Our writers pick which seamer most artfully deceives batters in the shortest format in men’s cricket
ESPNcricinfo staff29-Sep-2022Mustafizur Rahman
what fast bowling is about. Taking pace off? Nah, I’d rather you feel the heat. A good slower ball is an act of deception, some way removed from the macho posturing that goes into the standard quick’s shtick. Bowling a cutter is in its own way an admission of defeat. But Archer’s slower ball is in a different category. It is sleek, it is sexy. It slides off the knuckles, via a change of grip during his run-up that is in itself an outrageous flair move. It hovers in the air like a UFO, then dances like a disco ball before your eyes. And when you’re expecting 90mph up your hooter, this chilled pill will make you look like a chump. Batters at the World Cup are getting off lightly.