Tips on how to bowl in Cricket

From the beginnig of cricket, bowling has since being the most skillful and difficult of cricket skills to acquire. It is a technique by which a person (bowler) runs up to the wickets and throws the ball to the batsman, with a full arm, trying to hit the wicket to get the batsman out.

There are many types of bowlers, from fast to slow, spin to swing. Spinners are slow bowlers who manage to get the ball to change direction when hitting the ground. Swingers are those bowlers who manage to get the ball to move away or towards a batsman.

Good bowlers can be terribly confusing because of the way they have perfected their bowling.

The Leg Spinner

The grip is two fingers up and two down, with the split between the second and third fingers, which are spread across the seam. The thumb rests on the ball and does not do anything.

The spin on the ball is roughly 30 degrees so that the ball both spins sideways and dips with the overspin. Closest variation is the top-spinner, where the seam points to the wicketkeeper and the ball over-spins straight down the pitch.

The Flipper

The fingers are brought further forward on the ball and the thumb plays a part. Shane says his grip is not too tight as this can stop the ball fizzing out of his hand. The trick is to not bowl it too fast. When he stays relaxed and squeezes the ball out through fingers and thumb, the underspin makes the ball slice through the air more quickly.

The Wrong 'Un

Same as the leg-spinner. The front shoulder has to drop a little to allow the wrist to come right over the top and the ball to come out with the opposite spin on it - off-spin rather than leg-spin. At the last moment you have to flick the ball out of the off-spin way with your fingers.

The Zooter

The ball is held much further back in the palm of the hand, which holds the ball back as you let it go. The ball is pushed out the front of the hand, from the palm, and either floats or skids through the air, maybe swinging in a little. The seam is straight up and down and the zooter does not spin.