REVERSE SWING

Pioneers and notable practitioners of reverse swing have mostly been Pakistani fast bowlers. Former Pakistan international Sarfraz Nawaz was the founder of reverse swing during the late 1970s, and he passed his knowledge on to former team-mate Imran Khan[1], who in turn taught the duo of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. The English pair of Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones are also well known for the ability to reverse swing the ball having been taught by Troy Cooley [2]. The Indian pace duo of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma, coached by Venkatesh Prasad, used reverse swing, which enabled India to win the home series against Australia in 2008[3].

 

In the early days of reverse swing, Pakistani bowlers were suspected of ball tampering to achieve the conditions of the ball that allow reverse swing, but today they are considered to simply have been ahead of their time.

 

Normal swing occurs mostly when the ball is fairly new. As it wears more, the aerodynamics of the asymmetry change and it is more difficult to extract a large amount of swing.

 

When the ball becomes very old—around 40 or more overs old, it can begin to swing towards the polished side rather than the rough side. This is known as reverse swing (Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones have been known to produce reverse swing in balls as young as 15 overs old[4]). Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma of India also managed to get the reverse swing as early as just 8 overs[5]. In essence, both sides have turbulent flow, but here the seam causes the airflow to separate earlier on one side. The result is always a swing to the side with the later separation, so the swing is away from the seam. (See External Links.)

 

Reverse swing is difficult to achieve consistently, as it relies on uneven wear of the ball, tends to occur mostly in hot, dry weather conditions, and requires bowling at high speed. Normal swing can be achieved at relatively moderate bowling speeds, but only the fastest bowlers can regularly produce reverse swing.

 

Reverse swing tends to be stronger than normal swing, and to occur late in the ball's trajectory. This gives it a very different character from normal swing, and because batsmen experience it less often, they generally find it much more difficult to defend against. It is also possible for a ball to swing normally in its early flight, and then to reverse as it approaches the batsman. This can be done in two ways[citation needed]: one for the ball to reverse in the opposite direction to the original swing, giving it an "S" trajectory; and the other for it to reverse in the same direction making the swing even more pronounced. Either way it can be very devastating for the batsman: in the first instance, he is already committed to playing one way, which is often the wrong way to play swing in the opposite direction; and in the second instance, his stance will have conformed to dealing with the degree of expected swing and could leave him vulnerable to being caught behind, LBW or bowled. Two back to back deliveries from Wasim Akram, one of each type, were considered to be the turning point of the 1992 World Cup Final.

 

Controversy regarding reverse swing has never left modern cricket, as the Pakistani team was accused of ball tampering by the controversial Australian umpire Darrell Hair during the fourth test against England in 2006 when the ball began to reverse swing after the 50th over.[citation needed] His co-umpire Billy Doctrove fully supported him in this action. A hearing subsequently found that there was insufficient evidence to convict anyone of ball tampering.

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