Short-form cricket has long relied on cutters, cross-seam deliveries, and yorkers, but Sam Curran is carving his own niche with the ‘moon ball,’ a term now entering cricket’s vocabulary.
In England’s 19-run defeat in the first One-Day International against Sri Lanka, Pathum Nissanka became the latest batter to fall prey to Curran’s exceptionally slow delivery. Misjudging both the pace and flight, Nissanka edged the ball straight to Liam Dawson.
A moon ball is an extremely slow, looping delivery that deceives batters through its lack of pace and reliance on flight, disrupting their timing. While traditionally associated with spinners—like former England and Leicestershire off-spinner Jeremy Snape—this variation is increasingly being adopted by fast and medium-fast bowlers.
Curran, who has used the moon ball to surprising effect in The Hundred and the T20 Blast, can drop his speed from 83 mph to just 43 mph with a relatively subtle change in his action and release point.
“You have to be creative; guys are developing so fast,” Curran explained to former teammate Stuart Broad on the BBC’s ‘For the Love of Cricket’ podcast. “I’ve worked so hard on trying to keep the arm speed the same, and I’ve gotten better at landing the ball at the right length.”
Why Is Curran’s Moon Ball So Effective?
As T20 leagues grow and batters hit harder and farther, bowlers like Curran must develop new techniques, including a reliable slower ball, to level the playing field.
Former England fast bowler Steve Harmison—who famously bamboozled Michael Clarke with a 65 mph slow yorker in the 2005 Ashes—noted that Curran’s ability to disguise the delivery is key.
“You can see his release point is a lot further back than his off-cutter,” Harmison said on TNT Sports. “With the moon ball, he just hopes the batter gets lost in his movement and body shape. He holds the ball between his first finger and thumb, throws it in the air, and tries to maintain the same arm speed, but the ball comes out behind him much slower.”
Ironically, it’s the lack of speed that proves devastating. The delivery that fooled Nissanka was slower than all of spinner Rehan Ahmed’s previous six balls in the innings.
“It does get hit, but I feel if a batter knows I can do something a bit unique—like facing a mystery spinner—they might have a bit more doubt,” Curran said.
Tymal Mills, who has faced Curran in The Hundred and the T20 Blast, echoed the difficulty of picking the variation. “I faced Sam in the Hundred, and he bowled it—it’s hard to hit. You have to wait for the ball so long, and when you’re expecting it to come to you, it just floats out there. Obviously, the more you bowl it, the more guys cotton on. Like anything, I’m sure he’ll adapt again, and you go in cycles.”
Why Fast Bowlers Have Developed a Stock Slow Ball
Former England quick Tymal Mills, who has clocked speeds up to 93 mph, says having a slow ball is crucial for any bowler. “You need to be evolving, adapting, and trying to add a new skill because the game changes all the time. It goes in cycles, and you need to keep pulling out different tricks at various times.”
Jade Dernbach, his former international teammate who used a successful back-of-the-hand slower ball, agrees. “You have to have that sort of variety nowadays, the way one-day cricket is going. You can’t just be a one-trick pony anymore. The game is developing so fast.”