From: 9063iyerm@vms.csd.mu.edu (Murali Iyer)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.cricket
Subject: Re: swing, seam & cut
Date: 13 Aug 92 23:44:42 GMT
Article-I.D.: vms.0095F0B0.23356560
Reply-To: 9063iyerm@vms.csd.mu.edu
Organization: Marquette University - Computer Services

In article <01GNJCCMKTHE8WWMET@ccmail.sunysb.edu>, 
       ABEGLEY@ccmail.sunysb.edu (Anthony M. Begley) writes:

>Certainly swing in the air, as certain bowlers like Sarfraz Nawaz, Imran,
>Mudasser Nazar (sic), Geoff Boycott (even siccer) could swing the ball like
>a banana on occasions. The difficulty in playing the ball is determined more
>by when the deviation or swing occurs. Obviously if the ball pitches and seams
>a foot (say) and the batsmen does not get his front foot close enough to the 
>ball, then he will be beaten easily. Similarly, if the bowler can swing the ball
>as late as possible just before it pitches, then the same result will occur.
>Unfortunately only the great bowlers can swing the ball late (Alderman comes
>most readily to mind). 

Well, the levels of cricket I have played can most certainly be labelled as
way-below-great, but I did have a couple of teammates who were prodigious
swingers of the ball, old or new. The pleasure of seeing the batsmen deceived
by the late-swing of the ball was enormous. Typically, both the swing bowlers I
played with were more in the Gooch/Mohinder category, slow and apparently
harmless change bowlers. But they rarely failed to trap batsmen in our
well-planned strategy of pitching on the middle-and-leg and swinging down the
leg-side(in-swingers). The "lolly-pop"pish length and trajectory drew the
unsuspecting batsman forward to either flick or swing to the leg, miss  the
line completely and I would be waiting eagerly behind the stumps to flick the
bails off [Ofcourse, given my lapses, I did earn a few glares in my time.
Somehow, bowlers tend to remember the misses rather than the great dismissals
:--( ].  We would know that the batsman was good if he did not fall for this
ruse early on. And there were quite a few of those, no doubt. 

The problem with one of these guys was that he confined his playing days to the
first couple of years at college, and consequently drew little attention. Also,
since he was not a regular outdoors-kind of sportsman, his stamina was below
mark. He tried to recoup by resorting to the time-tested stamina stick, much to
our chagrin(We used to all cigarettes/beedies stamina-sticks). The other guy
was erratic and that cost him a lot. And invariably, they had to strike form
early on, like from the first ball. If they did not, we were better off
relegating them to third-man/fine-leg for the rest of the innings. So this was
a kind of "ideal condition" type situation.

>I think most batsmen will agree that big banana deliveries which swing 3 feet
>are not as hard to play as the swing starts right from out of the hand so it
>is easier to detect early. The good thing about swing over seam is at least it
>will defeat a good forward defensive (which always gets right to the pitch of 
>the ball ,thereby negating the seam movement).

I have seen many batsmen frustratedly leaving these banana-swingers alone,
since they could not reach them anyway. No point giving your wicket away. But
limited-over games can get tough if we get a couple of this kind of bowlers,
who can avoid being called for wides at the same time restrict scoring. 

>
>2) Is deviation after the bounce solely due the seam hitting the ground or do 
>the principles of swing (in the air) also hold?
>
>Deviation off the pitch is either due to hitting the seam off the ground or
>by spinning then ball (as in off-cutter). Dont forget that I have seen
>Michael Holding deliveries on TV that swang into the batsmen from the hand, 
>seamed away off the pitch, and then swang back appreciably into the 
>keepers gloves. This was presumably cos Holding had a beautifully high straight
>delivery action that kept the seam in the same position even after the bounce.

***Partly digressive portions follow:

Pat Pocock, though known for his exploits on the English scene for his off-spin
bowling, has illustrated the art of bowling swing and seam in his book, I guess
it is called "Bowling" or "The Art of Bowling". I was surprised to find it in
the public library here in Milwaukee. Also, if there are any other
Milwaukeeans, there are four or five more books on cricket there. Look under
"cricket" in the catalogue, and you will learn that americans also have the
same name for the insect and the game(no field-cricket there). Don Bradman's
book, the Art of Cricket(?) is also adorning the reference shelves there. I
have not had a chance to take a look. I am sure other cities also have books on
cricket, so how about some of you guys checking it out? Perhaps this sudden
upsurge of interest will push my proposal to subscribe to Sportstar.........


       <some more stuff about the interesting discussion deleted>

Good show, Sudhama, starting this useful thread. Hope it gets extended like a
Boycott (or Tavare) innings but with more spice. BTW, I am reading Boycott's
autobiography and it makes very interesting reading. I shall post a few
impressions sometime later. That's a promise(I never got to finish some other
books I had started, like Bill O'Reilly, Max Walker, Ponsford and Woodfull. et
al. I shall get down to them, I promise myself. But when? A million dolar
question. 

Hey! Whoever posted that list of prodigious openers, were'nt Ponsford and
Woodfull a highly successful pair for Australia? Or am I mistaken? Perhaps one
of them was a middle-order bat? Anyone care to clarify? Thanks.

>
>> Sudhama
>
>Tony B.

-Murali

                               Murali Iyer 

Analyst/Programmer,                                Home  : (414) 288 8766
Marquette University, CSD                          Office: (414) 288 6890
517, N.14th St, Rm 159,                            1343, W Wisconsin, #331,
Milwaukee, WI 53233.                               Milwaukee, WI 53233. 

Newsgroups: rec.sport.cricket