MEDIUM PACE B0WLING.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 16 March 1925, Page 6

MEDIUM PACE B0 WLI NG .

ITS A'ALUE TO A TRAM. HO\Y TO BOWL THE SWINGERS. (By H. L. Hendry.) A bowler who could turn the ball either wav, vary his pace without, an} noticeable change in his run up to the wicket and delivery, swing and flight of the ball, would be certain of his place in all five test matches against England here this season. Australia is looking for such a bowler. In England there are plenty of bowlers of this tvpc, because the wickets are usually wet and soft, and naturally easier to turn the ball on, but these same bowlers would find, and sonnj of them have already done so, tin} greatest difficulty in turning the ball an inch or so on these hard, fast “wickets in Australia. Parkin is one of the best medium pace bowlers in England, and yet on a good wicket here in Australia he could not break at all. With the covering of the wicket in all big matches here, bowlers do not get much opportunity, except in club matches, of playing on wickets where they can turn the ball, and many who could spin the ball have, 1 feel sure, been so disappointed with their efforts to break tlie ball on these plumb wickets that they have abandoned the idea, and tried some other method of attack.

Jt is regrettable that such is the case because anyone who can spin the ball’should keep at it, for although, as L have pointed out, it is not possible to turn every ball at any pace, still, perhaps, one an over may do .just a fraction, and that is usually sufficient to get a wicket. Like all other types of bowling, the iii ain essential for the medium pace bowler is length. I don’t mean to say that when he can bowl a length he is finished; on the contrary, it is then he can commence to exploit his other guiles. Good length is the foundation, though the majority of mediumpace bowlers to-day rely on the. swerves, or swingers, as they are more commonly called. USE OF NEW BALL. Most people know that when the ball is new, and has not lost, its gloss, it will swerve in its course at times verv considerably, anil a captain will bowl his fast and medium-pace bowlers at the commencement in preference to a very slow bowler, who will not derive as much benefit from the new ball as his faster comrades.

The most difficult ball, and, therefore. the last one the batsman wants bowled to him, is the blind length ball, pitching just inside the legs, which swings away to hit the off stump. The pn.ee forces the batsman to play forward, and he may miss or play inside the ball, consequently edging it into the slips. The batsman dare not attempt any outside play against the swing of the ball of perfect length, as it is too risky —he contents himself by calculating the amount of the swerve, and will leave severely alone all balls that are likely to miss the wicket. Hence it is absolutely necessary not to waste the new ball. A bowler should make certain that every ball he sends down in the first three or four overs will hit -the wicket if not played; and, therefore, compel the batsman to make a shot at it, and so take the risk of edging a catch to the wicketkeeper or slips. Too often we see -bowlers bowling a foot outside the off stump, and swinging away another foot, and the batsman just watching ball after ball go past, knowing that every ball so bowled is making it easier for him, because the bowler is tiring himself out uselessly, and, besides, that the gloss is getting knocked off the ball. BOWLING- THE “OUT 43 WINGER.” To bowl the “out-swinger,” that is, the “ball pitched on the centre stump that swings away to the off, and the best knot'll swinger to-day, most bowlers hold the ball as follows: —The thumb underneath on the stitches, the forefinger on the left-hand top side, and the two middle fingers on the right-lia.nd side of the seam. The amount of swing depends on the wind and atmosphere; mostly the wind in Australia, and the most suitable for a right-hander swinging away is the wind -that blows from, line leg. It is much easier to swing the ball in England -than in Australia, because the atmosphere is so dull and heavy there — in fact, it is almost impossible to stop the ball swinging over there. Often players who had no idea of bowling a swinger here just bowled in the ordinary way, and were surprised to see the ball swing several feet. THE “IN-SWINGER.” The ball -which pitches outside the off-stump and swings in to hit the middle or leg stump, is what is known as the “in-swinger,” and is not. so easily bowled as the “out-swinger.” I am speaking of right-hand bowlers, of course—the left-hand bowlers naturally bowl the “in-swinger,” whilst the right-handers bowl the “outer.” Consequently, left-hand batsmen find the left-hand bowler the more difficult, because the ball is going away from them all the time.

No one at the present time can swing the new ball more than Bill Wliitty, yet lie does not take full advantage of it because he persists in bowling leg theory instead of making the wicket his objective. The grip to bowl the inswinger is thumb on bottom of stitches, as for the out-swinger; first and. second fingers on top left-hand side of seam, and the third linger on the right, well down the sdie. The arm must be brought close up to and well over the head in delivering the ball. As llie gloss wears off the ball the swings get lesser and lesser, and then, of course, the bowler must employ other methods of at tael;, such as vai'iatio nof pace. VALUE OF A MEDICM-PACE BOWLER. 'One often hears it said: “V/hat is the use of having so-and-so in the team.'”—meaning the medium-pace bowler —“His bowling only plays the batsmen in.” These remarks always come from people who judge a bowler on averages only, which are a curse of this wonderful game. Must a bowler always get wickets to be a success? No! The usefulness of the mediumpace bowler makes him a necessity in any team picked. What captain would he prepared to lake the Held without at least one bowler of this type on his side?

'When the fast bowler is tired and requires a spell, it is the medium-pace bowler who stops into the breach and keeps going until the fast bowler is sufficiently rested to carry on. Then, again, when the slow bowlers are proving too expensive, it is he who comes on and, with iiis perfect length bowling, keeps the batsmen quiet and runs down.

-Don't for one moment imagine it is not his job to get wickets too. .1 am only frying to prove that he is capable of doing good work for the team. s although not getting wickets. A evcl ‘ '•.([ example of this was in a very go. spilth Wales v. Victoria, match, tw . . erniind in Pn’O I on the Melbourne . £ 'l l olUK b - A “ E , • 011 .. I i- i -ogyrv ricked his think it was. Jack G. - ,< Victoria’s back and could not. bowl m / second innings. As the latter IC4UI “'_ onlv 276 to win. it looked a cert HU A for them, hut Kellewny principally kept one end tied up all day, whilst Malloy got them out at the other end. Although proving fairly expensive, Alai ley was able to continue, because Kellcway was reducing the scoring pj a minimum at the other end.