Short-form cricket has long been defined by cutters, cross-seam deliveries, and yorkers, but England’s Sam Curran is adding a new term to the sport’s vocabulary: the ‘moon ball’. In England’s 19-run loss to Sri Lanka in the first ODI, Pathum Nissanka became the latest batter to fall victim to this ultra-slow delivery, misjudging the flight and clipping the ball straight to Liam Dawson.
A moon ball is an extremely slow, looping delivery that relies on flight and lack of pace to deceive batters and disrupt their timing. Traditionally associated with spinners—like former England off-spinner Jeremy Snape—this variation is now increasingly used by fast and medium-fast bowlers. Curran, who has deployed it with surprising effect in The Hundred and the T20 Blast, can reduce his pace from 83mph to just 43mph with only a subtle change in his action and release point.
“You have to be creative; guys are developing so fast,” Curran said on the BBC’s *For the Love of Cricket* podcast with former team-mate Stuart Broad. “I’ve worked hard on keeping the arm speed the same, and I’ve got better at landing the ball at the right length.”
Former England fast bowler Steve Harmison, who famously surprised Michael Clarke with a 65mph slow yorker during the 2005 Ashes, noted that Curran’s ability to disguise the delivery is key. “You can see his release point is much further back than his off-cutter,” Harmison said on TNT Sports. “With the moon ball, he’s hoping 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 keep the same arm speed, but the ball comes out behind him much slower.”
Ironically, it is the lack of speed that makes it so effective. The delivery that fooled Nissanka was slower than all six of spinner Rehan Ahmed’s previous balls in the innings. “It does get hit, but if a batter knows I can do something unique—like facing a mystery spinner—they might have more doubt,” Curran added.
Tymal Mills, who has faced Curran in both The Hundred and the T20 Blast, described the moon ball as difficult to pick. “You’ve got to wait for the ball so long, and when you’re expecting it to come to you, it’s just floating out there,” Mills said. “Obviously, the more you bowl it, the more batsmen will cotton on. But like anything, I’m sure he’ll adapt again—it all goes in cycles.”
Mills, who has bowled at up to 93mph, stressed the importance of having a slow ball. “You need to evolve, adapt, and add new skills because the game changes all the time. It goes in cycles—you have to keep using different tricks at different times.”
Former England international Jade Dernbach, who found success with a back-of-the-hand slower ball, agrees. “You have to have variety nowadays, the way one-day cricket is going. You can’t just be a one-trick pony. The game develops so quickly that you have to develop with it on a yearly basis.”
As bowlers like Curran continue to innovate, the moon ball—seen in Colombo—gives batters one more thing to worry about.
