Declaration bowling

We continue our acquaintance with popular terms in cricket. Declaration bowling is an intentionally bad throw by a bowler, seeking to pass the throw to the opponent. Thanks to such tactics, teams quickly gain points. As a result, they have a chance to win, and not just a draw.

Declaration bowling: the basic meaning

This tactic is most often seen in limited-overs matches. Cricketers rarely use this strategy in test matches. This is because there is more time to recoup or gradually increase the advantage in test matches.

To do declaration bowling, team coaches most often focus on those players who throw the ball poorly. This tactic is used to avoid being fined for unsporting behavior. Also, the team management tries to protect their leaders from obviously bad throws. Note that this tactic does not always have a positive effect on athletes. There are cases in cricket history when teams trying to recoup with it received devastating defeats.

At the same time, there are some successful examples of using declaration bowling. In 1983, Steve O’Shaughnessy set the century in 35 minutes and brought the Leicestershire club a draw, although the team was hopelessly inferior during the match. No player has yet broken this record.