Bowling a Maiden Over Trivia Quiz

Answer: Around the feet of the batsman

The Yorker is a difficult ball to get right, and not many outside of the professional sport can perform one at will, however it is an important delivery to have in your arsenal as it is usually unexpected and can carry quite an impact, physically and well as mentally.

Answer: Outside off stump

The name itself basically describes the expected action of the ball. A typical delivery will see the ball pitch outside off-stump and then turn towards the stumps.

Most right-handed spinners are off-break bowlers as the majority of the spin is imparted from holding the ball in the fingers.

Answer: From leg-stump to off-stump

Another delivery that describes its behavior in the name of the delivery. A typical delivery will see the ball pitch outside leg-stump and then turn towards the stumps.

The spin is gained from the use of the wrist, as opposed to the fingers that an off-spinner would use.

Most right-handed spinners find this delivery extremely difficult to master, as the majority of the spin is imparted from both holding the ball in the fingers, and using the wrist movement on delivery, but when mastered will see the ball obtain significant turn when pitched.

Answer: It spins backwards

The Flipper gets squeezed out of the front of the hand with the thumb and first two fingers, as in a clicking movement. It has a slightly faster pace than the normal spin delivery and due to the nature of applying back-spin on the ball, its trajectory is maintained for longer and drops slower and keeps low after pitching.

One of the best exponents of this delivery is the Australian, Shane Warne.

Answer: Googly

A leg spinner normally bowls a leg-stump to off-stump delivery, but the Googly was designed so that the ball would spin in the opposite direction using the same type of delivery, and when used can be devastating as it is more difficult for the batsman watching the bowler's hand to decipher.

Answer: The leg side of the batsman

The ball should be held with the seam being held by the thumb, at the bottom of the ball, and by the first two fingers (slightly angled) at the top, so that the seam is slightly pointing into the leg side of the batsman (towards the right).

To aid the swing of the ball, the arm used to deliver the ball should be as near vertical as can be and the arm holding the ball, should brush close to the ear.

Answer: The off side of the batsman

Very similar in nature to the in-swinger except that the rough side is on the opposite side and the seam is pointing slightly to the left.

Out-swingers are considered to be one of the more difficult deliveries to face for a right-handed batsman, especially if performed by a fast paced bowler, as the ball will move away from the batsman's body and any mistake by the batsman could result in an outside edge being made which could go to the wicket-keeper, or to any one of the slip fielders.

Answer: Fast bowlers

A fast bowler will usually hold the ball with the wrist locked in position, and the thumb and middle finger holding the seam. The first finger will be placed about two centimeters away from the middle finger.

With the seam vertical, the two fingers are worked down the left side of the ball at the point of release, effectively imparting spin on the ball, making the ball deviate ('cut') to the left on pitching, which is how the delivery is so named.

The delivery can also be used with very little variation, to produce a slower delivery and makes it doubly deceptive.

Answer: Doosra

The word Doosra means "(the) second (one)" or "(the) other (one)" in Urdu, and gained recognition in the 1990's as Saqlain Mustaq began to include this in his arsenal, and followed by other bowlers such as Shoaib Malik, Muttiah Muralitharan and Johan Botha.

The ball is pitched either in line of the stumps (around the off-stump usually) or just outside and turns away from the right-handed batsman. This is the reverse of the off-break delivery (where it turns towards the batsman) and thus is the reason why the Doosra is often called the 'wrong one'.

The delivery has effectively reignited the dying embers of off-spin bowling to such an extent that it has now become one of the most feared deliveries in the off-spinner's arsenal.

Answer: Reverse Swing

Due to the wear and tear of a cricket ball as it 'ages' during a match, it will begin to move quite late in the delivery in the opposite direction to where it would normally swing, without the bowler having to make any significant alterations to his grip on the ball.

Therefore it is possible for an in-swinging delivery to swing in first before moving back outwards as it passes the batsman. As it occurs late in the delivery it makes it difficult for the batsman to judge the changes whilst the ball is in the air.

A simplistic explanation (taken from Wikipedia) of what occurs is taken from the former England bowling coach Troy Cooley:

"Reverse swing is all to do with the deterioration of the ball and the seam position in flight. As the ball becomes rougher, it will take on a different characteristic as it deteriorates. So if you present the ball as an out-swinger, the ball has deteriorated so much on the rough side that it takes on the characteristics of the shiny side. Which means a natural out-swinger will become an in-swinger and conversely, an in-swinger into an out-swinger."