Pace Bowling

Outswing needs the seam canted towards the cordon and the polished side on the leg side, so the ball drifts away from the right-hander after pitching.

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Swing depends on the two sides behaving differently in the air, so the team polishes one side hard and leaves the other to scuff naturally.

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The ball bends most in the last part of its flight, so a fuller length gives the curve time to work and brings the stumps and the drive into play.

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Inswing bends back in towards the pads and stumps, outswing leaves the bat towards the slips; the grip and seam angle are simply mirrored.

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A backspinning, upright seam holds its angle through the air, which is what lets the shiny and rough sides do their work and swing the ball.

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A ball that holds its line and then bends near the batter gives almost no time to adjust, which is why late movement takes more edges than early curve.

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A full ball just outside off tempts the drive, and the late away movement then takes the outside edge through to the keeper or slips.

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Whatever the science, a cloudy day is taken as a sign to bowl fuller and straighter and give any movement the best chance to matter.

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When the air gives nothing, landing the ball on its seam can still get sideways movement off the surface, so the bowler shifts from swing to seam.

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A full ball swinging in late gives the batter little time to bring the bat down, and a missed jab leaves the stumps or the front pad exposed.

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If the raised seam grips the surface at an angle, the ball kicks one way off the pitch; that is seam movement, and it needs no curve through the air.

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A wobbling seam means the bowler cannot be sure which part of the seam will land, and neither can the batter, so the movement is unpredictable both ways.

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Because even the bowler does not know which way it will go, the batter cannot line it up, so a good length with a wobbling seam builds pressure on its own.

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Landing on the flat leather rather than the seam gives inconsistent bounce, so a cross-seam ball is used on wearing pitches or to unsettle a set batter.

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A ball landing on the seam a fraction back of full keeps the batter reaching and unsure whether to go forward or back, and small deviation then finds the edge.

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Seam movement does the wicket-taking on a helpful surface, so the bowler keeps it full and at the stumps and lets edges and lbws come.

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A new ball has a proud seam and the surface has most moisture and grass early, and both flatten out as the day wears on, so movement fades.

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The nearer the bat meets the ball to the body, the smaller the gap the seam movement has to work in, so edges drop shorter and misjudgements are softer.

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Landing on an angled seam, it darts back into the right-hander, threatening the inside edge, the pad in front and leg or middle stump.

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Swing can be set up by grip and angle, but seam needs the raised stitching to strike the pitch just right, which happens by degrees rather than on demand.

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A yorker lands on or just before the popping crease, under the swing of the bat, so the batter has to dig it out rather than play a full stroke.

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A well-directed yorker gives no room and no length to swing at, so the best a batter usually manages is a single, which is why it is the death-overs weapon.

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A surprise bouncer hurries the batter, but a predictable one sits up to be hit, so it works best mixed in with fuller deliveries.

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If the batter commits to the pace of the quicker balls, a well-disguised slower one is met too early, so the shot goes up in the air or falls short.

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The arm comes through at full pace so the batter reads "quick", while the flipped wrist takes the speed off without an obvious change in the action.

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Spotted early, a slower ball simply gives the batter more time and less pace to work with, which is an invitation to hit through the line.

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A lower-order batter usually has less practice getting out of the way, so the short ball rushes them into a fend, a top edge or a glove behind.

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Good length is relative to the batter and the bounce, not a fixed mark; it is wherever neither the front-foot nor the back-foot shot is comfortable.

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A full ball angled across and away gives no pace to work with and no width to free the arms, so it is a low-risk death option even if less lethal than the straight yorker.

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Varying full and short while holding a tight line makes the batter keep adjusting forward and back, and a wrong choice brings a false shot.

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Reverse needs one side heavily scuffed and the whole ball dry and worn, which is why it appears in the middle and later overs rather than with the new ball.

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At reverse-swing pace and ball condition the airflow behaves differently, so the curve is towards the polished side, the opposite of what the batter expects.

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The effect comes in above a certain pace, where the flow separates late on both sides, so express bowlers reverse the ball more readily than medium pacers.

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On a hard, bare ground the ball scuffs up within a dozen overs, giving the contrast between a battered side and a kept side that reverse depends on.

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Expecting the ball to hold or leave, the batter plays down the wrong line, and a full ball darting the other way sneaks under the bat onto the stumps.

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Since reverse curves towards the shiny side, a batter who sees the shine early can pick the direction, so bowlers cover the ball in the run-up.

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The Laws permit shining with sweat and hard hand-polishing but forbid any artificial roughening, so a side can only reverse if it has scuffed up on its own.

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By moving early the batter changes the ball's effective length, so a would-be yorker becomes a low full toss that can be driven or flicked away.

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Some attacks now get reverse within fifteen or twenty overs through raw speed and a rough square, blurring the old line between swing and reverse.

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After a quiet middle period, late movement reappearing, especially inswing to the right-hander, tells the captain to bring the quicks back and attack the stumps.

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A ball in that channel is close enough to feel it must be played but far enough that a nibble finds the edge, so the batter is caught in two minds.

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A plan pairs a line and length that troubles that batter with fielders placed where his likely mistake goes, so the pressure and the catcher arrive together.

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Early on, the edge is the main wicket-taking chance, so the catchers go where an outswinger's nick carries, behind the bat on the off side.

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A mishooked or top-edged pull flies behind square on the leg side, so those catching and boundary positions are set before the short ball is bowled.

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From wider on the crease the ball comes across less and can hold its line or nip back, which brings lbw and the stumps more into play, especially into the rough.

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Starving a batter of scoring balls with a tight line and a run-saving field makes him force the pace, and the false shot follows the frustration.

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Denying the length he thrives on forces him forward, where his footwork is less sure, and a fuller ball also brings swing, edges and lbw into it.

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When a quick targets the body, a fend or a cramped flick pops just behind square on the leg side, and the leg gully sits exactly in that arc.

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Close catchers up mean fewer runs are cut off, so it is a bet that pressure and the surface will bring an edge before the loose ball costs too much.

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On a lively surface, seam and swing threaten leg, middle and off and the pad, so a straight, full line attacks bowled, lbw and both edges at once.

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A run-up the bowler can repeat ball after ball gives him rhythm and accuracy.

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A measured run-up helps the bowler land his front foot in the same place.

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The gather turns forward running into the coiled position for delivery.

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Extra distance adds fatigue without adding useful speed at the crease.

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No-balls often come from a run-up that has drifted; checking the mark is the first step.

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Momentum from the approach is transferred through the action into the ball.

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A bound that goes towards the batter keeps the action in line with the target.

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The approach builds speed and rhythm before the bound sets up the delivery stride.

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A run-up is measured, marked, tested and then adjusted until it is reliable.

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The delivery stride is the last stride, landing at the crease; A is the start of the run-up.

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A side-on bowler lines his front shoulder up with the target.

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A front-on bowler is open-chested to the batter as his back foot lands.

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The twisting in a mixed action loads the lower back, which coaches try to avoid.

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A repeatable action helps a bowler land the ball where he wants and keeps the body safer.

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Releasing from high up adds bounce and keeps the line straight.

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The front arm points at the target and then pulls down, helping rotate the body.

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Following through away from the middle keeps the bowler off the protected area and spreads the load.

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The front arm aims at the target out of the bound, the front foot braces, and the bowling arm comes over last.

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A semi-open action sits between the side-on and the front-on.

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Back foot parallel to the crease, front shoulder at the batter and hips and shoulders lined up: side-on.

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The swing stays the same way; relative to a left-hander it now comes in.

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The channel just outside off stump makes the batter decide whether to play or leave.

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Balls angled away across a left-hander tend to pass outside his off stump.

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A left-right pair makes the bowler reset his line every time they swap.

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The off side for a left-hander is the other side, so the cordon crosses over.

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Constant changes of line and field make it hard for the fielding side to settle.

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Coming from the other side of the stumps, the left-armer's line runs away from the right-hander.

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Every change of batter means a new field and a new line.

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Round the wicket the angle comes in at a left-hander rather than going across him.

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For a left-hander the off side is on the left of the picture, so this angle runs across him.

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The off-cutter is cut with the fingers so it grips and comes back in.

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The leg-cutter grips and moves away from the right-hander.

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Pulling the fingers down the side puts sidespin on the ball, like a quick spinner.

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Like spin, cutters need a surface that the ball can grip.

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Holding it on the knuckles kills the spin and takes pace off the ball.

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The batter expects pace, so a slow short ball arrives after his shot is under way.

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A variation is effective when the batter does not expect it.

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Cutters lose some pace; the knuckle ball and the back-of-the-hand ball lose much more.

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A normal run-up and arm speed hide the cutter until it grips.

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Moving in off the pitch, like an off break, after being cut with the fingers: an off-cutter.

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The Dukes ball's seam and lacquer help it swing for much of an innings.

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Hard, true Australian pitches reward tall fast bowlers who hit the deck.

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With little help from the surface, pace bowlers look to the old ball and to variations.

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Grassy pitches give seamers sideways movement off the surface.

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India uses the SG ball, England the Dukes and most others the Kookaburra.

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The Kookaburra is used in most Test countries; England and the West Indies use the Dukes and India the SG.

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On slow pitches short balls lose their bite, so pace bowlers attack the stumps and vary pace.

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Away from home, pace bowlers often wait for the old ball to start reversing.

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Pushing a batter back with bounce makes the fuller ball more dangerous.

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The Dukes ball, cloud and green early-season pitches are the classic English conditions.

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