The Players Entrance

[Colonel Bogey]

Yesterday I was wandering around Stockport and stumbled on this. They have electronic dart boards, full size F1 car and video game to drive round Silverstone and other things, but the one thing that I stood and watched was an indoor cricket thing. A video of a bowler starts at one end and as he gets to the stumps a ball is fired down towards you to hit. It appears that this can be set at different speeds. The bloke in the net had one at 68mph and scared himself to death. Then, as, I think, it was his last go he went for the 90mph ball. I was stood right behind the wickets / net. Jesus H Christ!!!!!!! I never even saw it. And neither did he. The ball hit his bat before he'd even moved. What a great idea!!!!! My respect for top cricketers has now increased massively.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Yesterday I was wandering around Stockport and stumbled on this. They have electronic dart boards, full size F1 car and video game to drive round Silverstone and other things, but the one thing that I stood and watched was an indoor cricket thing. A video of a bowler starts at one end and as he gets to the stumps a ball is fired down towards you to hit. It appears that this can be set at different speeds. The bloke in the net had one at 68mph and scared himself to death. Then, as, I think, it was his last go he went for the 90mph ball. I was stood right behind the wickets / net. Jesus H Christ!!!!!!! I never even saw it. And neither did he. The ball hit his bat before he'd even moved. What a great idea!!!!! My respect for top cricketers has now increased massively.

I faced a delivery from Joel Garner. He simply turned his arm over, no run up. As per my cricket training I had already lifted my bat but never saw it before it hit the back of the net and that was with no effort. Heaven knows how you deal with these guys coming off their run up and delivering in their stride from such a height. Really fancy a go at this now

 

[Hobbit]

If anyone goes to a top class cricket match and watches from side on, have a look how far back the wicketkeeper and slips stand to fast bowlers. They are upwards of 20+yds back.

And then consider how quickly a spin bowler sends the ball down. Typically, its around 45 miles an hour. At 45 miles an hour the ball travels 66 feet in 1 second. 66 feet = 22 yards, the length of a cricket pitch. In that 1 second the batsman has to determine the pitch and spin.

As for facing a fast bowler in local leagues. I played a bit in my 20's and 30's, batting at #3. Pretty much all fast bowlers were ok but on one occasion one club had a pro who was seriously fast. I survived 11 balls on a green wicket that both gripped and skidded. I left the 12th ball as it was well outside off stump, till it jagged back. I never got anywhere near it when I realised it was heading into the stumps - egg/face/stupid.

It was frighteningly quick, and a huge shock.

 

[Pathetic Shark]

I remember when I faced a major league pitcher just warming up. I could really hit in the late 1980s and could handle 80 mph+ with ease. This guy threw in the 90s which was tough but I could still see it and recognise it. Then he threw me a slider that started at my waist and broke a foot over the plate. I was so busy bailing out I never saw it. That was enough for me. Thank you and goodnight.

 

[Mudball]

Agree.. have a lot of respect for all the crickets (even the tailenders) who face such incredible speeds. i just cant work out how folks like Tendulkar, Kohli, Smith (maybe not Smith), Rohit Sharma, Butler, Root can see the ball, get in position and then do what they want to do with it. As a fairly ordinary opening batsman, i can say, all i did was rely on my luck and where I thought the ball would be rather than really knowing where the ball was.

Having said that, I was at an IPL game this year, and it is a circus outside the stadium. They had a VR set where you can face any bowler. You get a bat which you can swing. When you put the headset it looks like you are inside a helmet. I had Bret Lee running up to bowl.. and thats all i saw.. He ran up, swung his arm and the next thing my stumps were on the ground. it all happened in a flash. I faced about 3 balls and there was no change in anything. I tried changing my trigger position, but still no luck... T-I-M-B-E-R

 

[fundy]

We had to use a bowling machine in the good old days for this, and boy did it hurt if you wore one! Used to go up to 99mph which initially was totally scary but over time got progressively easier as you adjusted to it. It certainly made facing bowling in league cricket at 75mph a lot lot easier!

 

[Norrin Radd]

We had to use a bowling machine in the good old days for this, and boy did it hurt if you wore one! Used to go up to 99mph which initially was totally scary but over time got progressively easier as you adjusted to it. It certainly made facing bowling in league cricket at 75mph a lot lot easier!

Never ramped our machine above 90 ,and that was too bloody quick for me ,and even with pads on you certainly felt the ball hit you hard.

 

[Mudball]

We had to use a bowling machine in the good old days for this, and boy did it hurt if you wore one! Used to go up to 99mph which initially was totally scary but over time got progressively easier as you adjusted to it. It certainly made facing bowling in league cricket at 75mph a lot lot easier!

i have a Paceman.. it can do 90kmph. my garden is however smaller than 22 yards, so feels a lot faster, so it feels a lot faster. It can also swing the ball. One day, i got the setting just right and it was delivering an outswing yorker at about 80kmph. There was no way of facing it - even when we knew what was coming. Everyone who tried either saw timber go flying or just edged it. So when batsmen are able to adjust to 6 different deliveries it is epic

 

[clubchamp98]

Went to play tennis once ,my mate was late ,so this young lad said he would fill in until my mate arrived.
Jeez ,I heard the racquet hit the ball but didn’t see it.
“ to quick “ he said and slowed it down ,looked like he was playing my gran he was just making me run everywhere.