In the sport of cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

, a slower ball is a slower-than-usual delivery

Delivery (cricket)

A delivery or ball in cricket is a single action of bowling a cricket ball towards the batsman.During play of the game, a member of the fielding team is designated as the bowler, and bowls deliveries towards the batsman...

 from a fast bowler

Fast bowling

Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling...

. The bowler's intention is to deceive the batsman into playing too early so that he either misses the ball completely or hits it high up in the air to offer an easy catch. It is analogous to a changeup

Changeup

A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball. Other names include change-of-pace, Bugs Bunny change-up, the dreaded equalizer, and simply change. The changeup is sometimes called an off-speed pitch, although that term can also be used simply to mean any pitch that is slower than a fastball...

 in baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

.

The slower ball technique was popularised in response to the demands of limited-overs cricket

One-day cricket

Limited overs cricket, also known as one-day cricket and in a slightly different context as List A cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed in one day, whereas Test and first-class matches can take up to five days to complete...

, not only to get wickets but also to slow down the scoring rate, as a slower ball will not carry to the boundary as easily as a normal fast delivery if it is hit square or behind the wicket. It is especially used in the last ten or so overs as variation in speed, in addition to line and length, is the key in preventing a late flurry of runs from the batsmen.

To be effective, the slower ball must be directed at or near the stumps

Wicket

In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings:-Definitions of wicket:Most of the time, the wicket is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch...

 in order to force the batsman to play, and the bowler's action must appear entirely normal. There are various tricks that the bowler can employ to slow the ball down:

• Bowling from the back of the hand, effectively a fast googly
  Googly
  In cricket, a googly is a type of delivery bowled by a right-arm leg spin bowler. It is occasionally referred to as a Bosie , an eponym in honour of its inventor Bernard Bosanquet.- Explanation :...
  
  .
• Bowling with split fingers: the fingers are placed either side of the seam of the ball, and the ball is bowled full-length; when done correctly the delivery will appear to be a full toss
  Full toss
  A full toss is a type of delivery in the sport of cricket. It describes any delivery that reaches the batsman without bouncing on the pitch first....
  
   until it suddenly drops. A similar technique is used to throw the split-finger fastball
  Split-finger fastball
  A split-finger fastball or splitter is a pitch in baseball. It is named after the technique of putting the index and middle finger on different sides of the ball, or "splitting" them. When thrown hard, it appears to be a fastball to the batter, but suddenly "drops off the table" towards home...
  
   in baseball
  Baseball
  Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
  
  . Sri Lankan Dilhara Fernando
  Dilhara Fernando
  Congenige Randhi Dilhara Fernando is a cricketer who plays for Sri Lanka. He is a right-handed pace bowler.Dilhara studied at De Mazenod College Kandana...
  
   holds the ball between the index and middle finger, and just fits it in the webbing between the two. This leads to the delivery of a slow loopy ball.
• Off cutter: instead of placing the index and middle fingers in the orthodox position together on the seam, the middle finger is moved round the ball slightly and then pulled down as the ball is released. The ball will tend to "break" or "cut in" from left to right as it pitches, as it does with off spin
  Off spin
  Off spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket which is bowled by an off spinner, a right-handed spin bowler who uses his or her fingers and/or wrist to spin the ball from a right-handed batsman's off side to the leg side...
  
   bowling. It can be effective to only bowl this ball with a single finger on top and it typically rests to the right hand side of the seam.
• Leg cutter: the same as an off cutter except that the fingers go the other way and the ball will tend to cut from right to left. Harder to keep straight than an off cutter.
• Palm ball: the ball is held in the palm instead of the fingers; this can be effective but is hard to disguise.
• Holding the ball deeper in the fingers. Typically, quick bowlers hold the ball at their fingertips. Holding the ball deeper within the fingers slows the release of the ball. Brett Lee
  Brett Lee
  Brett Lee is an Australian cricketer.After breaking into the Australian Test team, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket...
  
   is an exponent of this method.
• Reduction in the speed of the action: Can be quite effective as a "different" type of change of pace. Effectively you change only the rotation of your arm and retain your action.
• Cross-Seam : This type of slower delivery is also popularly employed by medium pacers wherein the bowler holds the ball across the seam instead of holding it on the seam thereby the pace of delivery is reduced when the ball hits the ground. New Zealand Medium pace Bowler Gavin Larsen used this effectively in the 1999 Cricket World Cup.
• Zero Rotation : Using a specific type of grip & release it is possible to impart little or no rotation on the ball. This lack of rotation causes an instability in air pressure, which makes the ball move erratically through the air.

Faster Ball

Although a slower ball is usually the result when a bowler tries a change of pace, some bowlers have a delivery which is even faster. Pakistani great Imran Khan was one example, in his coaching book, he mentioned that it was far more effective to have a faster ball than a slower one.

Spinners and slow bowlers generally employ the faster ball more often than pacemen. Pakistan's Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi

Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi , popularly known as Shahid Afridi , is a Pakistani cricketer. Between 1996 and 2011, Afridi played 27 Tests, 325 One Day Internationals, and 43 Twenty20 Internationals for the Pakistani national team...

has used this ball quite successfully over his career.