Role of pitch in swing and seam movement of cricket ball

[Sourabh N]

Recently I attended a lecture related to the physics behind swing of cricket ball.
But the speaker dealt with the swing before pitching(and dealt loosely with late swing). He took only the effects of air in consideration. I am interested to know how the pitch effects the swing(or seam movement) of ball.

 

[Sourabh N]

someone please reply.

 

[Archduke]

Basically, seaming is due to the (funnily enough!) is due to the seam. By angling the seam by various amounts, you can get the ball to bounce differently.

Wiki Seam bowling article

Might be a good idea to show the England bowlers the article as well, and they might learn how to bowl half sharp!

Edit: Just saw you want to know about the pitch. Well, obviously when you see massive cracks in the pitch, this helps the ball to bounce irregularly. A smoother pitch, however, will lead to a more regular, predictible bounce. Hope this helps!

 

[Sourabh N]

Thanks Archduke. Actually I've heard that on grassy pitch the ball swings more (something like that). How can this happen?

 

[Sourabh N]

someone, please try.

 

[Archduke]

Hey, this excerpt from a book by Donald Bradman might help; it seems pretty comprehensive.

Bradman's "The Art of Cricket"

As for your green pitch question, I think it's because the grass helps protect the ball, so it keeps its sheen for longer, and probably helps because of the moisture of the grass. Also, a green pitch is probably indicative of the local climate; a green pitch is likely to be somewhere where it rains a lot, and is generally overcast - which helps with the swing as well. But yeah, Bradman is likely to do a better job at explaining that me!

 

[ranger]

This is an interesting thread:
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=101555

 

[Sourabh N]

Your first reason(green helps protect the ball) seems correct but the second reason(rains a lot, moisture, etc.) has no effect on swing(i'm sure bout it).
Thanks anyway.