Cricket 101 is privileged to have special guest Coach Ian Pont explain to those new to the game of cricket what fast bowling is. Coach Pont is world renowned as the founder of the innovative coaching technique known as ABSAT: Advanced Biomechanics Speed & Accuracy Training. Coach Pont has coached some of the world’s best and fastest bowlers including Dale Steyn, Darren Gough and Shoaib Akhtar. He is also the author of the book, “The Fast Bowler’s Bible” which is in its third edition. Coach Pont runs the Mavericks Coaching Institute in England and he’s got a very impressive wikipedia profile.
Coach Pont rightfully compares fast bowling to throwing a javelin as opposed to baseball pitching. Fast bowlers in cricket typically bowl the ball between 85 and 95 MPH. Take a look at this video which makes fast bowling easier to understand.
One bowler who best embodies this javelin action is Fidel Edwards of the West Indies. Look below to see the West Indies paceman.
The most famous instance of the javelin/slingshot style reaping rewards in cricket is Lasith Malinga’s four wickets in four balls at the 2007 World Cup vs. South Africa, the only time in the history of international cricket that a bowler has gotten four men out in four consecutive deliveries.
Here is Tero Pitkamaki of Finland throwing a javelin. Pitkamaki is the reigning World Champion in javelin and won bronze at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
I am a novice at cricket. Really want to enjoy the game. Unfortunately not able to view the video on the site
. Help!
By: Raj on July 29, 2009
at 5:32 am
Hey Raj,
It may be the browser you are using, or if you are using a Mac sometimes there are issues. If you are using Netscape or Internet Explorer, try Firefox.
By: Peter Della Penna on July 29, 2009
at 12:34 pm
the videos work fine for me. malinga’s performance is one of those where the performance outshines the result. great work with the whole 101 series.
what do you think of bowl-outs to decide twenty20 matches? there was one just today in england:
http://sheahey.blogspot.com/2009/07/naff.html
By: coachie on July 30, 2009
at 2:40 pm
Honestly, I like the bowl out better than the super over. But to decide an entire match without any overs bowled by using the bowl out is ridiculous. These guys also apparently didn’t learn the lesson of Pakistan from the World T20 in 2007. You need to bowl off your natural run up in this thing. If you watch the link Coachie provided, these fast bowlers who bowl off a 30 yard run up in a match are approaching the bowl out by aiming at the stumps with a five yard walk up. Not surprisingly, they practically all miss
By: Peter Della Penna on July 30, 2009
at 7:11 pm