How to Grip a Cricket Ball

The cricket ball is bowled at the batsman's wickets.

The grip on a cricket ball varies throughout the world with different types of bowling and pitch conditions. Dusty, dry pitches in Asia tend to favor spin bowlers, whereas damp, grassy pitches in England suit a fast bowler. Spin bowling is slower than fast bowling but takes time to perfect and risks being hit for a six if the ball does not spin. A bowler may try different ways of gripping the ball throughout his over but the orthodox style is always taught in the basics of cricket.

Things You'll Need

• Cricket ball
• Stumps

Instructions

1. Grip the ball with the index and middle finger at the top and the thumb at the bottom. Hold the ball so that the seam runs vertically between the fingers and thumb.

2. Practice holding the ball with the seam vertical and resting on the third finger and thumb with the index and middle fingers on either side of the seam.

3. Bowl the ball at the stumps and try to land the seam as straight as possible on the pitch. The ball will move quicker from the ground after bouncing off the seam and deceive the batsman.

4. Practice bowling at the stumps to improve your speed and accuracy.

References

• BBC Sport: Cricket, Skills, Swing & Seam - The Basic Grip
• Live India: Cricket Tips & Techniques, Bowling
• Cricinfo: Cricket Carnival

Resources

• Cricinfo: Cricket News, Live Scores and Statistics