land with my left foot first then cross my legs then land on my left foot again i feel it has helped me with geting though the crease alot more smoothly. I reccomend trying this if it doesn't work oh well thats life.

For a moment there I thought you were serious , as Jeff Thomson (which you seem to be a fan of) had a pretty unorthodox delivery stride, not to mention action. Just came across this you tube clip on Jeff Thomson and other fast bowlers of the era, which I found quite interesting. The sports scientists on this video reckon that one of the attributes of really fast bowlers is the ability to apply forces on the ball through a really long range of motion. This emphasizes the importance of good flexibility (and of course a good action) when training to bowl fast.

 

[Seoken]

Yeah i have quite an unorthodox action as-well, but me being much bigger then thommo was and not as fit... yet, I can't be as flexible as he was so i will never match his pace (i would like to bowl that fast but i just don't think i could) but i can make a ball do some crazy things.

For example i have a crazy variable bounce, the further i pitch a ball up the more bounce i get, and i can make the ball go either swinging or cutting.