Friday, August 3, 2012

Using crease is integral part of bowling: Ian Pont

By Bipin Dani


MUMBAI (TheSportsNext) August 3, 2012: Steve Finn gets in very close to the stumps when he bowls, according to his one-time coach at Middlesex, Ian Pont.

Speaking exclusively from London on Thursday, minutes after the ICC umpire, Steve Davis called 'dead ball' after Finn dislodged the bails at the non-striker's end, Pont said, "Steve Finn gets in very close to the stumps when he bowls, which comes from an angled run. If Finn continued his run along the line he runs in, he would run down the pitch towards long leg.



"Sometimes, he gets in too tight and this lead to the bails being knocked off. The disadvantage of kicking the bails off also has an impact on potential run outs, too".

"From a technical viewpoint, bowling so tight to the stumps can lead to the top half of the action driving towards gully instead of the off stump as the bowler tries to avoid running down the pitch. In the situation with Smith, this angled run will make Finn feel comfortable as Smith is left-handed", Pont, who was ECB national skills set coach at Loughborough, said.  

"The law is up for interpretation by umpires when a bowler dislodges the stumps or bails in their action. If a batting side complains that it is distracting, the umpire must make a judgement call on that".

The MCC, the Custodian of the laws of the game, will review the Laws following the incident involving the 24-year-old, Finn.  

"I sometimes think it can be preferable to bowl mid crease, angling the ball into the stumps and then nipping it away from a right hander, which creates two angles (in and out) rather than 'old school' wicket to wicket. Bowlers have to become adaptable in the modern game generally. Using the crease is an essential part of the bowler's skill", the former Bangladesh bowling coach concluded.

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