Death Overs Bowling: Yorkers, Slower Balls and Fields

Why the death overs are different

In the last four or five overs of a T20, or the last eight to ten of a 50-over game, the batting side stops valuing its wickets and starts swinging. Most fielders are out on the boundary, and set batters are seeing the ball well. A delivery that would be a dot ball in the tenth over can go for six in the nineteenth.

That changes what a good over looks like. Early on you want wickets and dot balls. At the death, you want to deny boundaries. Singles are acceptable and often welcome, because the batting side usually needs more than one run a ball.

The bowlers who do well at the death are rarely the quickest in the team. They are the ones who can land the ball in a small area under pressure, and who stay calm when the first ball of the over goes for four.

The yorker: your stock death ball

A yorker lands at or just in front of the batter's toes, near the popping crease. It is hard to get under for a lofted shot and hard to hit with full power. When it is slightly off target, though, it becomes a full toss, which is the easiest ball in cricket to hit for six.

Aim at the base of the stumps, not the batter's feet, and keep your head steady and eyes on the target through delivery. Many club bowlers find it helps to look at a spot just in front of the crease rather than the stumps themselves. Practise with a shoe or a cone at the crease and count how many of every six you hit.

Do not bowl a yorker every ball. Good batters will step away or move across to make room. Mix it with one change of pace or length an over, so they cannot set themselves early.

Slower balls and variations

A slower ball works by making the batter swing too early. The key is to keep the arm speed and the run-up the same, so the batter has no warning. If you slow your action down, a good batter will spot it and wait.

There are several common grips. The knuckle ball is held on the knuckles of the first two fingers. The off-cutter and leg-cutter come from rolling the fingers down the side of the ball at release. The back-of-the-hand slower ball is released over the top of the fingers. Learn one well before adding another.

Slower balls are best bowled full or back of a length into the pitch. A slow ball that is too short sits up to be pulled, and one that is too full becomes a slow full toss. Both are easy runs.

The wide yorker and the bouncer

The wide yorker is bowled full and well outside off stump, close to the wide line. It is hard to reach and hard to hit square, so the batter has to drive along the ground towards fielders. It is excellent against batters who move across their stumps to whip the ball to leg. The risk is straying past the wide guideline, which gives away a run and a ball.

The bouncer is a surprise weapon, not a stock ball. Used once in an over against a batter waiting on the front foot, it can bring a top edge or a dot ball. Know your competition's limits on short balls and above-head-height deliveries, and stay within them. In junior and many local matches, bouncers are restricted, so check before you use one.

Setting a death field

In a T20 after the powerplay you may have five fielders outside the circle. Use them where the batter hits, not where the textbook says. If the batter has hit two sixes over midwicket, that is where a fielder goes, even if it leaves a gap elsewhere.

Then bowl to the field. A field with long-on, long-off and deep midwicket says you are bowling straight and full. If you then bowl short and wide, the field is useless and the captain loses trust in the plan. Agree the plan, set the field, and commit to it.

• Straight yorker plan: long-on, long-off, deep midwicket, deep square leg, plus one of third man or deep point.
• Wide yorker plan: deep point, deep cover, long-off, third man, with fine leg up to save the single.
• Keep a fielder inside the ring at short fine leg or short third if the batter likes to ramp.
• Change the field between balls if the plan changes, and tell the umpire.

Planning the last two overs

The final overs are where clear arithmetic helps the bowling side. Know exactly what the batting side needs, and set a ceiling for each over. If you can keep an over to eight or nine with one boundary allowed, you put the pressure on the last over.

The biggest gift at the death is an extra. A wide or no-ball gives away a run and does not count as one of the six legal balls in the over, so the batting side gets an extra chance to hit. In most limited-overs formats a no-ball is also followed by a free hit, which the batter can swing at without fear of being bowled or caught.

How to practise death bowling

Death bowling has to be practised under pressure, not just in a relaxed net. Put a target on the crease and set a score for the batter to chase off six balls. Count every wide and full toss. Keep a record over a few weeks, and you will see your accuracy improve.

Keep the run-up and action the same as for your normal bowling. If you sprint in faster for the yorker, your rhythm breaks and accuracy drops. Short, controlled sessions of three or four overs are more useful than long ones where fatigue makes the action fall apart. Warm up properly, and keep total bowling loads sensible, especially for young bowlers.

1. Mark the yorker zone with a shoe or cone on the popping crease.
2. Bowl six balls aiming at it and record how many land within a hand-span.
3. Add a batter with a target, for example 12 off 6 balls.
4. Rotate between yorker, wide yorker and one slower ball.
5. Finish with one over where the captain calls the ball and field each time.