The slope at Lord’s Cricket Ground has always tested both the batsman and the fast bowlers over the years. The condition has always asked for adjustment from the fast bowlers and the batsman.
It is 8 feet from the top to the bottom running down help from the left of the Lord’s balcony and diagonally across the page to the left of the media box.
The slope as always favored the fast bowlers even if The Wicked is flat they get some movement of the wicket when bowling up the hill or against the hill. The in swing bowlers have great advantage due to this slope. Due to this the bowlers who usually bowl outswing prefer to bowl a little wider of the off stump while bowling from the Pavilion end.
Greats identified the benefit for Fast Bowlers at the Lord’s Cricket Ground
Glen McGrath, the Australian fast bowler, eight years ago in an interview told how to bowl exceptionally well at Lord’s.
“This ground is tailor made for my style of bowling. It’s got the slope going left to right and I bowles from the Pavilion and I think that I can hit the Wicket just outside the off stump some hold the line going up the slope and the others hit the wicked and come back down the slope. Batsman did not really know which one it’s going to be as long as I got the length right . The line and the length were the key here.”
The Indian batting Legend Dilip Vengsarkar who has got 3 test tons to his name at the Lords told an interview that the venue can confuse the batsman although refused to read too much into the matter.
“It’s not that the ball would come into the right hand with the slope and would move away up the hill. You cannot play there with a preconceived notion. You have to play every ball on merit. In England the ball swings also. The important thing is to not think about the slope much and score run . Playing late is the key. I never felt like the slow was impacting my batting”, Dilip Vengsarkar on slope at Lord’s.
In the 1983 World Cup final at Lords against India ,the West Indian batsman Gordon Greenidge got out to fast bowler Balwinder Singh Sandhu on his in swing. The ball nipped back and hit the stumps. That was the price wicket and from there the game turned on and India went on to win the 1983 World Cup.
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” If you are batting at the pavilion end, generally the ball would be going down the slope, if the bowler is good enough to nip it back to you that makes it even harder to play”, former England batsman Taylor.
It is very important to have the right balance when batting with the front food and the head going towards the ball and not across.
From the nursery end, the inward movement of the ball becomes great which is usually described as danger ball. Playing beside the line of the ball rather than staying behind the ball reduces the threat of being getting out.
Who are the Leading Wicket Takers at the Lord’s Cricket Ground?
1)- James Anderson – 110 Wickets : Fast Bowler
2)- Stuart Broad – 95 Wickets : Fast Bowler
3)- Sir Ian Botham – 69 Wickets : Fast Bowler
4)- FS Trueman – 64 Wickets : Fast Bowler
5)- RGD Wills – 47 Wickets : Fast Bowler
Top- 5 Leading Wicket takers are the fast Bowlers at the Lord’s Cricket ground and intrestingly 8 out of the top-10 are of same kind. So this clearly show the dominance of Fast Bolwers at the Lord’s Cricket Ground.
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