Talk:Bowling (cricket)

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Re underarm bowling. I believe the "lady in a dress" story is folklore. Early underarm bowling was not with a straight arm, but a push from under the armpit - I think the law said that the bowling hand may not be raised above shoulder height. To obtain better velocity bowlers started using the "round arm" method, similar to a standing discus throw but delivered from a run. This was the delivery that was banned initially. It was later accepted, and then the law was later amended so the arm/hand could be raised above the shoulder allowing the bowler more accuracy. From my memory of my book of bowlers ("100 Greatest Bowlers" by Phillipe Edmondes, which I am not going to dig out), WG Grace was a round arm bowler at the start of his career. PS this book also states that the first bowler to master swing was an American, Bart King, who applied the principles of "curving" a baseball to that of a cricket ball. This may be too arcane for inclusion in the main piece, but I thought it worth mentioning.LessHeard vanU 20:52, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

I believe there are references for the "lady in a dress" story, although a name would be good! We have an article on Bart King, btw. Would Phillipe Edmondes be England bowler Phil Edmonds? -- ALoan (Talk) 21:44, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Extending versus Flexing: thoroughly confused…

I am struggling to understand the section on bowling action which seems to have the terms "extend" and "flex" confused (see here for definitions). If "bowlers generally hold their elbows fully extended", how can they then "straighten" their elbow? It would make more sense to say that the elbow starts out fully extended but tends to flex somewhat. I await elucidation eagerly… HTH HAND —Phil | Talk 13:54, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Bowlers (generally) hold their elbows extended as far as they can in a normal static position, but the stress of whipping the arm around during the bowling action can then hyperextend the elbow. Under the original definition, this would be classed as throwing and therefore illegal. Another possibilty is bowlers who hold their elbows slightly flexed at the start of the bowling action and extend it during the motion. The terminology in the article is correct, but not explained the best. I'll try to make this a bit clearer. -dmmaus 23:45, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm similarly baffled. I seem to recall from my childhood days in the UK that the arm must stay straight during the bowling process. Do I misrecall? Septegram 14:39, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

See a long recent discussion of this at Talk:Comparison between cricket and baseball#Bouncing?. Stephen Turner (Talk) 16:49, 29 September 2006 (UTC)