Full toss

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A full toss is a type of delivery in the sport of cricket. It describes any delivery that reaches the batsman without bouncing on the pitch first.

Full tosses are sparingly bowled deliberately, as they defeat the purpose of most types of delivery, which is to deceive the batsman by bouncing unpredictably on the pitch. They are commonly greeted with delight by a batsman, as they tend to be very easy to hit. A full toss is frequently the result of an unintentional error made while attempting to bowl a yorker, which would land around the batsman's feet.

Occasionally a full toss can surprise a batsman so effectively that he is unable to play it properly, and this can lead to a wicket, but no bowler relies on this. There have been occasions in which a bowler intentionally bowls a full toss to achieve maximum swing into the base of the stumps. This was commonly seen with Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram of Pakistan, though recently Lasith Malinga of Sri Lanka has been bowling low full tosses with his unorthodox round arm action.

A full toss that reaches the batsman above waist height from a fast bowler is a no ball under the Laws of Cricket, as is a full toss above shoulder height for any bowler, including spin bowlers. Such balls, known as beamers, are mostly caused by the ball slipping out of the bowler's hand accidentally during the delivery action. A bowler who inadvertently bowls such a delivery will usually apologise to the batsman.

Full tosses below the waist are also commonly accidental. They can be caused by mistiming in the bowler's action as he attempts a yorker or changes his hand grip to produce a deceptive slower ball.

A full toss can also be used by a bowler to deliberately intimidate weaker, lower order batsmen.

See also

• Bouncer