#batting technique

2 incidents tagged

Batsmen Adapt to Overarm — The Technical Revolution After 1864

English county batsmen generally

1864-10-01

The legalisation of overarm bowling in June 1864 forced a rapid recalibration of batting technique across English county cricket. The higher trajectory and sharper bounce of genuinely overarm deliveries made the forward-play orthodoxy developed against roundarm bowlers less reliable; batsmen who had thrived through the 1850s were suddenly vulnerable to a delivery that was faster, higher and harder to read. W.G. Grace's subsequent domination of overarm bowling was partly a response to this challenge — he developed a technique that worked against all bowling styles.

#overarm-era#early-county-cricket#1860s

⭐Mild

William Fennex Pioneers Running In to Fast Bowling — Middlesex v Surrey, 1803

Middlesex vs Surrey

1803-06-15

In a Middlesex v Surrey match at Lord's in June 1803, the Buckinghamshire professional William Fennex did something contemporaries called 'astonishing': he advanced down the pitch to drive the ball before it pitched. Until that moment batters had played strictly from the crease, blocking length balls and waiting for the loose ball to cut. Fennex's running attack is the first recorded use of the technique that became the foundation of modern off-side play.

#regency-cricket#underarm#lord-s-old-ground