Ever seen a cricket bowling machine?

I would like to share a few photographs.. how CRICKET and an all new bowling machine .. are put to use for PUBLICITY, product launch, and Brand-building in
India.
Everyone of the cricket fraternity know well about Indians, and their love for
cricket. Infact, CRICKET is a religion in INDIA.

The first one is a bird's eye view of a ROAD SHOW .. using the net setup for
cricket bowling machine.

How innovative? The event managers are making millions out of this.
May I ask for your comments on the photos?

Wow, That really is a first.
Never Seen Much People Playing That Sport At All In Canada.
Maybe 1 Or 2.

Thanks,

Here is an 'inside the nets' (of the cricket bowling machine) view.

Hope one day I would come down to Canada with my own such machine to play with you.
Are you interested? ;;;

The following photo is of the same venue, with a player in action.

I haven't batted against one, but a mate of mine told me that the ball seems to fly past even at 65mph until you get used to doing the backlift as the ball is being inserted. And 65mph would be a joke even at county level. Quite scary, really.

Wow, thats amazing for players. But i wonder if its expensive or reasonable.

They cost a few hundred pounds (convert to local currency as appropriate). A mate of mine had obtained one and was offering to sell it to our club, but they turned it down.

If you have the space and can afford it- get one!
Would love to try my luck against them- probably wouldn't fare too well!
Great for practicing specific shots, or preparing a batsman for a certain type of bowler.
Especially as the newer (ie more expensive) machines have more options etc.

I want one!

I think I'm gonna get a mate of mine to hit tennis balls at me with a tennis racket, to improve my leg-side shots. At the moment the only leg-side shot I can play is the sweep Against pace bowlers, I'd step back and cover-drive rather than play a glance. Bowling machine would be handy I guess, but I'd rather use something softer at first!

When I used to play for Jersey and Northamptonshire I batted against one. I don't like them as most of the time I can read what the bowler is going to do, but with a bowling machine this is impossible.

I'm not too familiar with them, but don't they have to be repositioned to send the ball somewhere else? I.e. physically pointed at a different spot. Therefore you know pretty much where the ball is going to end up (the same place as the last one!)

Great i would like to practice in one of those machines as that will give my batting a boost to betterment. I am actually playing for the state cricket team and love this sport.
But do people In Canada play Cricket...

That's awesome, I wish I had one of those babies in my backyard! Unfortunately I don't think I'd ever see one of these in my time in America unless there was some sort of Indian or international sports festival. Or unless Cricket somehow gained huge popularity in the US.

I dislike them because to me, the action of firing the ball out just doesn't seem natural. Though they try to deliver the ball from an approximate bowler's arms height, the flight of the ball looks and feels very different which is hard to get used to.

One thing to remember is that many permanent nets have a solid, such as concrete, base, and so anything bowled on that kind of surface will feel nippier and a bit more lively, which is probably why even 65mph seems a reasonable pace from a bownling machine.

They do have the advantage with having variable speed and length which, once set, is reasonably reliable, so it can really help you develop specific shots and technique against certain types of bowling. It's also a good way to up the pace of the ball without having to worry about a short one now and again - Well, that's if the person operating the machine is being kind anyway!

Yeah this is the common way of practice for a batsmen. This will really helpful to the batsman who would love to practice at his home only. Sachin Tendulkar used it when he was suffering from Tennis Elbow.

In this machine you can adjust pace, Bowling angle, and distance as well. If you are not comfotable in playing yorker than this kind of machine will be really handy one.

Not at all. I didn't get a chance to see a bowling machine. This machine has came only before 6 years back and now this bowling machine is widely used by most of the countries for training their players.

This machine works automatically. We have to place the balls in the machine and set the speed of the ball to be thrown. The positive aspect of the machine is that the batsman can do the net practice without the help of a bowler.

Well nice show bowling machines are indeed useful for training batsmen but swing and other things are not supported but it isnt the substitute of a real bowler to practise with Real batting is entirely different.

Umm yes, I have seen and played one. It takes some getting used to because you're facing the machine and suddenly there's this ball flashing past you. It's just weird because we don't actually see the bowler running up and hence don't get to prepare for the bowler.