a good delivery? If two men bowl with equal force and precision, why does the ball come in from the pitch so differently in respect of cuttings twisting, or abrupt rise?
"Because one man gives the ball so much more rotatory motion on its own axis, or, so much more spin than the other."
A throw, or the catapult which strikes the ball from its rest, gives no spin; hence, the ball is regular in its rise, and easy to calculate.
Cobbett gave a ball as much spin as possible: his fingers appeared wrapped round the ball: his wrist became horizontal: his hand thrown back at the delivery, and his fingers seemingly unglued joint by joint, till the ball quitted the tips of them last, just as you would spin a top. Cobbett's delivery designed a spin, and the ball at the pitch had new life in it. No bowling so fair, and with so little rough play or violence, ever proved more effective than Cobbett's. Hillyer is entitled to the same kind of praise.
A spin is given by the fingers: also, by turning the hand over in delivering the ball.
A good ball has two motions; one, straight, from hand to pitch; the other, on its own axis.
The effect of a spin on its own axis is best exemplified by bowling a child's hoop. Throw it from you without any spin, and away it rolls; but spin or revolve it against the line of its flight
