Overcast Conditions in cricket are always misery. The ball tends to swing more in the overcast conditions in any cricket ground in the world. Mainly, if a Test match is played in England, we hear more often about the word overcast conditions. Remarkably most of the fast bowlers get a massive amount of swing in these conditions. It is always challenging to bat in such cloudy conditions. But what are overcast conditions? Why does the cricket ball tend to swing more in overcast conditions? Let me elaborate on this exciting topic.
What Are Overcast Conditions
Conditions that are more than 90 percent cloudy in the sky during a cricket match are called overcast conditions. So the whole sky is cloudy with no sun visible, and the whole atmosphere is a bit cold. It causes all the air particles to come close together, and the air becomes thicker.
Also, the moisture on the surface of the grass on the pitch increases in these cloudy conditions. The air particles don’t collide more; thus, the air pressure decreases. It was called humid conditions. So the humidity is high the conditions are set to be overcast. But if you want to know why the ball swings so much, you need to know how the actual ball swings.
How Does A Cricket Ball Swings In Air
Generally, when the bowler releases the ball into the air, a boundary layer forms around it due to the atmospheric air. The boundary layer is formed in two ways. The air on the smoother side of the ball flows regularly. It is called laminar flow. The air on the rough side of the ball flows irregularly. It is called turbulent flow.
On which side the ball has more laminar flow, the higher the air pressure on that side. That high pressure pushes the ball in the air towards the rough side of the ball. So the cricket ball swings in the air according to the shine of the ball.
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How Do Overcast Conditions Affect Swing Of The Cricket Ball
Research has shown that air at ground level is mostly in turbulent flow when there is regular sunlight. Because the sunlight establishes pressure on the air particles, and they flow irregularly. So when the ball is released in sunny conditions, the turbulent flow forms on both sides of the ball, and the swing decreases drastically. It means the fast bowlers didn’t get much help from the air when they were bowling in sunny conditions.
But the lack of sunlight in cloudy conditions does not insert much pressure on the air. When the ball is released, low air pressure is applied to it. The path of the ball does not offer much resistance. So when the ball is smooth, the laminar flow forms, and high pressure is created on one side of the ball. It causes the ball to be pushed in the opposite direction to the smooth side. So the swing is mostly visible.
However, the swing also depends on how the ball is released in overcast conditions. So as long as there are overcast conditions, the ball will not swing. The ball swings more if the release and the bowler’s action who throws the ball also adapt to the cloudy conditions. Otherwise, there is no visible swing. Hence the overcast conditions are most useful if the bowler has proper skill.