⭐Mild
Batsmen Adapt to Overarm — The Technical Revolution After 1864
English county batsmen generally
1864-10-01
The legalisation of overarm bowling in June 1864 forced a rapid recalibration of batting technique across English county cricket. The higher trajectory and sharper bounce of genuinely overarm deliveries made the forward-play orthodoxy developed against roundarm bowlers less reliable; batsmen who had thrived through the 1850s were suddenly vulnerable to a delivery that was faster, higher and harder to read. W.G. Grace's subsequent domination of overarm bowling was partly a response to this challenge — he developed a technique that worked against all bowling styles.
#overarm-era#early-county-cricket#1860s