Why do you say that shining both sides is good ball management? If 'the shiny side is king' for conventional swing, and 'the rough side is king' for reverse swing, is there a benefit in providing the second shiny side on the seam side for conventional swing? If conventional swing is more pronounced with two shiny sides, why is that?
Aaron talks about this in the youtube video, but basically the answer is you get two "bites of the cherry" for conventional swing. If you only shine one side, letting the other deteriorate, and then your shiny side gets bashed so that it can't be recovered, the ball stops swinging. If you shine both sides (you don't need shiny and rough for conventional swing) then your ball can be kept in a condition to swing for longer.
The only argument against this is that in conditions where the ball might reverse later in the innings (rough outfield, lots of uncovered wickets, you have quick, skillful bowlers), then you probably want one side of the ball to start being roughened as soon as possible, especially with a Kookaburra ball which is hard to maintain for conventional swing anyway.
Hope this makes sense, Aaron might be able to do a better job of explaining than me!
Makes total sense! I was hoping it was interesting physics but will take a smart 'hedge your bets' strategy :) Probably should have worked that one out for myself!
Thank you! 95% Aaron's hard work, I love reading it as well.
We're working on a couple more papers from Aaron's thesis which we'll hopefully get published later in the year. These will be "proper science" which should compliment the articles here well.
Why do you say that shining both sides is good ball management? If 'the shiny side is king' for conventional swing, and 'the rough side is king' for reverse swing, is there a benefit in providing the second shiny side on the seam side for conventional swing? If conventional swing is more pronounced with two shiny sides, why is that?
Hi Jogon,
Aaron talks about this in the youtube video, but basically the answer is you get two "bites of the cherry" for conventional swing. If you only shine one side, letting the other deteriorate, and then your shiny side gets bashed so that it can't be recovered, the ball stops swinging. If you shine both sides (you don't need shiny and rough for conventional swing) then your ball can be kept in a condition to swing for longer.
The only argument against this is that in conditions where the ball might reverse later in the innings (rough outfield, lots of uncovered wickets, you have quick, skillful bowlers), then you probably want one side of the ball to start being roughened as soon as possible, especially with a Kookaburra ball which is hard to maintain for conventional swing anyway.
Hope this makes sense, Aaron might be able to do a better job of explaining than me!
Cheers, thanks for the interest! Sam
Makes total sense! I was hoping it was interesting physics but will take a smart 'hedge your bets' strategy :) Probably should have worked that one out for myself!
As an aside, as a cricketer and physicist this blog is about as good as it gets!
Thank you! 95% Aaron's hard work, I love reading it as well.
We're working on a couple more papers from Aaron's thesis which we'll hopefully get published later in the year. These will be "proper science" which should compliment the articles here well.