Bowling a heavy ball

[BoyBrumby]

Inspired by the efforts of Vernon Philander in the current test versus Sri Lanka.

The speed gun is showing him around the 133kmh mark, which my calculator tells me is roughly 82.5mph, but the ball appears to be fairly whistling through to Boucher and landing in his gloves with a satisfying thud.

Vern seems to be one of those bowlers who balls "a heavy ball", spoken of by commentators of a certain age with reverence & awe. I suppose in Philander's case the perception is amplified by him moving the ball off the seam very appreciably, but for a chap whose stock delivery is slower throught the air than (say) Luke Wright's he hurries the batsmen up quite a lot.

I've long been of the opinion that speed gun velocities are a pretty poor way of measuring a bowler's actual pace and that TV coverage misses a trick by not also recording the time it takes from release to reach the batter. I do wonder if this measurement would back up one's instinct that bowlers like Philander disquiet batsmen with speed despite a (relative) lack of speed gun speed.

Thoughts? Nominations for bowlers who send down a "heavy" delivery? Or those who seem slower than the gun would have us believe?

 

[KiWiNiNjA]

Bowler should all have to bowl with the same ball.

 

[Zinzan]

It's an interesting phenomenon alright. Heavy ball exponents I can think of include;

Andre Nel
Brian McMillan
Hamish Bennett
Danny Morrison
Merv Hughes
Andrew Caddick
Andrew Flintoff

and more recently .... Doug Bracewell

 

[Neil Young]

Trent Boult looked quicker than the speed wotsit was registering v Aus.

 

[BoyBrumby]

It's an interesting phenomenon alright. Heavy ball exponents I can think of include;

Andre Nel
Brian McMillan
Hamish Bennett
Danny Morrison
Merv Hughes
Andrew Caddick
Andrew Flintoff

and more recently .... Doug Bracewell

Bracewell's an interesting one for me. A lot of the chaps you've mentioned are all fairly tall (Morrison excepted), but Dougeh (like Philander actually) isn't a giant as seam bowlers go.

My guess is that taller blokes appear to be quicker than they are because their trajectories are conducive to getting good carry off the the pitch. With the shorter chaps it's maybe harder to explain. Is it movement or is it "kissing" the pitch so speed isn't lost on impact?

 

[Spark]

Hitting the seam perfectly most of the time has to help.

 

[TumTum]

Cummins was bowling 130s in SA and still looked quick.

Watson and Kallis also have these balls.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Watson and Kallis also have these balls.

Funny you mention Watson. When he first came onto the international scene he bowled whatever the opposite of a heavy ball is. He'd send them down at 145kmh, but they were invariably gun-barrel straight and very rarely troubled the batsmen. I'd also put Mohammad Sami & Luke Wright in the "deceptively slow" catagory.

Now Watson's down around and below the 130kmh mark, swings it and generally looks a much better bowler.

 

[Flem274*]

Just came in to post Watto and Kallis actually.

Back in the day Oram couldn't lay hands on a cricket ball without commentators saying he bowls a heavy ball with tennis ball bounce. I think it was mainly because he was a tall bloke banging it into the pitch back of a length, which means even his medium pacers made a thud. Could have been more than a decent bowler if he didn't get all those pace sapping injuries.

Tim Bresnan is a bloke who hits it hard. I love Tim Bresnan.

 

[thierry henry]

Watto bowls a light ball. He used to hit 145 and it never looked fast.

 

[Top_Cat]

Seam movement/hitting the splice, in my experience = heavy ball.

 

[Ruckus]

I always thought a heavy ball was describing one which skids off the pitch. I didn't think it was making a special reference to speed. Ryan Harris is someone I'd say has a heavy ball, but he actually looks like he bowls slower than the speed gun indicates. Might be wrong about the definition though.

 

[Jono]

Nothing to do with speed. A heavy ball relies on the length and where it hits the bat. If you bang it in at a length that hits the splice, it will seem faster than a quick half volley. It isn't faster.

Watto at his peak got the ball to the batsman quicker than philander does. He was quicker, that is a fact. But he didn't bowl hat length and hit the splice or have it jump off from a length by hitting the seam.

Heavy ball and speed are different issues that get mixed up.

 

[thierry henry]

tbh this whole thread surely defies basic laws of physics, but I was just playing along. A bowler is as fast as the speedo says, end of. Humans are biased for all sorts of dumbarse reasons.

 

[Manee]

As a general rule, the faster you run in (with numerous exceptions), the 'lighter' the ball, given a constant bowling speed. Comparison being Simon Jones Vs Mohammad Sami?

 

[Outswinger@Pace]

I'd leave the connoisseurs of the game to decide what the correct terms are. Just some personal observations that I made during my last decade of learning the game.

Of bowlers that bowl the "heavy ball" (based on how I understand the term, rightly or otherwise), I'd say that Bresnan and Andre Russell of the current stock stand out. Going slightly further back, Ntini, Gillespie and Srinath (at times) looked to be quicker off the pitch than others.

IMHO, hitting the seam and how strong and pliable a bowler's wrists are being the two major factors.

 

[zaremba]

tbh this whole thread surely defies basic laws of physics, but I was just playing along. A bowler is as fast as the speedo says, end of. Humans are biased for all sorts of dumbarse reasons.

This is true. Agree with T_C's assessment too. The reputed "heavy ball" merchants seem to be the big guys, which suggests that the illusion is in fact really about bounce, and hitting the splice in particular.

 

[Woodster]

This is true. Agree with T_C's assessment too. The reputed "heavy ball" merchants seem to be the big guys, which suggests that the illusion is in fact really about bounce, and hitting the splice in particular.

James Anyon has now become a serious exponent of bowling the heavy ball these days, right Mr Z ?

 

[sreeku7]

I've long been of the opinion that speed gun velocities are a pretty poor way of measuring a bowler's actual pace and that TV coverage misses a trick by not also recording the time it takes from release to reach the batter. I do wonder if this measurement would back up one's instinct that bowlers like Philander disquiet batsmen with speed despite a (relative) lack of speed gun speed.

Way back in 1975 in the Perth Test between WI and Aus,speed through the air and off the pitch were measured separately.Holding was the fastest of the pitch (86 mph av) and Thomson fastest through air(96 mph)Holding clocked 92 mph through air while Roberts,Lillee and Keith Boyce clocked 93,88 and 87 respectively.Even though Thomson and Roberts were faster, the ball from Holding would have reached the batmen more quickly.I don't know whether the pace off the pitch is measured now

btw I don't remember the pace off the pitch of the other bowlers,only that Holding was the fastest off the pitch

 

[Jono]

This is true. Agree with T_C's assessment too. The reputed "heavy ball" merchants seem to be the big guys, which suggests that the illusion is in fact really about bounce, and hitting the splice in particular.

Yep pretty much. Morkel, Freddy and Nel are all tall bowlers who hit the splice often.

Although Philander isn't that tall is he?