This is a thorough and enlightening study of the ways a cricket ball can be made to deviate both in the air and off the pitch, a study that is firmly grounded in the author's comprehensive scientific research. Brian Wilkins can now demonstrate why many popular and widely accepted explanations of the sometimes bewildering topics of spin, seam, swing and swerve are so inadequate. His pioneering scientific enquires have enabled him to clarify the ambiguous bowling terms such as "arm-ball", "bosey", "googly", "flipper" and "top-spinner" that pervade the game's vocabulary.
In bringing together and comparing the great exponents of the past with their modern-day successors, the author has written an intriguing account of the art of bowling from the late 1700s to the present day. With refreshing originality this book provides indispensable reading for administrators, groundsmen and cricket writers and historians, as well as for batsmen, every type of bowler and coaches. It will also be of immense interest to all cricket lovers.
