Masterclass: The Art Of Fast Bowling – Brendan Drew
Elite Cricket is very pleased to present this exclusive Masterclass article by Tasmanian paceman Brendan Drew.
Enjoy.
Cheers
Mark
Developing an effective action
Developing an effective bowling action needs to combine three main components. Firstly our natural technique, this is what comes naturally to us, you can’t turn Glenn McGrath into a Brett Lee. Secondly and what has been a focus of many coaches in recent years is developing a ‘safe’ action. The action that comes naturally to us may put us at risk of injury, therefore adjustments need to be made to reduce that risk. Combining these two components to develop a safe and effective action will allow us as bowlers to get more consistency, bounce, swing and seam.
The key components of an effective bowling action are:
- A smooth and efficient run up.
- A strong load up with the ball making sure the ball doesn’t go behind our head.
- The back foot land in a strong position on the same angle as the top half of the body. If you have a side on action your back foot should land almost parallel with the crease and if you have a front on action your feet should land facing down the wicket.
- A strong front arm getting our front shoulder up and pulling down hard to create momentum for the bowling arm to follow.
- Making sure the bowling hand comes down straight behind the ball with a strong wrist
- Follow through with the bowling arm coming the trough to the opposite hip and the back leg driving through the crease.
Fast Bowling Tactics
Fast Bowling is an art best kept simple. Glenn McGrath is the perfect example. He had the very simple game of bowling at the top of off stump or just outside as often as possible while hitting the seam which allowed the ball to move either way off the seam.
Different bowlers can have slightly different tactics, someone like Brett Lee or Shaun Tait has the ability to bowl fast and intimidate batsmen with pace allowing them to be more attacking. For those of us that don’t have the ability to bowl over 150km/hr we have to adopt the mentality of Glenn McGrath. Most bowlers have a stock ball, this is the ball that they bowl the best and most consistently, as a fast bowler we try to bowl that stock ball as often as possible in the area that is uncomfortable for batsmen, the top of off stump. The way a batsman is playing may suggest that a variation may be effective. Generally in domestic cricket fast bowlers tend to swing or seam the ball away from right hand batsman and bowl variations depending on what the bowler sees in the batsman’s technique.
Working a Batsmen Out
Most Batsmen have strengths and weaknesses it is our job as bowlers to identify these as early as possible in the batsman’s innings and develop a plan to either restrict the batsman by not allowing him to play to his strengths and develop a plan on the best way to bowl to the batsman’s weakness. Questions that we can ask as bowlers are:
- Does the batsman have a high back lift?
- Early in their innings batsman with a high back lift may be susceptible to a full quicker ball or Yorker
- Is the batsman strong or weak on one particular side of the wicket? This will determine what line is best to bowl for a player that is a strong off side player we may bowl straighter
- Does the batsman commit on the front foot too much or not enough? If a batsman commits too much to the front foot a bouncer may be effective and similarly if the batsman doesn’t move forward we can bowl a fuller length
- Does the batsman play with hard hand and in front of their body? Batsman with this technique may be susceptible to a slower ball, which can be bowled in a number of ways such as off or leg spinner, split finger or out of the back of the hand. These are all common methods used
- Does the batsman leave his stumps open staying leg side of the ball or does he walk across his stumps? Batsmen that stay leg side of the ball may be susceptible to the ball that swings away from them where they may nick the ball to the waiting keeper and slips. Similarly batsmen that step across their stumps may be prone to get out LBW so bowling a few balls outside off stump to set up for a straighter ball on the stumps
In Closing
These are basic batting weaknesses that we as fast bowlers can identify pretty early in a Batsman’s innings. These tactics are all helpful things to look for to dismiss a batsman, generally if we as fast bowlers can bowl as many balls as possible in the “Corridor of uncertainty” or the top of off stump or just outside we are well on the way to a successful day with the ball.
Good luck.
Brendan Drew
Elite Cricket is very pleased to present this exclusive Masterclass article by Tasmanian paceman Brendan Drew.
Enjoy.
Cheers
Mark
Developing an effective action
Developing an effective bowling action needs to combine three main components. Firstly our natural technique, this is what comes naturally to us, you can’t turn Glenn McGrath into a Brett Lee. Secondly and what has been a focus of many coaches in recent years is developing a ‘safe’ action. The action that comes naturally to us may put us at risk of injury, therefore adjustments need to be made to reduce that risk. Combining these two components to develop a safe and effective action will allow us as bowlers to get more consistency, bounce, swing and seam.
The key components of an effective bowling action are:
- A smooth and efficient run up.
- A strong load up with the ball making sure the ball doesn’t go behind our head.
- The back foot land in a strong position on the same angle as the top half of the body. If you have a side on action your back foot should land almost parallel with the crease and if you have a front on action your feet should land facing down the wicket.
- A strong front arm getting our front shoulder up and pulling down hard to create momentum for the bowling arm to follow.
- Making sure the bowling hand comes down straight behind the ball with a strong wrist
- Follow through with the bowling arm coming the trough to the opposite hip and the back leg driving through the crease.
Fast Bowling Tactics
Fast Bowling is an art best kept simple. Glenn McGrath is the perfect example. He had the very simple game of bowling at the top of off stump or just outside as often as possible while hitting the seam which allowed the ball to move either way off the seam.
Different bowlers can have slightly different tactics, someone like Brett Lee or Shaun Tait has the ability to bowl fast and intimidate batsmen with pace allowing them to be more attacking. For those of us that don’t have the ability to bowl over 150km/hr we have to adopt the mentality of Glenn McGrath. Most bowlers have a stock ball, this is the ball that they bowl the best and most consistently, as a fast bowler we try to bowl that stock ball as often as possible in the area that is uncomfortable for batsmen, the top of off stump. The way a batsman is playing may suggest that a variation may be effective. Generally in domestic cricket fast bowlers tend to swing or seam the ball away from right hand batsman and bowl variations depending on what the bowler sees in the batsman’s technique.
Working a Batsmen Out
Most Batsmen have strengths and weaknesses it is our job as bowlers to identify these as early as possible in the batsman’s innings and develop a plan to either restrict the batsman by not allowing him to play to his strengths and develop a plan on the best way to bowl to the batsman’s weakness. Questions that we can ask as bowlers are:
- Does the batsman have a high back lift?
- Early in their innings batsman with a high back lift may be susceptible to a full quicker ball or Yorker
- Is the batsman strong or weak on one particular side of the wicket? This will determine what line is best to bowl for a player that is a strong off side player we may bowl straighter
- Does the batsman commit on the front foot too much or not enough? If a batsman commits too much to the front foot a bouncer may be effective and similarly if the batsman doesn’t move forward we can bowl a fuller length
- Does the batsman play with hard hand and in front of their body? Batsman with this technique may be susceptible to a slower ball, which can be bowled in a number of ways such as off or leg spinner, split finger or out of the back of the hand. These are all common methods used
- Does the batsman leave his stumps open staying leg side of the ball or does he walk across his stumps? Batsmen that stay leg side of the ball may be susceptible to the ball that swings away from them where they may nick the ball to the waiting keeper and slips. Similarly batsmen that step across their stumps may be prone to get out LBW so bowling a few balls outside off stump to set up for a straighter ball on the stumps
In Closing
These are basic batting weaknesses that we as fast bowlers can identify pretty early in a Batsman’s innings. These tactics are all helpful things to look for to dismiss a batsman, generally if we as fast bowlers can bowl as many balls as possible in the “Corridor of uncertainty” or the top of off stump or just outside we are well on the way to a successful day with the ball.
Good luck.
Brendan Drew
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