Knuckle ball (cricket)

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In the sport of cricket, a knuckle ball (or knuckleball) is a type of delivery employed by a fast bowler, and a type of slower ball. [1] As similar to a slower ball, the bowler's intention is to deceive the batter into playing too early so that they either miss the ball completely or hit it high up in the air to offer an easy catch.

The ball is bowled by the bowler positioning the ball underneath the knuckles of their index and middle finger, instead of in the fingers themselves. The delivery deceives the batsman as from a batter's perspective, the ball appears to be a stock delivery. However, when it is released it is slower than expected. [2]

The delivery was adopted from baseball’s knuckleball. The physics of the operation are largely the same. However, the seam on a cricket ball is equatorial, and thus the extent of erratic movement is reduced due to the symmetry (at least in the conventional release position where the planes of the ball's trajectory and the seam are nearly co-planar). [3]

Though Jeetan Sareen developed the knuckle ball for cricket as early as 1989, the Knuckle ball was first introduced to the world stage by India's Zaheer Khan in the 2011 Cricket World Cup . Bowlers who often use the knuckleball include India's Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Sandeep Sharma, Deepak Chahar, New Zealand's Trent Boult and Australia's Andrew Tye. [4] Tye's lethal use of the knuckleball leads to vast success in limited overs competitions, and his eventual selection for Australia. Tye's fame is largely due to his world-renowned use of the knuckleball. [5] Jofra Archer successfully deployed the knuckleball during the 2019 Cricket World Cup [6] and subsequent Ashes Test series against Australia.

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Seam bowling is a bowling technique in cricket whereby the ball is deliberately bowled on to its seam, to cause a random deviation when the ball bounces. Practitioners are known as seam bowlers or seamers.

An outswinger is a type of delivery of the ball in the sport of cricket. In such a delivery the ball curves—or "swings"—out and away from the batter's body and the wicket. By contrast, an inswinger swings in toward the batter and the wicket. Outswingers are bowled by swing bowlers.

An inswinger is a type of delivery of the ball in the sport of cricket. In such a delivery the ball curves—or "swings"—in toward the batter's body and the wicket. By contrast, an outswinger swings away from the line of the batter and the wicket. Inswingers are bowled by swing bowlers.

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Wrist spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket. It refers to the cricket technique and specific hand movements associated with imparting a particular direction of spin to the cricket ball. The other spinning technique, usually used to spin the ball in the opposite direction, is finger spin. Wrist spin is bowled by releasing the ball from the back of the hand, so that it passes over the little finger. Done by a right-handed bowler, this imparts an anticlockwise rotation to the ball, as seen from the bowler's perspective; a left-handed wrist spinner rotates the ball clockwise.

Finger spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket. It refers to the cricket technique and specific hand movements associated with imparting a particular direction of spin to the cricket ball. The other spinning technique, generally used to spin the ball in the opposite direction, is wrist spin. Although there are exceptions, finger spinners generally turn the ball less than wrist spinners. However, because the technique is simpler and easier to master, finger spinners tend to be more accurate.

In cricket, a slider is a type of delivery bowled by a wrist spin bowler. While a topspinner is released with the thumb facing the batter, a slider is bowled in a similar manner to a legbreak, but instead of imparting sidespin with the third finger, the bowler allows his fingers to roll down the back of the ball, providing a mixture of sidespin and backspin. Whereas a topspinner tends to dip more quickly and bounce higher than a normal delivery, a slider does the opposite: it carries to a fuller length and bounces less than the batter might expect. The sliders will typically head towards the batter with a scrambled seam. This has less effect on the flight and bounce but absence of leg spin may deceive the batter. Frequently the slider is bowled with a mixture of side spin and backspin. This has the effect of making the ball harder to differentiate from the leg break for the batters without reducing the mechanical effects caused by the backspin. This delivery may skid straight on or it may turn a small amount.

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Jofra Chioke Archer is a Barbadian and English cricketer who represents England in international cricket. He is a right-arm fast bowler. In domestic cricket he plays for Sussex as well as a number of T20 franchises. In April 2019, Archer was selected to play for the England team in limited overs fixtures against Ireland and Pakistan. He made his international debut for England in May 2019, and was part of the England squad that won the 2019 Cricket World Cup. He then made his Test debut later that summer, against Australia in the 2019 Ashes series. In April 2020, Archer was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year.

References

  1. "Yahoo Cricket". cricket.yahoo.net. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  2. "The mystery of the knuckleball". ESPNcricinfo. 2017-03-19. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  3. Selvey, Mike; Marks, Vic; Bull, Andy; Hopps, David (April 4, 2011). "Cricket World Cup: The writers' verdicts". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  4. "7 innovative and interesting information of cricket world". Cyclicmint. 2020-02-14. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  5. "Andrew Tye, and the magic of the knuckle ball". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  6. Jack Watson (12 July 2019). "Cricket World Cup 2019: Jofra Archer's newfound mystery dazzles Australia as Ashes inclusion beckons". Independent. London. Retrieved 15 September 2019.