Cricket is a sport played internationally in over 100 countries. Two teams face one another in a match, each taking it in turns to bat and field. In the fielding side, bowlers deliver the ball to the batsman who then responds by hitting the ball away. Batting and bowling are complex and dynamic skills which must be practised at length in training. However, due to the demanding nature of bowling, batsmen can train against a machine to face sufficient numbers of deliveries. An advanced training machine is under development at Loughborough University that is capable of delivering technically correct bowling deliveries in a repeatable manner. However, in order to monitor that the machine is generating accurate deliveries, a study to quantify the variability in the delivery parameters of bowlers has been undertaken, and the results are presented in this paper. Eight spin bowlers and ten pace bowlers have been studied. Each bowler was asked to deliver up to five balls, and the results have been analysed and presented. It has been found that the range of ball release speed varies from 17.5-35.0 m/s, the rate of spin imparted by the bowler varies from 11.44-231.22 rad/s, the launch angle of the ball varies from 9.7°above the horizontal to 19.2°below the horizontal and the launch position on the wicket varies from 1.97-2.38 m in height, 61.95 m in width and 0.36-1.79 m from the bowler's stumps.

Cricket bowling has traditionally been referenced using ball release speed, and existing classifications consider the four major bowling types as fast, fast-medium, medium, and spin. A research project based at Loughborough University has recognized the need for an extended bowling classification that not only considers the ball speed, but also its initial flight characteristics, including any spin imparted at release. The purpose of this paper has been the development of an extended bowling classification, which has been used in the development of a requirements specification for an advanced ball delivery system for cricket, to ensure the accurate recreation of technically correct bowling deliveries.Data collected during training and match play have been used to define bowling quantitatively. The initial ball flight characteristics of 30 elite-level bowlers have been filmed in training using a Photron FASTCAM ultima APX high-speed video camera. These videos have been used to determine the speed, the rate of spin, and the initial flight trajectory of the ball at release. Additionally, Hawk-Eye ball-tracking software has been used to investigate the full flight characteristics of seven elite bowlers during a five Test match series.

A study of one right-hand pace bowler and one left-arm wrist spin bowler, during the 2006–2007 Ashes series between England and Australia, has been undertaken to understand better the existing knowledge regarding cricket bowling performance during match play. Data from Hawk-Eye and Feedback Cricket performance analysis software programs have been used to analyse 624 pace deliveries and 949 spin deliveries, bowled to five opposition batters. Pace deliveries have been classified on the basis of the pitching length, and spin deliveries have been categorized into one of four delivery types (the leg break, flipper, slider, or googly). One-way analyses of variance were carried out on all deliveries to determine the differences of statistical significance in bowling. For spin bowling, the speed of the ball at release, vertical release angle, and deviation angle after pitching varied for different delivery types. For pace bowling, the pitching line of the ball became closer to the centre stump as the delivery length became fuller and the ball release angle became flatter towards the horizontal. The outcome of this investigation has been to determine the expected ranges of delivery combinations for both an elite spin bowler and an elite pace bowler during match play.

In cricket, expert batters must develop anticipatory skills to enable them to respond effectively to a delivery by the bowler. The batter is required to judge the delivery and to move into an appropriate position to respond to it within a limited time (i.e. the delivery transit time can be as little as 450 ms for fast-paced bowlers). In training, the batter therefore needs to face numerous deliveries to hone this skill. However, because of the natural variation that occurs in bowling and the high impact experienced by the bowler, bowling machines are often employed to provide numerous similar deliveries for practice and to minimize the occurrence of overuse injuries to the bowler. The purpose of the study presented within this paper was to investigate how the batter reacts differently when facing a bowler and when facing a bowling machine. In a controlled single-subject pilot study a batter faced an unfamiliar bowler and also faced a bowling machine. The batter and the bowler or bowling machine were synchronously filmed using high-speed video cameras operating at 500 frames/s and the reaction of the batter was analysed under both conditions. It was seen that the batter lifted his bat backwards significantly earlier (0.999 s as opposed to 0.838 s before ball release) and lifted his front foot significantly later (0.002 s as opposed to 0.153 s before ball release) when facing the bowling machine and when facing the bowler respectively.

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