Bowlers are those players in cricket who are tasked with dismissing the batters and restricting their flow of runs. Each bowler has a type of bowling action and a bowling type that suits him or her. Broadly, there are two types of bowlers in cricket: Pace bowlers and Spin bowlers. Let us have a look at how each of these bowling types differ from each other.
Pace bowlers
These are the types of bowlers that can bowl regularly at a high-speed ranging from 130 km/hr to as high as 150 km/hr. The fastest recorded bowl in the history of cricket is 161.3 km/hr. These types of bowlers often bowl at the start of the match as the new ball can swing effectively. The pace bowlers can bowl an in-swing delivery, which means that the bowl swings in the air following a left to right trajectory for a right-handed batter. They can also bowl an out-swing delivery, which sees the ball sway from right to left mid-air for a right-handed batter. Both these scenarios are opposite for the left-handed batter.
Pace bowlers can also bowl a reverse swing. This happens when a ball that has become older is made to shine on one side while keeping another side rough. In reverse swing, the ball swings towards the shinier side as opposed to the traditional swing bowl which deviates towards the rough side.
Based on the pace with which they bowl, these bowlers can be classified as fast bowlers, medium fast bowlers, medium pace bowlers, medium slow bowlers, slow medium bowlers, and slow bowlers.
Spin bowlers
A plethora of bowler types pop up when one talks about spin bowling. Unlike pace bowlers, spin bowlers tend to bowl at a slower pace and the main effect of the spin occurs after the ball has pitched. One of the most important aspects to understand the types of spin bowlers is to know with which hand they are bowling. Let us understand each of these with respect to a right-handed batter (viz for left-handed batsman).
Off spin
This type of delivery is often bowled by a right-handed bowler. The ball tends to deviate from the left to the right of the batsman. If a left-handed bowler is to spin in this fashion, then the bowling type is called “left arm unorthodox” which was previously known as “chinaman.” Left-handed bowlers bowling this trajectory utilize their wrists in order to bowl such a delivery.
Leg spin
This type of delivery sees the ball move from right to left after bouncing. In case a right-handed bowler balls this, he is likely to utilize a lot of wrist action. In case a left-handed bowler bowls, then it is most often finger spin. These bowlers are also called “left arm orthodox” spin bowlers.
Spin bowlers can produce a wide variety of deliveries which can be extremely tricky for the batter to face. These will be discussed in later sections.
