What Are the Different Types of Bowling in Cricket?

Most bowling can be classified as pace, seam, swing, or spin. The styles have different benefits depending on the game situation and each may be more likely to achieve particular types of dismissal.

Most descriptions of a bowler refer either to the speed of their delivery, the way they attempt to target the ball, or both.

The closest thing to a generic bowler with no specialist skills would be a medium-pacer. The main skill here is the ability to consistently have the ball pitch (bounce) in the same spot, both in terms of length (distance from the batter) and line (the angle to the stumps).

Most bowlers, regardless of their style, benefit from this ability. It’s particularly useful for more patient bowling, such as in first class matches, where tactics include consistently bowling so that the ball will pass just outside the stumps. This may trick the batter into thinking it is safe not to attempt a shot, at which point the bowler can change their delivery and aim at the stumps.

Specialist styles of bowling are more likely to get wickets in a particular way, meaning they may be more suited to targeting particular batters, or in particular situations such as a deteriorating and unpredictable pitch.

A pure fast bowler aims to make it hard for the batter to judge the ball’s movement and react in time. This leaves them particularly vulnerable to being bowled or mishitting the ball high so that it drops before the boundary and can be caught.

Most fast-medium and medium bowlers use swing or seam tactics. A swing bowler aims to make the ball move across the wicket in a curve (rather than in a straight angled line). This makes it harder to judge the angle and position where the ball will arrive, making batters particularly vulnerable to LBW.

Seam tactics mean aiming to have the ball hit the ground seam-first, meaning it will bounce off at a less predictable angle. This also makes LBW a stronger possibility.

Slower bowlers tend to use spin tactics. This means using the positioning of the fingers and the timing of release to attempt to make sure the ball is spinning as it bounces, rather than simply travelling at a straight angle. This can make it more likely a batter, particularly a less skilled one, hits the ball with the edge rather than the face of the bat. When using a spin bowler, teams will often have several players in slip, gulley and short positions to take advantage of the miscues.

Spin also makes stumpings more likely. That’s because batters have more time to judge the ball and feel more confident in moving forward (out of their crease) to hit the ball, potentially before it can bounce. The slower bowling of spin also makes it more likely the wicket keeper will stand directly behind the wickets for the delivery, which is usually necessary if they are to react quickly enough to stump a player.

Slow bowlers often specialise in a particular type of spin bowling. The main distinction is between leg spin and offspin. Rather confusingly this refers to where the ball pitches, not where it then goes. Leg spin pitches on the leg side and then spins towards the off side, meaning that if you are watching a right-handed batter from the bowler’s perspective (as shown on TV), the ball spins away from the bowler to the left. Off spin is the other way round, meaning the ball spins towards the batter. As a very generalised rules, leg spin is more likely to lead to a catch with the bowler reaching to hit the ball and mis-hitting it. Off spin is more likely to lead to an LBW with the surprised bowler missing the ball and it hitting their legs.

Leg spin and off spin are also called wrist spin and finger spin respectively, which relates to the technique used by the bowler.