Short of a length (sometimes referred to as "back of a length" or "short of a good length") is a term used in the sport of
cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
. It describes a delivery from the
bowler that pitches short of the optimum length.
Length in cricket defines where the ball pitches on the wicket.
A glossary of cricket terms Cricket News Global ESPN Cricinfo
/ref> A good length ball is one that pitches at a distance that makes it difficult for the batsman to ascertain whether to play the ball on the front foot or back foot. A bouncer is a ball that passes the batsman above chest height. A short of a length delivery is one that pitches in the area between the bouncer and good length balls.
This delivery can be dangerous for a batsman
In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...
as it can bounce higher into the midriff. Also, the delivery can be extremely useful to a seam bowler
Seam bowling is a bowling technique in cricket, in which the ball is deliberately bowled to hit the ground on its seam, to cause a random deviation when it bounces. A bowler who uses this technique is called a seam bowler or seamer.
Seam bowlin ...
. Good exponents include Stephen Harmison
Stephen James Harmison, (born 23 October 1978) is an English former first-class cricketer, who played all formats of the game. Primarily a fast bowler, he represented England in 63 Tests, 58 ODIs, and 2 T20s. He also played county cricket fo ...
and Glenn McGrath
Glenn Donald McGrath (; born 9 February 1970) is an Australian former international cricketer whose career spanned 14 years. He was a fast-medium pace bowler and is considered one of cricket's greatest bowlers and a leading contributor to Aus ...
.
See also
*List of cricket terms
This is a general glossary of the terminology used in the sport of cricket. Where words in a sentence are also defined elsewhere in this article, they appear in italics. Certain aspects of cricket terminology are explained in more detail in cr ...
References
Cricket captaincy and tactics
Bowling (cricket)
Cricket terminology
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