Fast bowling

Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling. Practitioners are usually known as fast bowlers, fastmen, pace bowlers, quicks, or pacemen, although sometimes the label refers to the specific fast bowling technique the bowler prefers, such as swing bowler or seam bowler.

The aim of fast bowling is to bowl the hard cricket ball at high speed and to induce it to bounce off the pitch in an erratic fashion or move sideways through the air, factors which make it difficult for the batsman to hit the ball cleanly. A typical fast delivery has a speed in the range of 137–153 km/h (85–95 mph).

Categorisation of fast bowling

It is possible for a bowler to concentrate solely on speed, especially when young, but as fast bowlers mature they pick up new skills and tend to rely more on swing bowling or seam bowling techniques. Most fast bowlers will specialise in one of these two areas and will sometimes be categorised as swing or seam bowler. However, this classification is not satisfactory because the categories are not mutually exclusive and a skilled bowler will usually bowl a mixture of fast, swinging, seaming and also cutting balls, even if he prefers one style to the others. Also, due to pitch and weather conditions, it may be almost unsustainable to bowl to their full potential pace, meaning a fast bowler could average at a high 130 km/h instead of low 140 km/h, or a fast-medium bowler may extract more pace and bowl quicker than their average pace.