What is the best length to bowl in Tests !

[rkt.india]

52 minutes ago, Vilander said:

top of off stump swinging or seaming if possible. why need such a big article for this.

top of off stump is just a phrase. What is that exact length or the most effective length in tests is talked about in this article with evidences.

Edited August 8, 2018 by rkt.india

[express bowling]

3 hours ago, rkt.india said:

Remember, Siraj started quite full in England against WI A and got hit for boundaries. He went for around 5-6 an over in his first spell and then he pulled his length back a little from second spell onwards and has been doing so since then.

 

I wrote about this aspect in that match thread.  Siraj improved his length and pace from the middle of the 2nd spell of that match.

[express bowling]

I was looking at Siraj's video of him bowling in England again.

 

Siraj used to bowl a bit too full in the earlier season.  After starting to bowl good length, he is getting  more bounce and carry too. And that has made him more potent.

[Number]

full/driving length when bowl is moving off the pitch or in the air.

When good bounce is on offer, then just short of full length keep batsman guessing.

When no help from the pitch or conditions then just bowl good length with very tight line.

[rkt.india]

9 hours ago, Number said:

full/driving length when bowl is moving off the pitch or in the air.

When good bounce is on offer, then just short of full length keep batsman guessing.

When no help from the pitch or conditions then just bowl good length with very tight line.

Driving length never work for bowlers. They give more than they get with that length. Good length, you can bowl anywhere in any conditions and you are good.

[Straight Drive]

The length which is such that a batsman cannot decide whether to play on front foot or back foot is the best imo. It's a very good channel for bowlers to operate in as a stock ball. However, it has to be mixed with the odd yorker and odd bouncer so that the bowling becomes more tougher to face apart from increasing chances of wicket.  

[Lala]

Bouncers 

[nevada]

On 8/7/2018 at 10:05 PM, express bowling said:

Create doubt in the batsman regarding whether to play the ball or leave it  ( good line ) ( off stump to 5th stump )

 

Create doubt in the batsman regarding whether to come forward or go back. ( good length )

 

It is this twin doubt which fetches regular wickets.

In addition to the above, the one which pitches slightly outside off and comes back in can trouble the batsmen quite a bit. Josh Hazlewood terrorized our batters with this delivery in the series in India. It was nerve wracking as an Indian fan watching him bowl but as a fan of cricket, tip of the hat to him for being an awesome bowler. 

[rkt.india]

1 hour ago, nevada said:

In addition to the above, the one which pitches slightly outside off and comes back in can trouble the batsmen quite a bit. Josh Hazlewood terrorized our batters with this delivery in the series in India. It was nerve wracking as an Indian fan watching him bowl but as a fan of cricket, tip of the hat to him for being an awesome bowler. 

he bowled well but except one inning where ball kept low, there was nothing to show for him in that series. Yadav was the top wicket taker among fast bowlers.

[express bowling]

4 hours ago, nevada said:

In addition to the above, the one which pitches slightly outside off and comes back in can trouble the batsmen quite a bit. Josh Hazlewood terrorized our batters with this delivery in the series in India. It was nerve wracking as an Indian fan watching him bowl but as a fan of cricket, tip of the hat to him for being an awesome bowler. 

 

Even this delivery works best when some come in and some continue straight on, the 4th to 5th stump.  The batsman tries to play and may edge the straight one.  The batsman can't leave as some are coming in a bit.

[speedheat]

When you have genuine pace 1m of the back end of full length and 1m of the Fuller side of good length (marked with red circle in the pic below)  is the best length or area to hit on any surface in any format... Add some bouncers n yorkers alongside...... Siraj is doing it currently umesh hit those lengths consistently in IPL hence got success 

Edited August 9, 2018 by speedheat

[rkt.india]

Here is what Anderson's length yesterday.  4 out of 5 wickets from 6-8 meter length.  one that very full of Vijay who played a rather poor shot.  he is used to easily see of such deliveries before.  

[rkt.india]

18 minutes ago, MultiB48 said:

all balls arent shown in this map

not all but wicket taking deliveries are there.

[rkt.india]

1 minute ago, MultiB48 said:

murli ball is missing

he took 5 white balls are there, 4 in right handers, 2 in left handers column.  Here is Anderson heap pitch map.  most deliveies in 6-8 meter lengths and Rahane in the PC was saying he was bowling 4-5 meter length.  had he bowled 4-5 meter length, we would not have lost all those wickets and he would have gone for 3-4 rpo. 4-5 meter is boundary length. 

 

 

[rkt.india]

4 minutes ago, MultiB48 said:

 

 

pujara run out ball is shown in white ,only 4 wkts are shown here

you are gong in too much detail here.  Purpose of posting these images was to show what length Anderson bowled mostly in this game. Still on this pitch, a bowler can get away even if he bowls fuller than six meter as ball swung a lot which happens very rarely.    

[express bowling]

In this masterclass of almost pure outswing bowling ( in extremely favourable conditions )  leading to a 5-wicket haul ... Anderson bowled 55% of deliveries on a good length ... 18% short of length ( no bouncers )  and 27% full.  Among the full balls, most were very close to the good length area.

 

Basically, he was bowling good length and commentators were saying, look how full he is bowling.

 

I am getting the impression that commentators ( who either played or grew up in an era of lots of short pitched stuff  )  casually call any non-short-pitched stuff as full bowling.

[rkt.india]

@Pollack

[Cricketics]

If you have a outswing going, then the ball which Bumrah got out on from Anderson in India’s first innings is one of the top deliveries. Yes, if you have a decent middle order bat, he might actually edge that ball to slip. Meanwhile a tailender like bumrah might end up getting squared up or surviving some how by a fluke shot or edging to the third man. If you do not have swing then slightligh outside off or or on off stump is ideal for me at 6-7 meters.

 

However you got to mix it up, and bowl few fuller ones to find a wicket in England. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nikhil_cric]

While I agree with this in general, I think what constitutes a good length varies depending on the bowler, nature of the pitch etc. In Australia and South Africa , on bouncy tracks you have to bowl s touch fuller and in India a touch shorter. Also tall fast bowlers with high arm action need to bowl a bit fuller while shorter bowlers need to hold it back. This what made McGrath an exceptional seamer in my opinion. He could make these very minor adjustments based on the pitches he played on and find that length and that's what made him so effective . The line to bowl is pretty much the same everywhere. Also the with the older ball ,if it's not reversing , the length is held back a touch since it doesn't carry through like the new ball. Peak Steyn is another who made such adjustments but he had such reserves of pace and skill that he was a threat whatever length he bowled 

[rkt.india]

1 hour ago, sarchasm said:

Bumrah is one bowler who could benefit a lot from going a little fuller. So many plays and misses against him but no edge, because he was on the shorter side. 6-7 meter should be his ideal length.

he does not swing the ball. whenever he bowls full, it easy hittable delivery. Strength is seam movement due to wobbly seam which can only attained by hitting good length.