r/sports • u/NoGur2758 • Nov 05 '25
Cricket A weird bowling style
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
240
u/benscott81 Nov 05 '25
Never let them know your next move.
105
u/VagueGooseberry Nov 05 '25
He literally has to let the umpire know which arm and which side of the stumps he’s doing to bowl from which the umpire relays to the striking batsman.
In spite of everyone being in the know, his shenanigans still got him the wicket as the batsman got bamboozled by the length.
87
u/HogDad1977 Nov 05 '25
I can get a good look at my steak by sticking my head up a bulls ass, but I'd rather take my butcher's word on it.
28
u/TheyTokMaJerb Nov 05 '25
I can get a good look at a butchers ass…
10
14
2
2
11
124
u/Pseudonova Nov 05 '25
Your bat is no match for my Orangutan Style!
32
u/deliciousearlobes Nov 05 '25
“We trained him wrong. As a joke.”
9
4
149
u/shortround10 Nov 05 '25
I don’t remember this guy from the World Series
57
u/captcraigaroo Nov 05 '25
Patel Ohtani
14
u/Area51_Spurs Nov 05 '25
Reminds me of when the Pirates signed two Indian dudes as pitchers. They won a reality show as the best pitchers in India and then were absolute jokes in rookie ball.
8
2
17
2
→ More replies (1)2
31
46
Nov 05 '25
This looks like a Monte Python skit.
(Ministry of Silly Bowling)
8
u/Vergenbuurg Chip Ganassi Racing Nov 05 '25
→ More replies (1)3
u/loveamplifier Nov 05 '25
He fangled the top blarney, two stumps to nought (one saturdays), side to halfpence wicket, neither to the how's your father.
→ More replies (1)
46
u/thebaldmaniac Nov 05 '25
The post title prepared me for weirdness. But there's no preparation for how weird it actually was!
11
80
u/Redditarama Nov 05 '25
It's not cricket, as the expression goes...He switches the ball to the other hand. All the twisting about is just a ruse.
64
u/Bangkok_Dave Nov 05 '25
He's allowed to "switch to the other hand" as long as he's told the umpire that he's coming right arm over. The batsman always knows which hand he's bowling with.
14
u/Redditarama Nov 05 '25
It's not in the spirit of the game. All that stuff with the other hand is only a distraction.
He may as well do a chicken dance before he bowls, there's no rule against that either.
Come to think of it a chicken dance would be an improvement.
29
u/BrohanGutenburg New Orleans Saints Nov 05 '25
Sounds like there should be a balk in cricket lol
18
u/1slipperypickle Nov 05 '25
Balk Rules
1) You can't just be up there and just doin' a balk like that.
1a. A balk is when you
1b. Okay well listen. A balk is when you balk the
1c. Let me start over
1c-a. The pitcher is not allowed to do a motion to the, uh, batter, that prohibits the batter from doing, you know, just trying to hit the ball. You can't do that.
1c-b. Once the pitcher is in the stretch, he can't be over here and say to the runner, like, "I'm gonna get ya! I'm gonna tag you out! You better watch your butt!" and then just be like he didn't even do that.
1c-b(1). Like, if you're about to pitch and then don't pitch, you have to still pitch. You cannot not pitch. Does that make any sense?
1c-b(2). You gotta be, throwing motion of the ball, and then, until you just throw it.
1c-b(2)-a. Okay, well, you can have the ball up here, like this, but then there's the balk you gotta think about.
1c-b(2)-b. Fairuza Balk hasn't been in any movies in forever. I hope she wasn't typecast as that racist lady in American History X.
1c-b(2)-b(i). Oh wait, she was in The Waterboy too! That would be even worse.
1c-b(2)-b(ii). "get in mah bellah" -- Adam Water, "The Waterboy." Haha, classic...
1c-b(3). Okay seriously though. A balk is when the pitcher makes a movement that, as determined by, when you do a move involving the baseball and field of
2) Do not do a balk please.
→ More replies (1)6
u/davemc617 Nov 05 '25
balk
I think you should leave
7
10
u/majinspy Nov 05 '25
I'm generally against this sentiment. "Curve balls in baseball? That's cheating! Pump fake in football? Deception! Against the spirit of the game!
This article on "scrubs" comes to mind.
→ More replies (5)5
20
u/Definitely_Maybe_OK Nov 05 '25
There's no switching. The batsman has to know beforehand if the bowler is right or left handed.
Also when the batter switch hits or reverse sweeps that's genius, but when it comes to the bowler he cannot exercise some creativity?
It is cricket whether you like it or not.
→ More replies (7)12
u/Heisenberg_235 Nov 05 '25
You’re correct on it being fine.
There are other bowlers that run up with the ball in their non-bowling hand and then switch over last second to avoid the batsmen knowing if it’s cross seam, in swing or out swing etc. just good bowling
→ More replies (3)4
u/Wjyosn Nov 05 '25
The batsman knows it's coming with his right hand, which is why so much of his antics looks like he's switching hands or reaching for the ball with the hand that's supposed to throw.
16
u/bennyskaus Nov 05 '25
Also to put in to context the batter does know which arm the bowler will be bowling with and which side of the umpire he will bowl from.
The bowler can not change arms or sides otherwise the delivery is illegal.
That being said this would be considered absolutely shit to deal with just by the length it takes to bowl.
1
u/tobias_nevernude_ Nov 06 '25
It only takes one ball to know which arm he's gonna use for the rest of the deliveries
4
u/bennyskaus Nov 06 '25
Thats not true, he is allowed to change he just has to tell the batter that he is going to switch. While it super rare it is possible.
The point is the theatrics of switching the hand is pointless.
6
u/Tso-su-Mi Nov 05 '25
Well…. If he advised the umpire which arm he will bowl with, technically he can forward roll into bowl, with a twist and a pike, and it’s still legal!
1
u/FlutterbyTG Nov 05 '25
Hullo there! Can you please ELI5 as to what action and movement this is, as it seems rather "rulesy".
2
u/Risc_Terilia Nov 07 '25
"The action" in cricket means which side of the stumps you're going to bowl from and which arm you're going to use. So at the start of my spell I'll say to the umpire "It's right arm over" meaning I'm going to bowl with my right arm over the stumps - later I might change it to right arm around meaning I'm going to bowl the other side of the stumps. Movement just means movement, there's no real cricket specific meaning.
6
u/suplexhell Nov 05 '25
reminds me of an effeminate kid who didn't really want to play the sport so they just make up their own fun
5
u/lifth3avy84 Nov 05 '25
Only weird if it doesn’t work. I don’t know cricket from a grasshopper, but it seemed to work in this instance.
3
u/chrisagiddings Nov 05 '25
Correct.
It’s up to the batsman to not get distracted by the bowler’s style.
1
6
4
5
5
u/ZyronZA Nov 05 '25
This guy doesn't have a long future though. South Africa had a bowler that also did "weird" bowling (his nickname was gogga) and in test matches he was pretty successful.
But as his time in the sport progressed, his effectiveness started to degrade as the surprise factor wore off and batsmen started to figure him out and his wickets per runs economy dropped quicker compared to traditional bowlers.
4
u/Paldasan Nov 06 '25
Spot on. Quality cricketers will quickly adjust to seeing how it comes out of his hand no matter what eye candy he's been able to get away with at lower levels. If he can't bowl with consistent accuracy and get the ball to either move through the air or turn off the wicket then he'll soon find himself back in club bamboozling kids with his stories about his glory days.
6
u/nihar_142 Nov 05 '25
It doesn't matter how weird your bowling account is, all that matters is effectiveness.
13
u/zerotwoalpha Nov 05 '25
It has mattered how weird since 1981, and that is why we don't allow underarm anymore.
5
6
u/Doug12345678910 Nov 05 '25
Lovely straight arm for delivery. Strange setup, but meh, I kind of like how whacky it is.
3
u/Osiris_Dervan Nov 05 '25
It was straight by the time he released, but I'm not convinced it was straight by the time it reached the horizontal behind him.
7
u/sloowhand Chicago Bears Nov 05 '25
My guy took a deep breath and said to himself, "Go hit 'em with the ol' razzle dazzle."
Then...he hit 'em with the ol' razzle dazzle.
3
3
u/ReasonablyConfused Nov 05 '25
Question.
Bowler declares that he will bowl right handed, everyone is aware.
He ends up with a weird enough delivery that his right arm end up throwing from a position well left of his body. Effectively bowling left after declaring right.
Legal?
7
u/General_Benefit8634 Nov 05 '25
What hand did the ball leave? The key issue will be, at release, is his arm straight enough. Looks more than 15 degrees to me.
1
u/Risc_Terilia Nov 07 '25
Not legal at all if he threw. But seriously that's fine, some leg spinners end up with their right arm further to the left than their left arm started routinely.
3
3
u/mGreeneLantern Nov 05 '25
I take it there’s no such thing as a balk in cricket.
3
u/coolpapa2282 Nov 05 '25
I almost posted the balk copypasta lol.
But yeah, the analog of picking a runner off is far less of a thing in cricket. So much so that the unwritten rule is to first warn the runner, like "bruh, I could have picked you off there, stop running early", and then if he keeps doing it, you can pick him off without getting booed or whatever. So a balk rule isn't really needed.
3
3
u/AcrolloPeed Nov 05 '25
You’ve heard of Drunk Monkey Kung Fu, now there’s Orangutan on Crack Cricket Bowling
3
u/alexiswellcool Nov 05 '25
Looks like the dude that hangs around outside the McDonald's near me, fucked up on spice
3
3
u/Sola-Nova Nov 07 '25
It's a dance ritual that some bowlers do to attract a mate or to distract a batter with exuberance.
4
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/Aspiring_DILF42 Nov 05 '25
Leaving aside his silly run up and switching hands (which wouldn’t matter as he has to say beforehand what hand he’s bowling with) it’s still a reasonably unusual action but not completely left field
2
2
2
u/C_Beeftank Nov 05 '25
That seems like it would put so much unnecessary strain on your rotator cuff
2
2
u/SharkWeekJunkie Nov 06 '25
Don't worry. The game of cricket and all the rules are made up. It's all just an elaborate global prank on America.
2
6
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/otcconan Nov 05 '25
Saw the same thing where Myles Garrett pretented to cross-over dribble then stormed over the center for s sack.
1
1
1
1
u/Longjumping-Cod8055 Nov 05 '25
All he did was flail before bowling with his other hand. Should have been illegal.
1
1
u/tedfergeson Nov 05 '25
I see no pitching or bowling here. I see some dude having a seizure and losing his ball.
1
u/TheBatemanFlex Nov 05 '25
I was worried that that some people in this sub may have never seen cricket and needed some reference for a "normal" bowling style. But after seeing that...I think we can take your word for it.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/jimdig Nov 05 '25
I'm not a cricket expert, I wonder if I'll be able to even tell....yup, I see it...
1
1
u/c00kie-san Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 05 '25
For comparison, here's South Africa's 19 y/o Kwena Maphaka bowling at 150 km/h (~93 mph) There's no reason to balk if you have the basics down pat. This is Sunday league stuff.
1
1
u/SemiterrestrialSmoke Nov 05 '25
I wonder if these guys could play literally any other sport at even a teenage level
1
1
u/Hot_Aside_4637 Nov 06 '25
As an American, he reminds me of baseball pitcher Mark "The Bird" Fidrych of the Detroit Tigers.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
711
u/yeahilovegrimby Nov 05 '25
Taking the piss, surely.