Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 And The Art Of Bowling Bouncers

The bouncer is one of the most lethal weapons fast bowlers must have in their arsenal to challenge batters. Sometimes, even if it is not directly responsible for a wicket, it serves as a prelude to dismissal by softening a batter up.

What’s so special about the 2013-14 Ashes in Australia? Aussie tearaway Mitchell Johnson steaming in sporting his handlebar moustache, and unleashing a barrage of bouncers on the English batters. A resurgent Johnson made the cricketing fraternity relive the infamous Bodyline series, in which the bowlers resorted to a rib-cracking leg-stump channel to intimidate the batters. He claimed 37 wickets from five matches at an average of 13.97.

Through cricket’s long history, the likes of the legendary West Indian Quartet (Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Colin Croft, and later Malcolm Marshall), Aussies Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, or modern greats like Brett Lee, Shoaib Akhtar, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Pat Cummins and Jasprit Bumrah have all used the bouncer to great effect.

Let’s look at the key ingredients of bowling a bouncer.

Run-up and Pace Factor

What do the aforementioned cricketers have in common? Well, most of them are tearaway quicks. Although the rise of T20 bowling has given birth to slower bouncers, it’s rarely used in the longest format of the game. The slower bouncer gives batters ample time to leave the ball.

Since the bouncer is an effort ball, it requires a lot of added momentum and aggression. It is often said when someone is bowling well, it’s visible in the run-up prior to the release. The bowler steams in with all guns blazing. Ideally, one shouldn’t change the run-up speed to alert the batter that a bouncer is coming. The surprise factor is what makes it deadlier. That is what sets bowlers like Bumrah apart. He can hurry batters with his skiddy bouncers and can even deceive them with slower balls with a short run-up.

The Release Point

Shoaib Akhtar has categorized bouncers into three types: Head-high, Skid Through and Floating Bouncers.

The three types have different trajectories, release points and objectives.

In the Head-High Bouncer, Akhtar emphasized on the cupping of the wrist before the release of the ball. This imparts extra bounce on the ball to make it go over the batter’s head. He often did this to soften up the batter, pushing him on the back foot. Later, a full-length delivery aimed at the stumps would do the trick.

Akhtar also made the ball rise off good lengths in the Skid Through Bouncer, of which former South African pacer Morne Morkel too was an excellent exponent.

In the third type, Akhtar has shed light on using a slingy, side-esque release point, stretching his bowling hand as backwards as possible to give a floating effect to the ball. The batters fail to read the pace in this case, as the bouncer eventually slows down after coming out fast at the time of release.

Lee has also stressed on the need to have a slightly lower release point for a bouncer. This makes the ball jump off the pitch rapidly.

“The interesting thing about bowling a bouncer is that normally we let go of the ball earlier, but with the bouncer, it's about holding onto the ball a lot longer,” Lee said once. “So, the ball will dig in the pitch and you get a lot more carry, momentum and obviously trajectory off the wicket.”

Line and Length

Line and length are the most essential ingredients of an effective bouncer. The bowlers need to vary their lengths based on the height of the batter. For instance, a bouncer aimed at Sachin Tendulkar’s head might not be effective on Kevin Pietersen because of the height factor. For some, it’s a bouncer while for some it’s a half-tracker.

Former West Indian bowler Ian Bishop explained in an ICC video, “I want guys or girls to look at a specific spot, not just a wide area. Look at a specific spot because that length will be determined by the height of the bowler, the pace of the bowler, the pace and bounce of the pitch. There could be a margin for error if you don't gauge that and also I guess the height of a batter plays a key role.”

Australia captain Pat Cummins has a knack for coming wide of the crease while bowling a bouncer to dart the ball into the batters’ ribs, a perfect example of how the crease and angles can be used to good effect while bowling a bouncer.

The Curious Case Of Neil Wagner

If one has to describe New Zealand’s Neil Wagner in one word, it’s intensity. Often playing in home conditions, where the reward is more on pitching the ball up and swinging it, Wagner comes off as someone who’s different. He is as an aberration in the theory that the most successful exponents of bouncers are express fast bowlers. Wagner clocks 130-135 kmph most times.

Yet, he is known for his bouncers, which are a perfect foil for Tim Southee and Trent Boult’s swinging ability. While Wagner’s pace isn’t frightening, his persistence with short length unsettles batters. Since the tracks in New Zealand are grassy, the ball sticks on the surface, making it difficult for batters to time their response.

Wagner waits for batters to take him down while setting as many as four fielders (fine leg, square leg, third man and deep point), entrapping them on the short-ball ploy. The New Zealand Test team uses him as an enforcer and he has answered that call brilliantly so far. He has 258 Test scalps at an average of 27.50.