bowling help

[jamesbeattie123]

Hi,So today I played my debut for my school's firsts cricket team. I was obviously trying to impress but i couldn't deal with the pressure. Throughout pre season i've been in the nets, bowling relatively well, but today was a shocker..i bowled three wides in one over for my school firsts debut. I have a problem when bowling in matches i can't seem to transfer anything over from practices, where i bowl well. It was also the first time in about 8 months i'd taken a proper run up. Anyone have any tips or advice, really need to improve if i want to keep my place on the 1sts. I bowl medium pace. I also have an issue with shin splints in my left leg fromcoming down on it when i bowl, any idea how to change my action so that doesn't occur, i realise this may be hard to comment on wothout any video of me. thanks.

 

[Goughy]

Dont change your action because of shin splints. It is a common complaint among teenagers and you dont want to change your action permanently for a temporary condition. Rest is best but if you cannot rest then ice and it is essential you dont overdo bowling - especially on a hard surface like indoor nets.

As for bowling poorly in your first match. Dont worry, it happens to everyone. My first ball in County age group cricket went for 6! Admittedly it was a top edged pull from a ball that beat the batsman for pace and flew over the keeper but it doesnt change the fact that I was so nervous at playing at that level for the first time that my economy rate after my first ball was 36 and wanted the earth to swallow me up

 

[wellAlbidarned]

I know exactly what you mean about bowling like a demon in trainings, then falling apart in games. I frequently dismiss premier team players in trainings yet barely bowled in games for reserves until late this season where I started to figure my game out. In the nets you're literally just bowling each ball in isolation, with no context, and no over structure, so you're naturally not dwelling much on what happened in previous deliveries. When you're in a game things change because the balls you bowl actually matter, so for many bowlers this gets to them and prevents them from bowling in their full-tilt training form because they're worried about what happened in previous deliveries, or what could go wrong. What I've personally found really helps is a simple mindset - pretend every ball you bowl is the first ball of your spell. As soon as you bowl a ball, whether it goes for four, gets a wicket, whatever, forget it happened and put all your resources into the next one. At school level you really don't need to think about bowling to any elaborate plans yet, just aim for a length to hit the top of the stumps and let the natural variation of your stock ball do its work.

 

[Son Of Coco]

To get around the transferring practice form to the game conundrum I'd suggest coming up with a routine you follow in both training and the game. After you've bowled a few in training and things are going well, mark where you're starting your run up from and measure it out (step it out). Then make sure that's how far back you go in a game too. Consistency helps you develop rhythm , and rhythm helps you perform consistently. For as far back as I can remember I had the same length run up and I always measured it out in practice as well as the game. Never really had a problem bowling similarly in the nets and the game itself. You'll tinker a bit with it at the start, but once you work out what a comfortable run up is for you it will only be a matter of inches either way until you settle on something that will serve you for a long time.

It's the same as anything in sport, the more consistent your routine in and around the performance of a skill, the more consistent that skill will become. You said in your post that the game was the first time in 8 months you'd taken a proper run up...what were you doing in practice then?

I'd also be prepared to bet that in practice you're not worried about your front foot and no balls, so you're watching where you want to land the ball, but in a game this becomes an issue because your run up isn't settled. As a result, you're not paying as much attention to where you want the ball to land. Get your run up consistent...it's the source of all good things!