Bowlers please tell me; what is exactly so scary about bowling around the wicket?

I've played club cricket and kept wicket for over 20 summers. I've watched dozens if not hundreds of bowlers from the prime position behind the stumps yet only a few have bowled round the wicket.

And those that have are mostly left arm spinners.

This article is part 1 of a 2 part series. To go to part 2 click here

Is there anything more demoralising on the cricket field than the opposition building a big partnership?

It seems no matter what anyone tries, 2 batsman have got themselves set and are going about the business of scoring runs with scant regard for the 11 men trying their hardest to break their grip.

Imagine a typical dot ball.

Perhaps you are thinking of the opening batsman shouldering arms to a ball outside off stump. Maybe you picture a workmanlike off-spinner having a good length ball pushed back with a textbook forward defensive.

The dot is the DNA of cricket. It happens when nothing else happens. It's part of the unique rhythm of the game. The bit that people who don't understand it scratch their heads and say "this is boring".

In this free cricket coaching video Ian Pont discusses how fast he thinks bowling can get with his brand new, top secret fast bowling method: the drop step and front foot block.

Ian has noticed that 99% of bowlers don't use this method, but most of the really fast ones do. It makes perfect sense to emulate them.