The Fadeaway: Fast bowlers invariably grip the ball with the tips of their fingers and thumb. Even a decade ago, an aspiring quick whose fingers didn't have the strength to hold, and propel, the ball with fingertips and who preferred to tuck the ball in so that one part of it rested on the palm would earn admonitions from the coach - the thinking being that a fingertip grip meant the ball would be released fast and smooth, while a more full grip would 'check' the ball, slowing its release.

Times change. Today, the smart quick breaks every rule in the book, and gets a good number of wickets with the fadeaway - ask Venkatesh Prasad, or Allan Donald.

Basically, what the bowler is doing is deliberately holding it seam sideways, rather than up. The seam gets bite on the wicket and ensures the ball shoots through fast and bouncy - with this delivery, however, the quick bowler deliberately keeps the seam away from the deck, and uses the fuller grip to slow the ball out of the hand. The result - a ball that leaves the hand slower than normal and, after pitching, slows down even further.

Prasad, Donald and other exponents of the arc use the crease to make the delivery even more unplayable. Essentially, they bowl from just wide, so that the ball is bowled from outside off and angled in to off and middle. What this line does is force the batsman to play at it. Item two, they keep it on a driving length, or just short - which instigates the batsman, especially in the shorter game, to go into the drive. The stroke is played, the bat is on the fall through, and then the ball arrives - passing through with no impediment from the bat, to either earn the LBW, or crash into the stumps.