The finest fast bowlers can assault a batter in a variety of ways. A batter’s technique is put to the test by guys like Vernon Philander and Glenn McGrath, who bowl with a persistent length and line. Certain bowlers, like Mitchell Starc and Mark Wood, attempt to breach a batsman’s defense with their sheer pace. Some, like Dale Steyn and Jimmy Anderson, use their swing expertise to lure the batter into taking a chance. The bouncer is one more tool that fast bowlers have at their disposal in addition to the techniques I’ve just discussed, which are likely the best possibilities for taking wickets in cricket. Scroll down to read Do You Know Why Bowlers Bowl Bouncers? Deets Inside.
Those who are unfamiliar with cricket may be curious as to why bowlers opt to bowl bouncers. Does the bowler aim to cause harm to the batsman? Or do they consider the delivery to be a legitimate chance to take a wicket? I’ll be responding to these queries in this post! Now let’s get going.
Do You Know Why Bowlers Bowl Bouncers?
Here are the five main reasons why bowlers will choose to bowl bouncers:
- To Intimidate The Batsman
- To Stop Them Coming Forward
- To Exploit Specific Weaknesses In A Batsman’s Technique
- To Bowl To A Defensive Field
- When They’re Bowling On A Particularly Fast and Bouncy Pitch
Make sure to read on for a detailed explanation of each of these reasons if you’re curious about knowing more about them!
How Do Bowling Bouncers Intimidate the Batsman?
It makes sense that a bouncer, which is a brief delivery aimed at the batsman’s upper torso, can be frightening to face. particularly if it’s bowled quickly!
A lot of quick bowlers would target the batsman’s body with the bouncer. The batsman risks getting hit or having the ball go wildly in the air if they don’t handle it effectively. They might therefore have far less confidence when they get their next ball. This kind of intimidation and confidence-sapping action is a terrific technique to force a batsman to play cautious shots, which frequently result in dismissals!
How Do Bowling Bouncers Stop Batsmen From Coming Forward?
Stopping batsmen from pressing forward and playing front-foot strokes is one of the key reasons fast bowlers bowl bouncers at them.
To understand why, you must first realize that batsmen find it much simpler to handle good or full-length deliveries if they are positively moving their feet down the wicket in the direction of the ball’s pitch. A batsman will feel far more at ease playing strokes and going on the front foot if they consistently receive solid, full-length deliveries, as there is no genuine physical danger to them.
The batter is forced to the back foot and faces a physical threat to their upper body when a few bouncers are bowled. As I mentioned in the last section, if the batsman doesn’t handle these deliveries correctly, they may get injured and lose confidence. When they receive their next ball, they will undoubtedly be hesitant to attack right away because anything like this will likely stick in their memory. The batsman may play at it without putting their front foot down the pitch if the bowler swings a full ball after the bouncer.
They have to stay back in their crease because they fear getting bowled again by a bouncer! A batsman will lunge at the ball with their hands if they are hanging back in this manner, which is excellent for a bowler because it indicates that their body weight is not going towards the ball.
In summary, if a batsman is getting on to the front foot far too readily, aim to disrupt their footwork by adding a couple of bouncers. A well-placed bouncer can significantly impede the batter’s ability to play front-foot shots by interfering with their ability to make decisions.
How Do Bouncers Help the Bowler Exploit a Batsman’s Weaknesses?
This one is easy on the eyes. Some batters simply don’t like bouncers, as anyone who has played or watched cricket for any length of time will know. Therefore, that is the kind of delivery you should use to target a batsman who struggles to play the short ball if you are bowling to them.
I recall that during his England debut, Jonny Bairstow displayed a small amount of susceptibility to the bouncer. When the West Indies squad realized this, they made sure to challenge him in a situation where he wasn’t at ease by bowling him a lot more bouncers. I also recall opposition bowlers thinking that Indian batter Suresh Raina had trouble with bouncers, so they would frequently target him with them.
In summary, fast bowlers are far more likely to deliver bouncers to a batsman who is thought to be vulnerable to the short ball. For this reason, every batsman should put in a lot of practice honing their short-ball skills.
How Can You Use the Bouncer When Bowling to a Defensive Field?
New Zealand bowlers such as Neil Wagner employ the bouncer as a defensive strategy to stifle the batsman’s supply of runs and compel errors. This is the common method used by New Zealand when the ball is growing old and no longer seams off the pitch or swings in the air. The batsmen would typically be seeking to score runs at this point much more freely, but the short-ball strategy paired with a defensive field frequently works to slow down the scoring rate.
To use this tactic, you need two things:
- Make sure that you’re able to bowl extremely accurately: One of the most awkward areas for a short ball is the front shoulder of the batsman, and Neil Wagner can consistently get his bouncer to target that area, making it difficult for the batsman to sway or duck underneath. The hitter feels as though they are being pressured to hit the ball. To become as accurate as bowling as Neil Wagner,
- Set a defensive but threatening field: During Wagner’s tenure on the test team, New Zealand has emerged as the experts in this field. They’ll primarily leave the offside open and deploy a variety of fielders on the leg side. Wagner will then go for the batsman’s body. It will be extremely tough to keep the ball clear of all fielders on the leg side if the batsman tries to play the hook or pull shot! This makes it difficult to score runs and avoid going out! This will irritate a lot of batsmen, who will then smack the ball in the air in the direction of a fielder. Look at the video below on YouTube to see some examples of Wagner’s effectiveness with the short ball.
In summary, the bouncer is a valuable tool for fielding teams looking to disrupt the flow of runs and cause frustration for opposing batting teams. This is more likely to occur if the bowling side possesses a bowler who can deliver accurate bouncers at a fast pace!
Why Do Bowlers Use Bouncers on Fast and Bouncy Pitches?
On fast and bouncy surfaces, bowlers are more prone to bowl bouncers since the bounce of the pitch increases the hazard of that delivery to a batsman.
To illustrate why, let’s examine a few instances. Because the ball doesn’t bounce, seam, or swing much on Sri Lankan pitches, these fields aren’t generally seen as being good for fast bowling. Because of this, trying to bowl bouncers on slow, low pitches, such as those seen in Sri Lanka, takes a lot of work and typically yields very little success. The lack of bounce will prevent the ball from rising very high, and the slow pitch will give the batsman plenty of time to react to the ball and get ready to hit it for a run.
Now contrast this with a pitch that is typically fast and lively, such as Perth, Australia’s WACA. On a wicket such as this, fast bowlers will opt to utilize the bouncer far more frequently since they will receive a larger reward for their efforts. As long as the bowler is quick enough, the ball will bounce above the batsman’s waist without even needing to be bowled particularly short. A batsman must be adept at handling bouncers to score runs on a surface such as the one at the WACA, as they will undoubtedly encounter many of them!
Also read, List Of Fast Bowlers Under 6 feet In Height
