Bowler and coach experiential knowledge of new ball swing bowling in elite cricket

Figures & data

Table 1. Participant characteristics mean ± SD.

Participants	Age (years)	Test matches	Test wickets	First-class matches	First-class wickets
Bowlers	35.5 ± 8.2	33.0 ± 22.4	136.8 ± 92.7	92.0 ± 27.6	304.8 ± 62.4
		International experience (years)		National experience (years)
Coaches	48.5 ± 5.6	4.5 ± 4.4		7.8 ± 4.4

Figure 1. Conceptual model of identified technique aspects and coaching practices that lead to successful inswing and outswing performance.

Table 2. Themes, sub-themes, codes, and participant quotes.

Themes	Sub-themes	Codes	Example raw data quotes
Bowling action	Body alignment	Front-on	“More front-on bowlers probably bowl inswingers” (B5); “you’re probably a little bit more front-on when you’re trying to bowl inswing” (B3)
		Side-on	“I tried to get more side-on for my outy [outswinger]” (B4); “I think you’re probably a touch more side-on when you’re bowling outswing” (B3)
	Bowling arm path	Outside perpendicular	“My release point you know, I was slightly around myself” (B4); “the right arm outswing bowler is probably going to deliver the ball, I don’t know, from like 1 o’clock” (C4)
		Inside perpendicular	“My upper half’s normally above the perpendicular” (B2); “a lot of inswing bowlers might be past perpendicular” (C4)
		Perpendicular arm	“I tried to get it up as tall as I could” (C1); “your bowling arm that travels down the plane of the stumps and then comes back over the top, they’ve got an advantage” (C5)
	Grips	Straight grip	“Just the fingers, just ah, sort of either side of the seam” (C3)
		Angled grip	“It’s angled to first or second slip” (B6)
	Ball release	Last point of contact	“The pointer finger to be the last one that comes off it” (B2); “trying to make the middle finger the last point that comes off it” (B1)
		Feel aspect	“Everything’s based on feel, I find it hard to put into words sometimes” (B3); “it’s a real feel thing unfortunately so you’ve sort of got to feel that action” (B4)
		Wrist and hand behind the ball	“Wrist and fingers behind the ball” (B4); “wrist is right behind the seam which releases it nice and straight” (B5)
Effective delivery characteristics	Seam position	Angled seam	“That seam almost has to be just to first slip” (B3); “you would change the seam angle slightly to get the airflow across the ball differently to try and take advantage of the swing” (C1)
		Upright seam	“If the seam’s nice and straight, it’s more chance of swinging” (B5); “seam nice and upright” (B3)
		Backspin for seam stability	“You need to impart spin on the ball to keep the integrity of that seam all the way down, all the way down the wicket” (C5); “the backspin gives you the best chance for it to swing” (C2)
	Line and length	Pitch the ball up	“Pitch it up and give the ball a chance to swing” (B5); “you want to challenge the forward defence” (C3)
		Release point	“Just using the crease” (B1); “give yourself a bit more angle to get the ball to come in a bit straighter and then swing away” (C3)
	Location of swing	Late swing	“Ideally you get the swing later” (B3)
		Swing from release	“You’re giving too much away aren’t you when it’s swinging from the hand” (B4)
Coaching practices	Coaching process	Understand swing bowling requirements	“You’ve got to try to be across you know, all parts of fast bowling” (C3)
		Observe bowlers	“Depending on the action, you’ve got to observe all that first” (C2); “it’s the case of looking how they move through the crease” (C5)
		Changes individualised to the player	“Everyone’s different, we’ve just got to make sure we get the best product from that action” (C6); “each bowler’s different so you can’t try and coach them all the same” (C3)
	Fundamental movement patterns	Balanced positions	“So anything we can do to try and create a balanced position where that’s starting mostly with the way they run, the way they move prior to entering the crease and obviously reducing some of those um, potential for, as I call them, energy leaks in the crease” (C5)
		Forward momentum	“I’d have a nice straight approach into the crease, I’d make sure the jump is pretty straight” (C1); “your momentum, making sure that’s all travelling in the right direction towards your target” (C3)
		Repeatable action	“Trying to get some consistency around where they put the ball” (C1); “when it’s consistent he generally swings the ball consistently” (C5)
Ball and environment variables	Different balls	White balls	“The white ball probably only swings for 3 or 4 overs” (B5); “it does only swing naturally for perhaps you know 1 or 2, maybe 3 overs” (B6)
		Pink balls	“The pink one seems to have a, more of a white finish” (C1); “it’s very different to the red ball and obviously the conditions, the time of day dictates the movement of the ball” (B6)
		Red balls	“The red one seems to have a better finish and a lasting finish, so it tends to swing a little bit more, for longer” (C1)
		Dukes balls	“I just felt like they were like a two-piece, you know they wouldn’t swing straight away, lacquer them up, conditions in England, happy days” (B4); “I think the Dukes probably swings forever basically” (B3)
	Conditions	Environmental conditions	“I think swing is determined by a lot of other external factors like the weather” (B3); “I think it’s moisture underneath” (B3); “as soon as the cloud comes over the ball swings” (C3)
		Variations between balls	“So it’s maybe the ball as well” (B3); “I don’t know if the way they’re being produced now affects the amount that it swings” (B6)

Figure 2. Schematics of bowling action classification at back foot contact of delivery stride as viewed from above (images below) and bowling arm path as viewed from behind (images above) for a right-handed bowler. (a) Front-on bowling action leading to bowling arm inside perpendicular and (b) side-on bowling action leading to bowling arm outside perpendicular.

Figure 3. (a) straight seam grip with the primary seam between the index and middle fingers and (b) angled seam grip with the primary seam angled across the index and middle fingers.

Figure 4. (a) Angled and upright seam and (b) angled and non-upright seam as viewed from behind (left images) and above (right images).

Figure 5. Overhead schematic of different release points of swinging deliveries. The solid line represents a delivery with a release point close to the stumps. This delivery is initially projected towards the stumps but swings and pitches outside the line of the stumps. The dashed line represents a wider release point where the delivery is also projected towards the stumps but pitches in line with the stumps.