Bowling is one of the most thrilling parts of cricket, especially fast bowling. It is indeed a very taxing and challenging task for a fast bowler in cricket but still, the audience are surely going to enjoy the show when they see a pacer storming in his run-up to pitch the ball with full power.
It’s quite known that cricket is mainly a batter’s game, however, the power struggle between an express pacer and a batter is something everybody would love to watch. This conflict between bat and ball not only adds a different element of excitement and thrill to the match but also attracts all the viewers and neutrals alike as it becomes an ineluctable watch.
Having said that, many of the fast bowlers put in all their effort to get a batsman out by trying to bowl at his/her full speed, but have you ever thought about how the speed of the bowling is calculated in the game of cricket?
What is the Method for Bowling Speed Calculation?
The fastest ball ever recorded in international cricket was bowled by Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhter, who reached an incredible 161.3 Km/h during the ICC World Cup 2003 game against England. And no bowler has achieved such a record in over two decades since then.
Which brings us to the question, how is the speed of the bowling or the speed of the bowlers measured in cricket?
The solution is really straightforward. The speed of the bowler while throwing the ball is computed with the aid of two instruments – one is by monitoring the velocity of the ball with a radar or speed guns, and the other is the HawkEye technology.
Speed Gun
To begin with, the Speed Gun shows us how the ball’s speed is measured.
It has been recorded that this was a discovery made in 1947 by a man named John Baker. The whole concept is based on the Doppler effect; there is a transmitter and a receiver.
In cricket, the speed gun will be mounted on a high pole next to the sight screen which is positioned directly behind the bowler’s arm. The speed gun then sends a radio wave towards the pitch and while the bowl is being bowled, it can easily track the speed of the ball.
Radar Gun
In the same way, the Radar Gun operates on the same principle. The only difference is that this one can separate the different objects on the pitch from the ball due to its image processing mechanism and consequently, it only reports the ball’s speed. The cricket game has employed this technology to determine the speed of the ball bowled by the bowler.
These technologies have been very beneficial for cricket; the Speed Gun has always measured and reported the right speed for the ball delivered by the bowler. The moment the ball leaves the bowler’s hand, the Speed Gun snaps the measurement right away. The first notable occasion when a speed gun was used for measuring bowling speed was in 1999.
HawkEye
HawkEye is another-technique that has been employed in cricket for a long time now and can track ball speed. Paul Hawkins is the creator who introduced this computerized system in sports like football and cricket.
This technique provides the means for determining the pace of an object in motion, and with particular reference to the ball released by the bowler. HawkEye, having been in cricket since 2001, utilizes the setup of six cameras to ascertain the precise speed and 3D coordinates of the moving ball.
Among others, the main ones are ball tracking which helps the umpires in deciding on leg before wicket (LBW) cases. Also, it is important to note that the accuracy of HawkEye is limited to a circle with a radius of 5 mm.
