The use of the 'cherry' effectively

By A. C. De Silva

Fast bowling that's a topic that will surely be on any cricket team's campaign. The topic will surely be as to what the bowler should do with the new ball, when to alter one's control and how to develop into the all-round skilful performer.

How do you develop control? Regular net practice is vital. It takes years of practice to be able to deliver the ball where you want it at high speed. It is best to follow and study another bowler's high degree of skill in controlled best bowling. Time after time the batsman would be driven onto the back foot, unable to play the ball off the square. His hostile accuracy would have been achieved not by writing poems and thumbing his nose at individuals at the cricket establishment - but he would have mastered it at the nets after careful attention.

A fast bowler must hammer away, especially on a good wicket. He must try to get the batsman half back, half forward, to a ball fractionally short of a length on the off stump. That should be his stock ball and then, once the batsman is stuck in a groove, confuse him with slight variations of delivery. Make him play at every one, don't let him get comfortable. Some of the top bowlers in modern cricket have perfected these variations.

Former Australian paceman Lillee was the master of that most dangerous ball, the outswinger, but Thomson was better with the yorker, the most dangerous surprise delivery in any standard of cricket. Any self-respecting fast bowler should try to swing the ball through the air and get it to alter its line when it hits the seam. That way the batsman kept guessing all the time. But one thing has to be remembered - the faster you bowl, the less swing you'll get. This is where the quickie must use his intelligence by following a really quick one with a slower ball that'll swing more.

The textbook recommendation - point the seam towards leg slip for the inswinger and second slip for the out swinger - is correct. But the swing doesn't always follow that pattern.

Keeping the shine on

Looking after the ball is of paramount importance. Now it is known that - pace bowlers are often accused of cosseting the ball and rubbing it for too much, but one had to keep the seam dry and clean and polish one side of the leather to assist the swing.

The seam should be the first part of the ball to hit the wicket - that way it will hopefully deviate off the pitch. If you get the ball back and find there are scuff marks on the leather part then you're not making proper use of the seam. Try not to grip the ball too tightly when delivering it - Bob Willis says that one of his faults early in his career and something he occasionally forget about. The bowler should barely touch the ball at the moment of delivery, just have the first two fingers on either side of the seam with the thumb for balance. That way you've got more control of the ball, and the seam will hit the pitch first.

The run-up is one of the fast bowler's major problems. Every 'quickie' has troubles with this type at some stage - Bob Willis chopped and changed time and again until he found the one that suited him. Unless you fall comfortable you won't feel do yourself justice.

Don't worry about taking too long a run, provided it feels right. And if the end product is consistently fast, hostile, controlled fast bowling, you aren't likely to hear too many complaints about the length of your run-up.

Long jump practice useful

What must you do if you lose your run? According to Willis, long jump practice is useful. It helps time the sprint and stops you overstraining in the lost few strides.

The return crease behind which you should land is like the take-off board in long-jumping. But you mustn't look down, otherwise you'll be all over the place and off balance when you get to the wicket.

But it is difficult on some grounds to keep your footing. Unlike long jumpers, the bowler have to negotiate undulating cricket fields, and it can be difficult when you're worried about your bowling to try to streamline the run-up when accelerating downhill or straining uphill. It's the crucial moment of delivery, when all the power is channelled in getting that bowling arm to whip over as fast as possible, it's a ease of getting the most-form your action, and it comprises planting the rear foot parallel to the crease so that the hips will rotate through 90 degrees, keeping the head still so that the ball goes where you intend, and trying to brace the left leg to take the strain of the body swing.

That's the classical recommendation, and if you can manage, those basics and master them you're on the way to bowling fast. But it is interesting to note how orthodox the top fast men are. Lillee doesn't brace his left leg. Roberts has a round-arm delivery and there's the unique Proctor - he does not bother with a delivery stride, but seems to bowl in his run-up.

When to Bounce

Another advice is that most controversial one, the bouncer. No batsman likes it. It unsettles them, especially at the start of a innings when they're trying to get a sight of the ball. I've seen fine players worn down by the bouncer over a period of time - Amiss, Luckhurst, Edrich, Fletcher, and even one of the greatest of modern times, Greg Chappell.

The art is to conceal their fear-if a quick bowler senses they're scored he should slip a couple more round their ears. Sounds hard, may be, but it's a hard game, and if the batsman are playing first class cricket they've got to learn to live with the short-pitched delivery. It's a hard ball, too, and according to Bob Willis, he would advocate the use of protective headgear and forget what the purists might say.

At first class level, though, the bouncer is a wicket-taker and a deterrent against batsmen who are tempted to come onto the front foot on an easy-paced wicket, you're really got to dig the ball in on a slow wicket: Willis says he is lucky because his height enables him to get bounce, but it takes a lot out of a bowler and should be used very sparingly. It's tempting to overdo them on a quicker wicket, something that Willis was guilty when younger and more easily perturbed by aggressive batsman.