The Teesra

Category: bowling

  • Bowl “side-on” like Fiery Fred…really?

    David Hinchliffe has just re-posted an article on bowling actions (http://www.pitchvision.com/which-action-is-best-for-pace-bowling) which features a short clip of Fred Trueman in action.

    I don’t think I have ever properly watched FST bowling, but as David writes, this is the classic model for the side-on action:

    • Back foot lands parallel to the crease
    • Shoulders square on to the batsman as the back foot lands
    • Head looking over the shoulder as the back foot lands

    But what happens next surprised me.

    Fred does not use the “pre-turn” pivot on the back foot, as described by Ian Pont and Steffan Jones, to allow the back foot and knee to point towards the target, to allow the drop-step and block.

    Instead he drags through his back foot and pivots at the same time, so that when his front foot lands (quite probably a foot or more over the batting crease – perfectly legal, until 1962) his legs and lower body are perfectly aligned to execute the drop-step.

    OK – not a perfectly braced front leg, but otherwise this looks like a pretty effective transition from tp1 to tp2, to me, with the bowling arm delayed.

    Did we lose something when the front-foot no ball law was introduced, and fast bowlers stopped dragging?

  • Finger spin basics…in 55 minutes

    Last week I was asked to run a one-to-one coaching session with an experienced seam bowler who wanted to learn how to bowl finger spin.

    The player was already a competent bowler, so I had no issues with his basic action. But he had no real idea of how to bowl spin.

    So I had 55 minutes to introduce the basic techniques of finger spin, to help the bowler to understand what was involved in delivering the ball with high revs (no point aspiring to be a “roller”, I thought), and to leave him with enough insight into the finer arts to be able to coach himself over the next few weeks.

    I had to concentrate on no more than two or three key points of technique, then allow the player the chance to experience the act of spin bowling.

    But how to resolve the mechanics of finger spin bowling into a coaching session that lasts just 55 minutes? (more…)

  • Fast and straight – why not?

    Another interesting discussion on the Cricket Coaches Worldwide group on LinkedIn, this time on the increasing prevalence of wides in junior cricket. The catalyst for the discussion was a posting from Mark Garaway on the PitchVision Academy site, in which he advocates more old-fashioned target bowling, and less (technical) coaching, as the remedy for wayward bowlers.

    Where the balance falls between coaching and individual practice I am not sure (although I do agree with Mark’s initial post – the player does need to bowl more without coaching interventions), but as coaches we need to allow our players to express themselves. If that means running in fast and hurling the ball down as fast as possible, that’s what we have to help them to do.

    (more…)