Bowling (cricket)
There is also a reference to 'criquet' in North-East France in 1478 and evidence that the game evolved in South-East England in the Middle Ages.
He wrote that two teams were first seen carrying their curving bats to the venue, choosing a pitch and arguing over the rules to be played.
They pitched two sets of wickets, each with a "milk-white" bail perched on two stumps; tossed a coin for first knock, the umpire called "play" and the "leathern orb" was bowled.
They had four-ball overs, the umpires leant on their staves (which the batters had to touch to complete a run), and the scorers sat on a mound making notches.
It appears that 40 notches was viewed as a very big score, probably due to the bowlers bowling quickly at shins unprotected by pads.
The latter ruling followed an innings by a batter called Thomas "Daddy" White, who appeared with a bat the width of the wicket.
In 1788, the MCC published its first revision of the laws, which prohibited charging down an opponent and also provided for mowing and covering the wicket to standardise conditions.
Pads, made of cork, became available for the first time in 1841, and these were further developed following the invention of vulcanised rubber, which was also used to introduce protective gloves in 1848.
In the 1870s, boundaries were introduced – previously, all hits had to be run; if the ball went into the crowd, the spectators would clear a way for the fieldsman to fetch it.
[14] As a result of this incident underarm bowling was subsequently made illegal in all grades of cricket, except by prior agreement of both teams, as it was not considered to be within the spirit of the game.
Bowlers generally hold their elbows fully extended and rotate the arm vertically about the shoulder joint to impart velocity to the ball, releasing it near the top of the arc.
A guideline was introduced to allow extensions or hyperextensions of angles up to 15 degrees before deeming the ball illegally thrown.
In the side on action, the back foot lands parallel to the bowling crease and the bowler aims at the wicket by looking over his front shoulder.
Many bowlers operate with a mid-way action with the back foot landing at roughly 45 degrees and the upper body aligned somewhere between side on and front on.
The primary means of achieving this is by dismissing the batting side by getting all ten of the opposition wickets as quickly as possible.
Taking regular opposition wickets will remove the better batters from the crease, typically leading to a slowing of the scoring rate.
Conversely, slowing the scoring rate can put additional pressure on the batters and force them into taking extra risks, which will often lead to wickets.
In general, the shorter the number of overs per side, the more priority will be given to this secondary target of maintaining a low run-rate.
It is also highly probable that the need for attacking or defensive strategies can switch frequently as a cricket match progresses.
The simultaneous twin objectives of bowling are to take wickets and prevent run scoring opportunities.
This removes many of the batter's attacking options, and also increases the probability of misjudging a delivery and losing the wicket.
The faster the bowler and the greater the movement he is able to generate, the larger the area of the pitch that can be designated an effective "good" length.
But the height of an attempted yorker or full toss must not be higher than the batter's waist, or else it will be called a no-ball beamer, which could have bowlers banned from the match.
The line a bowler chooses to bowl will depend on several factors: the movement he is generating on the ball, the shots the batter is able to play, and the field the captain has set.
Adding a spin to a cricket ball will make it deviate due to the Magnus effect in its flight (like a slider in baseball), and then produce sideways movement off the ground.
