Coaches Corner Newsletter
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VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3 COACHES CORNER MARCH, 2016 NEWSLETTER With another exciting BBL and He is currently in charge of the the new WBBL just completed, U17 and U19 NSW Metro teams—who finished 2nd and Pathway Events in Cricket we turn our focus back to the more traditional styles of the 1st in their respective National NSW: game—one-day and Test Championships in October and U15 National Schools Cham- Match cricket. December, 2015. pionships—Brisbane— February 20-28, 2016 This 3rd Edition of the Coaches Also, as part of his role at Cricket Cricket NSW Metro Male and Corner newsletter focuses NSW, Beau assists the NSW Shield side, including the Futures female Academy trials— on—Is it better to teach/coach technique (the process) or how League team, as well as being an March/April 2016. to hit gaps and place the ball assistant coach with the success- (the outcome)? ful Sydney Thunder BBL fran- U16 Male State Challenge— chise. Blacktown— April 11-15, 2016 Page 4 provides some drills which can be used to practice His passion, commitment and hitting gaps; while an article on love for the game is being passed page 5 discusses the ad- on to all ages of players—from vantages and disadvantages of the first class cricketers in the each style of practice. Shield squad to the up-and- coming underage players around the State. Our “Coach Profile” in this Inside this issue: edition looks at Beau Casson— former Test and Sheffield Finally, the middle section of this Shield player. edition looks at REVERSE SWING and how this relatively recent Cricket NSW Coach Profile 2 phenomenon in bowling actually works? After a premature finish to his Article of the Month — 2-3 playing days, Beau has done a Reverse Swing Bowling fantastic job in his new role within Cricket NSW. Drill of the Month 4 Article on outcomes vs 5 process based drills Useful Resource 6 Article of the Month — Dates for the Calendar 6 The article this month— Reverse Swing—looks at the art of bowling reverse? This is often a misunderstood and complicated skill, which not all players or coaches under- stand. Hopefully—this article gives you some further understanding of how reverse swing works and how players can contribute to it happening during certain conditions. Page 2 COACHES CORNER NEWSLETTER Coach Profile of the Month — Beau Casson In this month’s coach profile Since finishing his playing we look at former test spin- days, Beau has began his ner, Beau Casson. coaching career with academy squads for Cricket NSW and As a player, Beau was a slow has recently been announced left-arm wrist spin bowler and as the assistant coach for the useful lower order batsman Sydney Thunder starting this who represented Western season. Australia and New South Click here to listen to Wales in First Class, List A and When we caught up with interview with Coach Twenty20 cricket. Beau also Beau, we talked about the Profile of the Month. earned himself a test call up success of the Sydney Thunder on tour in the West Indies. BBL campaign, his thoughts on coaching, the move from play- Beau took 123 first class wick- er to coach, his recent experi- ets and scored 8 half centu- ences and success with NSW ries. His best figures were U17 and U19 teams; and how 6/64 and his high score was 99 he remains up to date in in his career spanning from coaching today. 2002 to 2011. The Science of Swing? VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3 Page 3 Article of the Month — Reverse swing or super swing? When the power of reverse- confusion is that the direction of swing was finally understood while in 'reverse' swing it goes the seam, supposedly the basis of by the international cricket the other way, away from the the movement, turns out not to be community - it happened in the turbulence, and hence the term. crucial. The most important varia- summer of 1992 when Wasim Differential turbulence between ble in traditional swing is proba- Akram and Waqar Younis the ball's two halves can be cre- bly the angle - the mechanics and ated either by angling the seam made the ball talk all over trajectory - of delivery. England - it was immediately (as in new-ball or conventional labeled an unorthodox skill. swing), or by allowing one half to Who would know more about Other bowlers couldn't do it, scuff up through wear and tear English swing bowling than Ian and the batsmen couldn't play while the other half is kept obses- Botham? In Ian Botham on Crick- it. The technique acquired a sively polished and smooth. et he writes that the direction of sinister and improper air. swing is determined by the dy- Perhaps a more appropriate namics of the bowling action. "I On closer attention, you realise name for reverse-swing would be honestly think that if your action that 'reverse-swing' is actually super swing, because reverse- was very sideways-on it would quite a presumptuous label. swing has super proportions. The still be possible to bowl an out- Who decided which kind of ball moves a greater distance, swinger with the ball held the swing is reverse and which is and with more accuracy, than a other way," he observes. Imran regular? It's a significant ques- ball swung by angling the seam. experienced something similar in tion, because being the reverse In any case, to a batsman who England; in his autobiography, he of something can carry the has just missed the line, the phys- records that it didn't matter how added burden of impropriety. ics of the movement is irrelevant. he held the ball, his natural action Why should the way it swings What really matters is whether made every delivery come into in the subcontinent carry that the ball moved, and how much. In the right-hander. In his crisp mem- burden, and why should the terms of the contest between bat oir, Strike Bowler, Craig McDer- way it swings in England be and ball, the key variable that mott alludes to the same thing. “The direction of swing is considered the prescribed distinguishes the two types of "The key to swing is the way you way? swing bowling, therefore, is not cock your wrist before delivering determined by the dynamics qualitative but quantitative. the ball," he writes. "By varying English fans may not have seen of the bowling action.” It is often said that reverse the angle of the wrist, you change it before, but reverse-swing the direction of swing." had been around in the Test (super) swing is poorly under- arena for a long time. In 1979, stood, but in fact it is a simple The most perplexing thing about Sarfraz Nawaz used it to take and straightforward technique traditional swing is the discrepan- seven wickets for a solitary run that you can try in your own cy between bowling experience in a match-winning spell at backyard. All you need is a ten- and scientific analysis. In 1983, a Melbourne. At Karachi on nis ball, a roll of electrical insula- group of physicists from London's Christmas Day, 1982, Imran tion tape, and a set of stumps to Imperial College led by Dr. Rabi Khan bowled a famous spell of aim at. Cover one half of the ball Mehta conducted a painstaking reverse-swing against India with strips of tape and hold it study of factors affecting cricket during which he was, for all down the center, with the taped ball swing, publishing their results purposes, unplayable. Sarfraz side entirely to one side. For a in the respected scientific jour- and Imran had demonstrated toe-bruising yorker, keep the nal Nature (Volume 303, pages for anyone caring to notice that taped side towards leg and de- 787-788). Using angled-seam reverse-swing enabled unprec- liver the ball aiming for second balls propelled into a wind tun- edented control and movement. slip. About two-thirds of the way nel, they found that the best It allowed the ball to turn cor- the ball will curve like a banana swing took place at speeds of ners, and get into spaces that and crash into the base of middle around 70 mph (112 kph). They didn't even exist, such as the and leg. The faster you are the also found no correlation be- junction between Sunil Gavas- better, but you don't have to be tween swing and air dampness or ker's bat and pad. very quick to create the effect. humidity. Any swing imparted by To bowl a menacing outswinger, the mechanics of the bowler's arm Ian Chappell, cricket's foremost keep the taped side facing off and wrist may not have been logician, has frequently argued and aim for fine leg. The physics fully modelled in the experiments. that qualifying swing bowling is elementary. The smooth, taped It is a reflection of the complexity with appellations like 'reverse' side creates less turbulence than of swing bowling that despite or 'regular' is pointless because, the uncovered, rough side of the rigorous scientific scrutiny, ques- tennis ball. Less turbulence means basically, it is all just swing - tions remain unanswered. lateral movement of the ball lesser resistance, and the ball while in flight. The argument is moves in that direction. Super swing is simpler to under- sound, but the term 'reverse' stand, easier to learn, more accu- Pakistan bowler— remains entrenched. If there is any kind of swing rate, and perfectly reproducible.