[Arnab]

The Run-up
Bob Woolmer
03 Sep 2004

The basic action will only work if the bowler and his run-up have sufficient momentum and rhythm. For example, take a coin and roll it along its edge; as it slows down, it will start to stall and tip over. The precise force exerted on that coin determines how straight it will run and how long it will stay upright. So the run-up is vital to the success of the bowling action. The run-up will also vary from bowler to bowler. Each bowler must work out what feels right and comfortable for him. His run-up should enable him to release the ball at the moment of maximum momentum, yet while he is still able to control the delivery. If he is going too fast, it will be hard to remain balanced at the moment of delivery, so the ball is likely to spray out of control. Build up your pace while running in ? there is no need to sprint flat-out from the very first stride. You should hit your ideal running speed about three or four strides before delivery.

Just as a long-jumper's approach requires exact measuring, so does a bowler's run-up. Apart from being able to deliver the ball in the correct area, his front foot must cut the popping crease and his back foot must come down inside the return crease. But first, he needs to work out at what point he bowls the fastest, and then work backwards from there.

So, to calculate your optimum run-up, enlist the help of a teammate or friend and then place your self at the popping (batting) crease, with your back to the wicket. The object is to run off into the outfield, and to bowl whenever you feel ready and comfortable. Set off just behind the crease, so that the same foot (it doesn't matter which one, as long as you remember which it is!) hits the crease each time you cross it. Now ask your friend to mark the spot where your front foot landed as you bowled; do this a number of times to ensure that your rhythm is correct. This is now your imaginary bowling crease. Next, work out how many ordinary walking paces there are back to the popping crease --- this is the length your run-up should be. Try this several times, for the sake of certainty; you are now ready to count back from the crease the number of paces you have calculated, and to start running in to the wicket. If you have settled on the correct length, you should not have too much trouble with no balls. In any case, if you are genuinely fast, your coach may advise you not too fret too much about no-balls (with the exception of one-day games!), as this can make a young 'quickie' hesitant. The pace of the run up will vary for a variety of reasons and this may affect rhythm, action and length. For example running into a head wind, up hill soft ground and hard ground, in some cases like Makhaya Ntini, he had to dodge foot holds and his action was affected by this, he grew up jumping away from the target, by practice and sheer hard work, he is probably without question the fittest and strongest bowler in world cricket today, he has managed to conquer and adapt his deficiencies to become an excellent International bowler. So much so that I have to eat my words as I am on record as saying that he would not make it. Clearly I pigeonholed him too early a common mistake among coaches and selectors.

It's worth bearing in mind that although most fast bowlers have an average run-up of around 15 and 30 metres, there is no one ideal length, and there is a great deal of variation among bowlers. Wasim Akram is deadly off a remarkably short run-up; so was Richard Hadlee. (When the latter first shortened his run-up, a journalist complained that New Zealand's heaviest artillery was operating off a pop-gun run-up. But Hadlee had the last laugh, becoming the first bowler ever to take 400 Test wickets.) On the other hand, the run-ups of some of the West Indian speedsters of the 80s, such as Wayne Daniel, started practically on the boundary rope!

Also remember that the length of your run-up is not cast in stone; you might like to experiment with adaptations now and then during your career. Allan Donald made the decision to cut back on his run-up for less significant matches, purely to save wear and tear on his legs --- and found to his amazement, that he was taking more wickets than ever off this abbreviated run-up. Interestingly Allan was the first bowler that I used a stopwatch to time his run up, the reason being that I felt that he was a real rhythm bowler who had an optimum pace that he arrived at the crease, this allowed him to bowl very fast and accurately, when he was bowling at his best I timed him from the moment his lead foot hit the bowling mark to when his front foot hit the batting crease. Allan's optimum time was 2.74 seconds or just within a milli-second of that either way. This allowed him balance at the crease, which enabled him to snap his body through the action creating the searing pace. Because he was balanced at the crease he could bowl out or inswing at will and his length was pretty spot on.
(Dennis Lillee had an unusual approach in that he rehearsed two run-ups; his standard run-up for full-tilt bowling, and another shorter one for those days when he knew his captain would need him for longer spells than usual.)

No matter what the length, the run-up should always be smooth and rhythmical, which means that both feet must start from the same spots at the start of the run-up, and must repeatedly hit the same areas when running in. There must be no "stuttering", and the momentum must be sufficient to drive the action and the ball towards the target accurately.

Edited on, May 23, 2005, 11:51 AM GMT, by Arnab.