Bowling Faster in Cricket.

Cricket is the popular summer ball game in many countries throughout the world, particularly in the former British colonies. The aim of the game is to accumulate the most “Runs” between two sets of wickets 22 yards apart by hitting a ball which is bowled from the opposite end of the pitch. The bowler will try to hit the wickets by slipping the ball past the batsman by clever spin bowling or with fast bowling.

Bowl with a stiff arm. This enables the ball to be propelled at a faster rate than in baseball in which the arm is bent. The bowler must release the ball before stepping over the “crease”, a line roughly 1 yard from the wickets at either end. The bowler typically will run to the crease in a premeasured run-up and bowl the ball at the batsman while maintaining a stiff arm. Bowlers will of course attempt to bowl the ball faster and faster in order to increase the chance of slipping it past the defending batsman at the other end of the pitch. There are differing ways in which to accomplish increased speeds and the one that a bowler will choose will depend on the prevailing circumstances.

Be fast. The fast bowler has the advantage of using both speed and spin to their advantage. Firstly a bowler should work out often and thus strengthen shoulders and arms in order to bowl faster. A bowler is not considered a fast bowler unless they consistently bowl upwards of 145 km/h, 93 mph deliveries.

Take a longer run-up. Typically most fast bowlers will measure a run- up of at least 25-30 paces back behind the crease from which they will bowl. This will increase the bowling speed because the ball is bowled from an arm already moving at 15-20 mph, depending on how fast the bowler can run and bowl effectively.

Increase the speed by bowling a bouncing ball to the batsman. One may think that this will decrease the speed, however, to bowl faster, the ball should be spun with a forward motion before it is released. The action of moving through the air will force it down to the ground and when it strikes the pitch it will derive extra traction and bounce faster towards the batsman.

 Get the widest arc by swinging the bowling arm before releasing the ball. To achieve this, it is imperative therefore that the ball is held as far forward in the hand as practical and thereby making the radius of the arm swing longer, thus propelling the ball faster. A good way to hold the ball to facilitate this is to wrap your three middle fingers around the ball and press it upwards from the other fingers before release.