Slower ball

Slower ball grip

In the sport of cricket, a slower ball is a slower-than-usual delivery from a fast bowler. The bowler's intention is to deceive the batsman into playing too early so that he either misses the ball completely or hits it high up in the air to offer an easy catch. It is analogous to a changeup in baseball.

The slower ball technique was introduced, probably by Franklyn Stephenson, in response to the demands of limited-overs cricket, not only to get wickets but also to slow down the scoring rate, as a slower ball will not carry to the boundary as easily as a normal fast delivery if it is hit square or behind the wicket. It is especially used in the last ten or so overs as variation in speed, in addition to line and length, is the key in preventing a late flurry of runs from the batsmen.

To be effective, the slower ball must be directed at or near the stumps in order to force the batsman to play, and the bowler's action must appear entirely normal. There are various tricks that the bowler can employ to slow the ball down:

• Bowling from the back of the hand, effectively a fast googly.
• Bowling with split fingers: the fingers are placed either side of the seam of the ball, and the ball is bowled full-length; when done correctly the delivery will appear to be a full toss until it suddenly drops. A similar technique is used to throw the split-finger fastball in baseball. Sri Lankan Dilhara Fernando holds the ball between the index and middle finger, and just fits it in the webbing between the two.^{[citation needed]} This leads to the delivery of a slow loopy ball.
• Off cutter: instead of placing the index and middle fingers in the orthodox position together on the seam, the middle finger is moved round the ball slightly and then pulled down as the ball is released. The ball will tend to "break" or "cut in" from left to right as it pitches, as it does with off spin bowling. It can be effective to only bowl this ball with a single finger on top and it typically rests to the right hand side of the seam.
• Leg cutter: the same as an off cutter except that the fingers go the other way and the ball will tend to cut from right to left. Harder to keep straight than an off cutter.
• Palm ball: the ball is held in the palm instead of the fingers; this can be effective but is hard to disguise.
• Holding the ball deeper in the fingers. Typically, quick bowlers hold the ball at their fingertips. Holding the ball deeper within the fingers slows the release of the ball. Brett Lee is an exponent of this method.
• Reduction in the speed of the action: Can be quite effective as a "different" type of change of pace. Effectively you change only the rotation of your arm and retain your action.
• Cross-Seam : This type of slower delivery is also popularly employed by medium pacers wherein the bowler holds the ball across the seam instead of holding it on the seam thereby the pace of delivery is reduced when the ball hits the ground.NewZealand Medium pace Bowler Gavin Larsen used this effectively in the 1999 Cricket World Cup.

The man who pioneered the modern slower ball, and its greatest exponent, is widely held to have been Franklyn Stephenson. Well-known players with effective slower balls include Stephenson's Notts roommate Chris Cairns, Craig McDermott and the young Steve Waugh.Recently, Dwayne Bravo gained fame by putting on display his dual variety of slower balls, one which suddenly dipped when appearing to be a full toss and one which had slower pace. The dipper led to the demise of Yuvraj Singh in the 2nd ODI in the India vs West Indies series 2006, getting the Caribbean side a 1-run victory.

Faster Ball

Although a slower ball is usually the result when a bowler tries a change of pace, some bowlers have a delivery which is even faster. Pakistani great Imran Khan was one example, in his coaching book, he mentioned that it was far more effective to have a faster ball than a slower one^[1].

Spinners and slow bowlers generally employ the faster ball more often than pacemen. Pakistan's Shahid Afridi has used this ball quite successfully over his career.

References