In the modern era, ‘the gentlemen’s’ game’ has more often started to be known as the ‘batsmen’s game’, diminishing the role played by the bowlers without whom cricket cannot be played. Advancement in the quality of bats and with the advent of the T20 format, bowlers are battered all around the ground.
It becomes essential for bowlers to have weapons in their armour that can be potent enough to counter the batting excellence at display. Bowlers these days have developed certain variations, apart from their stck deliveries, that can help them outfox the batsmen.
One such formidable variation is the slower delivery or better known as the ‘slower one’, that fast or medium pace bowlers use to surprise batsmen.
It was initially brought into use by New Zealand’s Chris Harris, who had considerable success using it. Other famous and effective exponents of the slower ball in the 1990’s and early 2000’s were Chris Cairns, Steve Waugh, and Ian Harvey, to name a few.
Here are the top 5 modern masters of the art of slow bowling.
#1 Dwayne Bravo
It is no surprise that Dwayne Bravo features in this list, as he is at present, one of the best exponents of the slower ball all over the world. Delivering the ball with a quick arm action, he hardly gives the batsmen a clue about the changed pace of the ball.
The wily bowler that he is, Bravo very cleverly mixes up his bowling speeds and his execution of the slower delivery is second to none. The thumb and wrist do the major task.
He breaks his wrist, which rocks back at the point of release and it is the wrist position that imparts revolutions to the ball and makes it back-spin and dip. The deadliest part of Bravo’s slower ball is the dip.
The ball is released from a height above the eye-level of the facing batsman and thus the batsman expects it to be a full toss but the dip results in Bravo claiming his victim by beating him underneath his bat. This situation is perfectly described by his wicket of Ben Stokes in the group match against England in the ICC WT20 2016.
He is the go-to man for the captain in wicket taking situations and even in the crunch death overs of the game. He is the highest wicket-taker across all T20’s, and his 341 wickets are a testimony to the fact that he is a batsman’s nightmare in the fastest format.
The winner of the Purple cap in the 2013 and 2015 editions of the IPL, Bravo has also played instrumental roles in the two ICC WT20 titles West Indies have won.
#2 Mustafizur Rahman
Known as ‘the Fizz’, Mustafizur Rahman is the latest bowling sensation in the cricket world. Since his debut against India in June 2015, he has taken giant strides in international cricket.
He has bamboozled batsmen with his slow balls and off-cutters and he is yet to be worked out as far as the batsmen are concerned.
He bowls the slower one similar to how an off-break bowler would deliver it; the difference being that his ball comes at a pace of around 125 kmph. The reduced pace does not compromise much with the bounce as edges have been seen easily carrying into the keeper’s gloves.
Rahman is very accurate with his length of the slower ball, as it is full enough to lure the batsman into a drive but not full enough for the batsman to counter the turn with a forward stride. He bowls it on the leg stump so that the batsman does not get room to hit big.
The part of his bowling that makes him most deceptive is that he delivers the ball with exactly the same arm speed. It is almost impossible for a batsman to judge the pace of the ball.
The only variation seems to be the subtle change in grip and the breaking of the wrist at the point of release when he delivers the ball.
He is a great asset to any bowling unit and played a vital role in Sunrisers Hyderabad winning the 2016 IPL. He has picked up 26 wickets in 9 ODI’s with an impressive average of 12.35.
His economy rate of 6.02 in T20’s is unparalleled. His sheer genius with the ball makes Mustafizur someone to look out for in the years to come.
#3 James Faulkner
The Aussies have produced some of the best fast bowlers in the world who have shattered batting attacks with pace and swing. However, on slow and sluggish pitches like those of the sub-continent, Australian pacers are often rendered ineffective.
James Faulkner lends this variety to their attack, as he is a crafty bowler who acts as the perfect foil to the likes of Mitchell Starc, as he has mastered the art of changing the pace of the game.
He bowls the back-of-the-hand slower ball with such accuracy that it often leads to fall of wickets in crunch situations. His slower ball deliveries don’t seem to come on and the batsman is forced into playing a rash shot.
He has 3 five wicket halls in T20 cricket and an impressive strike rate of 14.85.
In the final of the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, Faulkner bowled a superb slower one to get rid of the well-set Ross Taylor, that led to the wrap of the New Zealand innings.
He was awarded Man of the Match in this all important match for his figures of 3/36. His other notable performance was against Pakistan in the 2016 ICC WT20 where he bowled 16 of his 24 balls as slower balls.
He picked up 5/16 in his match and it established him as one of the best slower ball bowlers in the present generation.
#4 Lasith Malinga
‘Slinga-Malinga’ is well past his prime but he deserves to feature on this list as he was a revolution in deceptive slow ball bowling. Malinga had mastered the slower ball yorker, a considerably difficult ball to bowl.
And this ball remained the fear of batsmen across the world as Malinga bowled it with precision – right on the toe of the batsman.
The pace variation was even more lethal in Malinga’s case as he delivered the ball with the unusual round arm action that took batsmen by surprise each time he came on to bowl. The action coupled with the change in pace, brought about by subtle variation in arm speed, left the batsman guessing as to what pace the ball would come at them.
A perfect example of this is Warner’s wicket in the 2015 ICC World Cup match where Warner had gone through with the shot even before the ball had arrived, handing a simple catch at extra cover.
He not only induced false shots,but also got batsmen out bowled with the slow ball yorker, which beat batsmen below the bat before crashing into the stumps.
He won the Purple cap for the 2011 edition of the IPL and took Sri Lanka to the title of the ICC WT20 2014 under his captaincy.
An economy ate of 6.68 in IPL and one of the leading wicket takers in T20 cricket, Malinga remain one of the best exponents of the slow ball in the modern era.
#5 Mitchell McClenaghan
Mitchell McClenaghan may be a surprise entry into this list but his art of changing the face of the match by mastering the skill of using variations cannot be ignored. His height and burly physique compliment the type of bowling he is famous for, most of which is short and fired into the pitch.
Preferred by New Zealand over Tim Southee and Trent Boult because of his ability to bowl on the slowish Indian tracks in the ICC WT20 2016, McClenaghan did not disappoint as he played a crucial role in taking the Kiwis to the semi-final.
He bowled a spell of 3/17 against Australia in their group match that won him the Man of the Match award. This included the wicket of the dangerous looking Watson, who was out to a perfectly disguised slower one.
The joint second fastest to 50 ODI wickets, McClenaghan has the off cutter and the leg cutter in his armoury, which makes him a huge asset to his team. Coupled with tight lines and the bounce he generates with his height, the slower ball often leads the batsmen to play wrong shots and fall into the trap set by him.
His slower ball came to the rescue of his IPL team, Mumbai Indians several times, as he picked up 18 wickets in his debut season in 2015. This also included a match-winning 3/25 in the final versus Chennai Super Kings.
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