Phenomenon of Swing Explained | No relation with Weather |

Ball doesn't swing due to Cloudy weather.

I was just amazed after reading a recent article about fair weather conditions for swing and I am sure even you will be equally amazed by the facts which proved that cloudy conditions have nothing to do with swing.

I have been involved in playing and watching cricket from the time when I was in class 4th. One thing which was stuck in my mind and due to which I have blamed selection committee so many times for not playing extra swing bowler in place of a spinner and this was that ball swings under cloudy conditions. But today I realized that I was 100 percent incorrect. The swing of the ball has nothing to do with weather conditions or cloudy conditions.

Even experts believe that ball's tendency to deviate through the air is affected by the weather. Many great players comment from commentary box saying that bowlers should utilize the damp conditions to get wickets but this is not true.

Now here are some examples which prove this right and also I will tell you the science behind the same.

James Anderson swung the ball by a huge margin on a muggy morning at Lords against Indians but at the same time, Jason Holder also swung it probably just as much on a bright afternoon in Barbados.
Australian fast bowler Bob Massie swung the ball at Lord's and picked up 16 wickets for 137 runs. While Bob said in an interview, " I was happy to see the greyness outside the window and knew it will be a good day for me." But Bob might not have known that there are studies stating that there is no real connection between swing and weather.

The science behind the movement of ball:

As explained by Dr. Mehta in Teacher Plus magazine titled 'Is cricket ball swing affected by weather?' he says, " The 'heavy' atmosphere or damp conditions implies an increased air density and it turns out that the side force on a cricket ball is directly proportional to the air density. As we know humid air is actually less dense than dry air."

As explained in scientific terms, the density of air is higher on a cold day as compared to a hot day and to be specific it is about 4% higher at 15-degree Celsius compared to that at 25-degree Celsius. But this is obviously not enough to explain what is observed on a cricket ground.

So, as per science the movement of the ball should not be that much even in the worst of situations but what we see on the field is totally different. I still believe in my head that when we see damp conditions we have to ball first. Yes, science does prove me wrong but still, I will rather go with my mind rather than science.

I hope I have explained this difficult article in simple language so that you can get the science behind the swinging ball but still if you are confused then just believe in the fact that ball will swing in damp conditions although it has nothing to do with damp conditions.

Article Source: Cricbuzz || Author: Garfield Robinson