Lob bowling
Encyclopedia
In cricket
, Lob bowling is a largely disused style of bowling. It became illegal under Law 24.1 to use underarm bowling
without prior agreement before the match.
The last regular bowler of lobs in international cricket was George Simpson-Hayward
in the period before the First World War and he bowled under arm bowling with a lower trajectory than most earlier lob bowlers, imparting great spin to the ball with constant variation of pace as well.
Others famous "lobsters" include Digby Jephson
. As an underarm bowler he had an action a little like setting a wood in crown green bowling.
It was used in the game in the 19th Century, where trajectory
was the most important consideration. Lob bowlers, both right and left-handed, sometimes attempted to pitch the ball on the stumps from as great a height as possible, preferably with the ball descending behind the batsman standing at the crease.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
wrote a story about a similar style of bowling called The Story Of Spedegue's Dropper
Today the laws pertaining to the bowling of "beamers
" would be likely to render that kind of bowling illegal, and it would probably be deemed a no ball
. In accordance with Law 42.6b(ii), a slow ball, that passes the batsman's shoulder height on the full is a no ball (a fast ball can not pass above the waist on the full (Law 42.6b(i))).
Lob bowling is still sometimes found in village cricket; these deliveries are known as donkey-drops. More usually these are over-arm deliveries ; but round-arm is also possible and would more closely approximate a traditional lob.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, Lob bowling is a largely disused style of bowling. It became illegal under Law 24.1 to use underarm bowling
Underarm bowling
In cricket, underarm bowling is as old as the sport itself. Until the introduction of the roundarm style in the first half of the 19th century, bowling was performed in the same way as in bowls, the ball being delivered with the hand below the waist...
without prior agreement before the match.
The last regular bowler of lobs in international cricket was George Simpson-Hayward
George Simpson-Hayward
George Hayward Thomas Simpson-Hayward was an English cricketer who played in 5 Tests in 1910...
in the period before the First World War and he bowled under arm bowling with a lower trajectory than most earlier lob bowlers, imparting great spin to the ball with constant variation of pace as well.
Others famous "lobsters" include Digby Jephson
Digby Jephson
Digby Loder Armeroid Jephson was a cricketer who played for Cambridge University and Surrey. Jephson was a right-handed middle order batsman. But his enduring fame rests on his reputation as one of the last lob bowlers, bowling slow right-arm underarm lobs...
. As an underarm bowler he had an action a little like setting a wood in crown green bowling.
It was used in the game in the 19th Century, where trajectory
Trajectory
A trajectory is the path that a moving object follows through space as a function of time. The object might be a projectile or a satellite, for example. It thus includes the meaning of orbit—the path of a planet, an asteroid or a comet as it travels around a central mass...
was the most important consideration. Lob bowlers, both right and left-handed, sometimes attempted to pitch the ball on the stumps from as great a height as possible, preferably with the ball descending behind the batsman standing at the crease.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
wrote a story about a similar style of bowling called The Story Of Spedegue's Dropper
Today the laws pertaining to the bowling of "beamers
Beamer (cricket)
In the terminology of the game of cricket, a beamer is a type of delivery in which the ball , without bouncing, passes above the batsman's waist height. Such a ball is often dangerously close to the batsman's head, due to the lack of control a bowler has over high full tosses...
" would be likely to render that kind of bowling illegal, and it would probably be deemed a no ball
No ball
In the sport of cricket a no ball is a penalty against the fielding team, usually as a result of an illegal delivery by the bowler. The delivery of a no ball results in one run to be added to the batting team's score, and an additional ball must be bowled...
. In accordance with Law 42.6b(ii), a slow ball, that passes the batsman's shoulder height on the full is a no ball (a fast ball can not pass above the waist on the full (Law 42.6b(i))).
Lob bowling is still sometimes found in village cricket; these deliveries are known as donkey-drops. More usually these are over-arm deliveries ; but round-arm is also possible and would more closely approximate a traditional lob.