I was lucky enough to be able to ask Maverick Cricket founder and fast bowling guru Ian Pont a few questions about, well, fast bowling of course (and a little bit about cricket in general)!

Here is what he had to say:

Looking at the forums it seems that the first thing people ask is the old favourite - 'how do I increase my pace?’  What do you feel is the best way for the average club player to do this? 

The great news is that everyone has the ability to bowl faster! The secret is understanding what parts of the action work in which way. 

As an overview, the hips (core area) of the body generate a power blast to the action. This is in the same way as a boxer throws a punch. It can be accelerated by driving the bowling hip towards the target.  In my experience, the common areas for improvement are:

• Line up of the feet so everything goes at the target
• Full shoulder rotation (finish off the action)
• Driving towards the target with the top half (chest drive) and not leaning back too far

Also ensure that you keep moving through the crease from back foot to front foot (momentum) and pull the ball like a javelin thrower would. Arm pull is created by imagining a bow and arrow, and the further apart your hands, the greater the arm pull will be. 

The LAST thing you do is bowl a cricket ball, so hang on to it, let your body get ahead of your bowling hand and then accelerate the ball to the target hard.

The full interview can be found at this link.