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Deliveries can be classified into one of the following:
 Beamer:
Head high full toss. As it hasn't bounced, it is that much faster, apart from
being difficult to pick up as the line is so different -- more difficult than
one thinks. 'When he let go of that ball, I just didn't see it,' said Mark
Ramprakash, who received one such ball on his visor from the fast-medium Glenn
McGarth, in the bright light of the Perth Test, while making 72 in 1995.
Full toss:
Ball not pitching at all. Like the long hop this delivery is looked upon by
batsman as a 'gift'
Yorker:
A delivery that yorks the batsman. It lands on the popping crease, or even
further up, at the base of the stumps. The batsman cannot get his bat down in
time, often thinking it is half-volley or full toss. The 'Yorker' is a very
effective wicket-taker ('bowled'), if delivered with a little extra pace. A
'surprise delivery that can easily become a full toss or half volley.Notable
exponents: Jeff Thomson with his 'sandshoe crusher', Curtley Ambrose with
height, Waqar Younis with late-in swing. F. S. Trueman's yorker started on the
leg-stump and moving late uprooted the off.
Half volley:
A ball pitching beyond a good length near to the bat, or hit just after
landing, which stops it turning, and, rising to the sweet spot, can be hit
hard. When the ball is swinging and bastsman is not well set it can be a wicket
take through catches behind the wicket.The first mention by Lewis is from
Pract. Hints Cr. 12: 'All balls pitching between the first line (drawn five
feet from the popping crease, for practice) and the crease... are technically
termed half vollies.'
Good length:
Length bowlers must be looking to pitch every ball, whether spin, swing or just
straight. Allied to good lenght and equally important is good direction. The
ball should be directed either on or just outside the off-stump in most
circumstances. Leaves batsman in two minds whether to play forward or backward.
Short of length:
Pitching much nearer the batsman than the long-hop, this delivery is, as its
name implies, short of a good length. A defensive delivery on a good pitch, it
can be a useful wicket-taker on a difficult pitch (when the ball is lifting or
keeping low) for the faster bowlers.
Short ball: Shorter of
short of a length
Long hop: A delivery
that pitches approximately half-way down the pitch -- short enough for the
batsman to consider it a 'gift'. Can be hit hard anywhere in front of the
wicket but generally is pulled on the leg-side. 'Long hops are the sin of
bowlers for which there is no forgiveness' (J Lillywhite, 9).
Bouncer: Short-pitched
fast delivery which rises to the chest or higher of the batsman. Legal, and
less dangerous than the beamer, but the umpire may still warn and remove a
bowler who bowls bouncers merely to intimidate the batsman. '(Lindwall's)
bouncers were most effective... Because of his low action they used to skid
through head high and were never really pitched short; as a result you had
little time to play them' (Crompton, Innings, 163)
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