Get yourself a good Practice Ball!

It is essential to have a good swinging cricket ball in your hands for your practice sessions. Here are some good packages for your Practice sessions. Choose a good one.

Choosing Correct Footwear

Cricket shoes are equipped with spikes or rubber studs to provide players with the best grip possible. When selecting your footwear, the most important factor is finding a pair of shoes that is comfortable. Batsman and bowlers commonly wear different types of shoes; however, manufacturers also produce multi-purpose shoes. Batting shoes tend to have spikes at the front of the shoe with fewer at the back, while bowling shoes have spikes all over the sole to provide extra traction. Bowlers' footwear is also designed to offer more ankle support and heel cushioning to help cope with the stress that their feet are subjected to. Below is my recommendation.

Fast Bowling Legend: Imran Khan

Imran Khan Niazi (Seraiki Pathan, Urdu: عمران خان نیازی; (in Hindi - इमरान ख़ान नियाज़ी) born 25 November, 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Pakistanicricketer, playing international cricket for two decades in the late twentieth century. After retiring, he entered politics. Currently, besides his political activism, Khan is also a philanthropist, cricket commentator and Chancellor of the University of Bradford and Founder and Chairman Board of Governors of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre.

Khan played for the Pakistani cricket team from 1971 to 1992 and served as its captain intermittently throughout 1982-1992. After retiring from cricket at the end of the 1987 World Cup, he was called back to join the team in 1988. At 39, Khan led his teammates to Pakistan's first and only World Cup victory in 1992. He has a record of 3807 runs and 362 wickets in Test cricket, making him one of eight world cricketers to have achieved an 'All-rounder's Triple' in Test matches. On 14 July 2010, Khan was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

In April 1996, Khan founded and became the chairman of a political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice). He represented Mianwali as a member of the National Assembly from November 2002 to October 2007.

Bowling Action

At the end of the run-up the bowler will bring his or her lead foot down on the pitch with the knee as straight as possible. This aids in generating speed but can be dangerous due to the pressure placed on the joint by this action. Knee injuries are not uncommon amongst fast bowlers: for example the English pace bowler David Lawrence was sidelined for many months after splitting his kneecap in two. The pressure on the leading foot is such that some fast bowlers cut the front off their shoes to stop their toes from being injured as they are repeatedly pressed against the inside of the shoe. The bowler will then bring their bowling arm up over their head and release the ball at the height appropriate to where they want the ball to pitch. 

             Again, the arm must be straight although this is a stipulation of the laws of cricket rather than an aid to speed. Bending the elbow and "chucking" the ball would make it too easy for the bowler to aim accurately at the batsman's wicket and get them out. Fast bowlers tend to have an action which leaves them either side-on or chest-on at the end of the run up. A chest on bowler has chest and hips aligned towards the batsman at the instant of back foot contact, while a side on bowler has chest and hips aligned at ninety degrees to the batsman at the instant of back foot contact. West Indian bowler Malcolm Marshall was a classic example of a chest on bowler, while Australian pace bowler Dennis Lillee used a side on technique to great effect.

How is a Rich Red Test Cricket Ball Made?

Run-Up

The term "run-up" is a cricketing term which refers to the approach a bowler makes when preparing to deliver the ball. The ball must be delivered from behind a bowling crease, but preparation to bowl the ball can be done any way the bowler wishes. Every different bowler approaches the wicket in a personal way, and so there can be many and varied "run-ups".

However, as a general rule the different types of bowlers use similar approaches to each other. For example, Spin bowlers tend to have very short run-ups, some even approach the bowling crease at a walking pace. Medium bowlers tend to run up off a short run-up of about 10 paces or so. Fast bowlers tend to have long, rhythmical run-ups to allow them to develop momentum which adds to their ability to bowl the ball at high speeds.

Basic Fast Bowling Deliveries

There are many different types of delivery that a bowler can bowl. These deliveries vary by; technique, the hand the bowler bowls with, use of the fingers, use of the seam, how the ball is positioned in the hand, where the ball is pitched on the wicket, the speed of the ball, and the tactical intent of the bowler.

• Bouncer
• Inswinger
• Reverse swing
• Leg cutter
• Off cutter
• Outswinger
• Yorker