Swing bowling

Swing bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as swing bowlers.

Normal swing

Typically, a swing bowler aligns the seam and the sides of the ball to reinforce the swing effect. This can be done in two ways:

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• Outswinger: By aligning the seam to the left and placing the roughened side of the ball on the left, the ball will swing to the left. To a right-handed batsman, this results in the ball moving away to the off side while in flight, usually outwards from his body.
• Inswinger: By aligning the seam to the right and placing the roughened side of the ball on the right, the ball will swing to the right. To a right-handed batsman, this results in the ball moving in to the leg side while in flight, usually inwards towards his body.

The curvature of swing deliveries can make them difficult for a batsman to hit with his bat. Typically, bowlers more commonly bowl outswingers, as they tend to move away from the batsman, meaning he has to "chase" the ball in order to hit it. Hitting away from the batsman's body is dangerous, as it leaves a gap between the bat and body through which the ball may travel to hit the wicket. Also, if the batsman misjudges the amount of swing, he can hit the ball with an edge of the bat. An inside edge can ricochet on to the wicket, resulting in him being out bowled, while an outside edge can fly to the wicket-keeper or slip fielders for a catch.

Related Topics:
Bat - Wicket - Wicket-keeper - Slip

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An inswinger presents relatively fewer dangers to the batsman, but can result in bowled or leg before wicket dismissals if the batsman misjudges the swing on the ball.

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An inswinger combined with a yorker can be especially difficult for the batsman to defend against, especially if used as a surprise delivery after a sequence of outswingers.

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It is a common belief amongst both players and fans that balls swing more in humid weather conditions, although no objective research exists to bear this out.

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