Swing not affected by humidity: Reports

Researchers reviewed scientific literature and conducted their own tests to solve the mystery.

WELLINGTON: The widely held belief that moisture during humid conditions helps make a cricket ball swing has been clean bowled in a scientific study.

Researchers from Britain’s Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Auckland in New Zealand reviewed scientific literature and conducted their own tests to solve the mystery.

“This study shows that there is no direct or indirect manner in which humidity can significantly affect the ability of the bowler to make the ball swing,” they concluded in research published in the online journal Procedia Engineering.

“It is, therefore, logical to conclude that humidity may not have the significant influence on swing bowling that is widely assumed.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2012.