The man often credited with inventing reverse swing is Pakistani fast bowler, Sarfraz Nawaz.
Reportedly, he passed his knowledge on to Imran Khan, who in turn revealed its secrets to Wasim Akram and Waquar Younis, and from there, it spread throughout the cricketing world.
This might or might not be exactly how it happened, but of this we can be certain: in the right hands reverse swing can be a devastating weapon.
At around 4:30pm one afternoon in Melbourne in 1979, Australia, seeking 381 runs to defeat Pakistan, were cruising at 305/3 when Sarfraz Nawaz took seven wickets for a single run in 33 deliveries to have them all out for 310, with Sarfraz ending with 9/86.
England were 182/3 at the Oval in 1992, before Wasim Akram, 6/67 had them crashing to 207 all out.
Humiliated opponents especially, were convinced that such startling results could not be achieved by fair means, and so accusations of ball tampering abounded.
After leaving Pakistan in a heap in the third test at Faisalabad in 1990 by taking 7/52 and dismissing them for 102, New Zealand fast bowler, Chris Pringle, alarmingly admitted to altering the surface of the ball with a bottle cap.
This underhanded act, he related, was against his principles, and he would not have entertained such behavior but for the fact that the Pakistani’s had employed these same foul tactics in the previous two tests.
Pakistan were still able to win the third test but the New Zealanders were consoled that it was a fairer contest with both sides engaging in ball tampering.
It would be naïve to dismiss accusations of ball tampering as mere sour grapes; what is not in doubt, however, is that reverse swing is a much sought after skill that is highly valued the modern game. And even if the Pakistani’s did not invent it, they deserve credit for identifying and harnessing it.
In an age where batsmen dominate and have almost everything to their liking, reverse swing has been useful in maintaining some balance.
On the first day of the Eden Gardens test in the recently concluded India/England series, James Anderson put on a display of reverse swing bowling that had the Indian batsmen probing and poking and playing and missing.
No one was able to play him confidently, and those who survived were lucky to do so. He ended the day with 3/68 but could easily have had five or six wickets.
Hiding the ball with his left arm on his approach to the crease — a skill he said he copied from Zaheer Khan — Anderson made the ball talk in a way that no batsman could confidently play.
Re-entering the attack for his third spell in the 45th over, he immediately had both Tendulkar and Kohli in trouble.
The Little Master was totally in the dark during the 46th over when he edged one leaving him slightly just wide of second slip; next over, a similar delivery was diverted by Kohli’s edge into the hands of Swann at second slip, while Yuvraj Singh should probably have returned to the pavilion without scoring when Anderson, bowling from round the wicket, swung one into him that everyone but the umpire thought had him dead in front.
This was a master parading all the facets of his high art and the batsmen were entranced. Removed from the fray after the 53rd over, Anderson returned for the 73rd, and one last fling at the increasingly assured Tendulkar before the second new ball.
He required only one delivery, shaping a ball of good length away which Tendulkar edged behind to the wicketkeeper.
Anderson later returned with the new ball to remove Ashwin’s middle and off stumps with a delivery snaking in from off to breach his defences.
This was a display that would not be quickly forgotten. There are quicker, more intimidating bowlers than James Anderson. Dale Steyn’s maliciously late away-swing at high pace with the new ball, may be the most potent delivery in cricket, while Vernon Philander’s unerring off-stump line may consistently impose the most stringent demands on the game’s batsmen.
But, if there is reverse swing available, the man you want on your side is James Anderson.
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