Tactical Considerations in Bowling Overs
The over is a fundamental consideration in the tactical planning of the fielding side. Since a single bowler has only six legal balls to bowl before he must hand the ball to another bowler, he typically plans to use those six balls to set up a pattern of play designed to get a batsman out. For example, he may bowl the first few balls with the same line, length, or spin. He intends to tempt the batsman into scoring runs by providing balls that are relatively easy to hit. If the batsman takes the bait, the bowler can then follow up with a variation designed to hit the wicket, or a ball that is intended to induce a mistake from a batsman who is still in aggressive run-scoring mode, which will result in him being caught out. The latter type of delivery is known as a sucker ball.
Cricket impose penalties on captains if their players bowl their overs at a very slow rate, such as fines, loss of competition points, and match bans. If a team is proceeding slowly, some captains will choose to use slow/spin bowlers. Such bowlers have a shorter run up so they complete their overs more quickly. Often this means choosing an inferior strategy by employing a less skillful bowler to avoid penalties that are perceived to be greater, such as being banned or losing points.
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