David Frith Presents.....

[watson]

This one hour documentary traces the history of bowling from the 1850s to the late 1980s when it was made. I thought that it deserved it's own thread since it is so good. Believe it or not there is good footage of Wilfred Rhodes bowling and some sound archive of him being interviewed. You also get to see an 80 year SF Barnes rolling his arm over, as well as great leg spinners like Subhash Gupte and Tich Freeman in action. Not to be missed by anyone with even the vaguest interest in cricketing history.

 

[Midwinter]

Thanks
Very good

 

[watson]

Here is the equivalent documentary on batting. It took David Frith two years to hunt down all the relevant footage and is probably the best compilation of archived film anywhere; although I still think that the bowling documentary is better.

 

[zorax]

Awesome. I know how I am spending my friday night now.

 

[stumpski]

I know it might seem like some of us, especially the book team, fawn over him somewhat but IMO David Frith should at the very least have got an OBE (I assume he'd be eligible) for his services to cricket. Certainly they outweigh those of any number of spineless administrators - he really is a guardian of the game.

 

[kyear2]

Great find Watson.

 

[kyear2]

Bowling video was much better. Great to see O'Reilly and nothing is quite like Marshall in full flight.

 

[Goughy]

Ian Botham quietly discovered a time machine?

 

[fredfertang]

Only just seen this - top effort Watson - I've spent years on and off trying to get a copy of the bowling one on ebay without success so delighted you managed to track it down - some interesting actions all round, so I'll warn Brumbers now that he might prefer not to watch it, unless he's in a very mellow mood

 

[kyear2]

Was really impressed by watching Stanley Jackson. What an a among technique.

 

[harsh.ag]

Are we doing the awkward silence on Mailey's action?

 

[fredfertang]

The awkward silence is on Ian Johnson's

 

[watson]

Only just seen this - top effort Watson - I've spent years on and off trying to get a copy of the bowling one on ebay without success so delighted you managed to track it down - some interesting actions all round, so I'll warn Brumbers now that he might prefer not to watch it, unless he's in a very mellow mood

Glad you liked the video fred! I'm amazed that it hadn't popped up on any of my usual Youtube searches before.

 

[watson]

Are we doing the awkward silence on Mailey's action?

From what I can tell Mailey's action is close to perfection both mechanically and aesthetically, so I'm not sure what you talking about harsh?

 

[harsh.ag]

Didn't it seem like a sling to anyone else?

 

[Red Hill]

The awkward silence is on Ian Johnson's

Which is ok because I like Mailey and don't really like Johnson.

 

[fredfertang]

I was surprised at how low some of the bowlers' arms were, Grum in particular - he looked almost to be bowling round arm - I don't think Laith Malinga would have raised an eyebrow if he'd appeared before WW2

 

[Red Hill]

It's how my old man used to bowl in the backyard.

 

[fredfertang]

It's how my old man used to bowl in the backyard.

As did mine, but that was only because if he bowled properly he'd have taken my old lady's washing line out - when he played the game on the village green he used to bowl like Alec Bedser with a handsome cartwheeling sort of action that I tried to copy as well, but with much less success - if he was a poor man's Bedser I was a penniless man's poor man's Bedser, if you see what I mean

 

[watson]

I was surprised at how low some of the bowlers' arms were, Grum in particular - he looked almost to be bowling round arm - I don't think Laith Malinga would have raised an eyebrow if he'd appeared before WW2

Grimmett's arm was lower than Mailey, Benaud, and Warne but it was still high enough to allow him bowl a good top-spinner;

In style Grimmett recalled memories of the days of the old round-arm bowlers but, owing to a pronounced bend over the left hip when he delivered the ball, his right arm was not so low as it appeared to be.

Like all first-class slow leg-breakers he did not make the ball turn too much. He bowled the googly with a clever, disguise of intention, and one of his most successful deliveries was the top-spinner with which he got so many men leg-before. Above everything else, however, he kept a practically perfect length. Only on rare occasions did he send down a loose ball.

A pronounced feature of his attack could be seen in the skilful manner in which he lured a batsman by clever flighting without change of action. Nearly always when a hitter like Chapman went in, Grimmett would toss the ball in the air with a higher trajectory than usual.

Wisden - Clarrie Grimmett