A bowler in the sport of cricket is usually a player whose speciality is bowling, analogous to a pitcher in baseball. A bowler who is also a competent batsman is known as an all-rounder.
There are several types of bowlers and most teams will have a variety available in the team to take advantage of pitch or weather conditions or known weaknesses of the opposition.
A fast bowler is usually the mainstay of a team's attack. They will take a long run up before bowling each ball to build momentum and rhythm and can deliver the cricket ball at an average speed of 145 km/h (90 mph).
A medium pace bowler bowls somewhat more slowly and will often have some other weapon in their bowling arsenal rather than relying on speed. This might take the form of being able to swing the ball in the air or disguise the speed or length of his or her delivery to fool the batsman. Some medium pacers are simply accurate; they can repeatedly deliver the ball to a place which forces the batsman to defend rather than scoring runs. Others grip the ball so that it pitches on its upraised seam, which then causes the following trajectory to be awkward or uncertain.
A spin bowler usually bowls quite slowly and puts tremendous spin on the ball causing it to bounce at an angle off the pitch, forcing the batsman to treat each ball carefully. Generally spin bowlers give up the most runs but they all have "tricks" that they use to fool the batsman and get him or her out (such as the arm ball, googly, flipper, topspinner or doosra). Spin bowling is very much about deceit rather than speed.
Bowlers by Country (current)
The following list of bowlers currently represent their country in international cricket.
Afghanistan
Pace bowlers
|
Spin Bowlers
|
All-Rounders
|
Australien
Pace bowlers |
Spin Bowlers |
All-Rounders
|
Bangladesch
Pace Bowlers |
Spin Bowlers |
All-Rounders
|
Nasir Hossain
England
Pace Bowlers |
Spin Bowlers |
All-Rounders
|
Indien
Spin Bowlers |
All-Rounders
|
Irland
Pace Bowlers |
Spin Bowlers |
All-Rounders
|
Kenia
Pace Bowlers |
Spin Bowlers |
All-Rounders
|
Neuseeland
Pace Bowlers |
Spin Bowlers |
All-Rounders
|
Pakistan
Pace Bowlers
|
Spin Bowlers |
All-rounders
|
Scotland
Pace Bowlers |
Spin Bowlers |
All-Rounders
|
Südafrika
Pace Bowlers |
Spin Bowlers |
All-Rounders
|
Sri Lanka
Pace Bowlers |
Spin Bowlers |
All-Rounders
|
West Indies
Pace Bowlers |
Spin Bowlers |
All-Rounders
|
Simbabwe
Pace Bowlers |
Spin Bowlers |
All-Rounders
|
Kanada
Pace Bowler