Cricket Bowling Tips:
South Africa’s Dale Steyn setting up England’s Ian Bell for a dismissal with superb fast bowling strategy and execution.
In first class and Test cricket we talk about ‘constructing an over’ in cricket bowling strategy
What this really means is how the bowler sequences each ball to create pressure and force the batter into an error of judgement.
The error in judgement ideally comes from the creation of pressure, leading to his dismissal.
Focus, judgement and shot selection are the key building blocks of the batters game plan… how the batter focuses shapes his judgement, from judgment comes shot selection.
The bowler’s job is to build pressure on the batter through consistent control and accuracy, with the goal of leading the batter into error.
Cricket Bowling Tips: Dale Steyn
This clip of Dale’s is delightful to watch as a coach, this is the exact structure to an over that the Titans bowlers used to go over and over in training, particularly the young bowlers as they learnt how to set a batter up for his dismissal.
I was fortunate as a coach to have Alfonso Thomas as the opening bowler with Dale when I started at the Titans, he was a wonderful, genuine swing bowler who has done well with Somerset since moving to play cricket in England.
He was a master at this sequence that Dale uses against Ian Bell.
Alfonso used to call it the goof-gang, it was to swing the ball away consistently from the right hand batter to drag him across the crease in the first half of the over, setting him up for the inswinger or nip-backer for the lbw or bowled dismissal on the fourth or fifth balls of the over.
Alfonso used to get the South African batter Neil McKenzie like this reguarly, the irony was that Neil always knew it was coming but still got out to it.
Cricket Bowling Tips: Dale Steyn
The fast bowling strategy to the over goes like this:
Ball 1. Off Stump and just outside, swinging away, good line and length – ideally not full enough to drive, not short enough to cut or pull.
Ball 2. Off Stump and just outside, swinging away, good line and length – ideally not full enough to drive, not short enough to cut or pull.
Ball 3. Off Stump and just outside, swinging away, good line and length – ideally not full enough to drive, not short enough to cut or pull.
Balls 4 and 5 are the wicket taking balls.
The first three balls are building pressure on the batter, he wants to score, the field is set to control the off side and he knows that he needs to be patient, if he chases the away swinger he can get caught at slip, gully and in the off side.
Ball 4. Inswinger or nip backer for the LBW or bowled through the gate.
Or can be quicker ball to hit the splice or a bouncer to push the batter back, not a drive ball.
Ball 5. Inswinger or nip backer for the LBW or bowled through the gate.
Ball 6. If there is no wicket then the bowler closes the over down to hand over the pressure he has created to the bowler at the other end.
Most typically with another ball that swings away or is back of a length to hit the splice. A well directed bouncer can also be good to close the over out with. No drive balls.
Cricket Bowling Tips: Dale Steyn
The Richard Hadlee variation on this theme, which was central to his success as one of the greatest swing bowlers of all time was to bowl what he called the ‘dangly’, a ball which was wider and swinging away on ball four or five of the over.
I watched Hadlee use this to devastating effect in a NZ tour game against Worcestershire in the early 1980’s.
He cleaned up the Worcester top order with a mesmerising display of swing bowling, you’ll find him discuss this bowling tip in detail in his wonderful book “Doing the Double” … his record of how he got 1000 runs and 100 wickets for Nottinghamshire in a county cricket season.
Dale Steyn : Boy From The Bush
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About Richard Pybus
I'm Richard Pybus, I've coached Pakistan, Bangladesh, Middlesex, Titans and the Cape Cobras in South Africa and the goal of this site is to help you to play winning cricket.