zimcricketforums.com

Evening all.
Any ideas on where to find bowling machines in Zim?
Condition not an issue as we are quite resourceful in Bulawayo and can fix most things.
We have a junior home made special that would struggle to challenge a colt let alone high school seniors and being Zimbo believe the sun will shine again and the youngsters need to keep developing.

As we go into yet another depressed festive season may I wish all cricket fans compliments of the season and all the best for the new year.
Wishing all players a cricket filled new year and wishing the administrators opportunities in employment as far away from cricket as possible.

Maybe you could try contacting the guys at http://www.howzat.academy/contact-us/
They seem to be a pretty professional setup, I bet they could point you in the right direction.

Have a Merry Christmas

I haven't tried it but I've heard people have had some success with "Crowd fund". Maybe you could look into that and if enough cash is raised ship a new unit in from abroad?

Thanks for that.Will give them a shout.

Gavin Rennoe brings them in costs between 5 and 12 k rand which is a good long term investment. A franchise shouldbe able to invest in such

They need to invent a solar powered one for Zim. The good ones are a ridiculous price, they're just two really small electric motors,two rubber wheels and two rheostats, they shouldn't be as expensive as they are. The balls are also a big expense.

The Indians have a new practice ball that they are now using. It's bowled out the back of a shortened side arm and out the back of the hand, and an expert thrower can make it spin prodigiously in either direction. It's a game changer in terms of teaching batsmen to play world class spin. It's tough to read in the air because it's spinning horizontally and you have to try and watch the hand (but it seems to spin in the opposite direction (?), I couldn't work it out and the guy was too busy to talk to me) but you have to try and read it off the pitch and it's extremely difficult. I only watched it for a session and some seriously good batsmen were bamboozled. I'm onto this because I can see how it's going to improve batters against spin and will update at some point.
What we also need are different mats with different pace and bounce off them. The standard mats on concrete are a bit too fast and predictable, but are good for grooving shots.
I think someone will build an automated side arm shortly, so the batter can take a read off the throw. All the serious coaches end up with shoulder and elbow problems at some point from so much throwing.
The ultimate is the Merlin machine. It's amazing. I've heard that the latest comes with a data bank and a screen behind it so you can, for example, face Warne's 5th over in the fourth test at Headingley, and as the batsman you watch Warne run in and actually bowl it at you. I think they cost about thirty grand!!
I think the next good thing to come will be a slightly ridged or dimpled mat that gives you variable bounce.
The really good batsmen (when they're in form) avoid following the ball with their hands when the ball deviates from what they expected, ie they play down the line they chose and avoid edging it more than lesser guys. Obviously it's to a ball moving away more than a delivery nipping in. Once you can do that fairly consistently you're now playing well.
When you see the facilities and coaching that these top teams can access you realize we have little chance of matching them.