It's the ball that either takes a great deal of skill or a total lack of it.
And it's been banned in English county cricket, but crucially not by the Laws making it a legal ball in club and school cricket.
It's the double-bouncing ball.
Origins of the double-bouncer
Anyone who has played a questionable standard knows the double bouncing ball well. It's the hallmark of the occasional or beginner player. Also see: black trainers.
Some people think it is a no ball. However, Under Law 24.6 of the game the ball is permitted to bounce twice and only becomes a no ball on the third bounce.
Nevertheless, tradition dictates that the batsman smashes the filth to the boundary.
Tradition also dictates that such a ball is also a wicket-taker as the astounded batsman doesn't know how to deal with it. He swings to early and missed it altogether or hits it up in the air.
I don't know for sure, but I'm willing to bet that was the genesis of the idea developed by the Warwickshire bowling coach Graham Welch: To bowl one deliberately in T20 cricket.
The killjoys at the English Cricket Board quickly banned it in the county game; despite the MCC (the official lawmakers) saying it's a perfectly acceptable bowling variation.
Is it a ball to develop?
What that means is the double-bouncing ball is still legal in most games.
So should you try and bowl it as a variation at the death or in Twenty20?
It would certainly be fun to try, but it wouldn't be easy to do on purpose as there is not much margin for error.
The first bounce must be dead on. If it's too short you end up with three bounces (and a no ball). If it's too full it's a long hop that a fielder has to retrieve from the pavilion roof.
The ideal would be a ball that reaches the batsman at yorker length on the 2nd bounce and hitting the stumps. It would be coming very slowly compared to your normal delivery but because of the length would be hard to hit.
As a shock ball at the end of an innings it's hard to fault. At the right, pace, length and line it is very hard to hit and very easy to get out to.
But don't head out to the nets just yet.
It would take quite some work to perfect as getting it wrong is a disaster.
My question to you would then be, if you are working on a shock variation, wouldn't a more traditional inswinging yorker or slower ball be just as effective against the standard of batsman you are up against?
I would guess in most cases, the answer is 'yes'.
In my mind perfecting a yorker would be easier and just as effective, and something I would encourage anyone I coach to work on first.
But if you are going to work on the double bouncer (and I applaud you if you do, cricket needs such ridiculousness) then don't just try it in a match. Take a box of balls to the nets, mark your target area with flat discs and get to work.
You will be at it a while.
But let's not just get my opinion. After all, I'm a 'keeper who has never bowled a ball in a competitive match at any level.
What are your thoughts on the double-bouncing ball?
Have you tried it? How did it go? Are you prepared to practice it?
Leave a comment or chat to us through facebook.
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