Most junior cricket is played on pitches not much shorter than the 22 yards that adults play on. Young bowlers often struggle to bowl with good technique on these relatively long pitches, having to release the ball almost horizontally to achieve the distance, while adults typically bowl downwards at around 7° below horizontal. In this study ball release by 20 junior seam bowlers was analysed when they bowled on two different pitch lengths. It was found that the ball release angle was 3.4° lower on a 16 yard compared to a 19 yard pitch, while other release measures, including ball speed, were not substantially changed. Maintaining ball speed while bowling into the pitch more should enable players to achieve greater success and develop more variety in their bowling.
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