Stuart Barnes Cricket

Stuart Barnes Cricket Experienced Coach, 20+ years across International, County and Pathway cricket. Bowling Coach

https://stan.store/stuartbarnes Ready to upskill your game?
(1)

Stuart has over twenty years of professional bowling coaching experience having worked with some of the best cricketers in the world. From Tom and Sam Curran to Craig Overton, Stuart Broad to Chris Woakes & Jade Dernbach. Stuart is currently the Assistant Head Coach & National Bowling Lead for The Cricket Ireland Senior Men's team. Stuart has coached full time and on a consultancy level with Ireland, England, Bangladesh, Somerset, Surrey, Gloucestershire and Kent. Send your first video today. Visit: https://www.stuartbarnescricketcoaching.com/bowling-analysis-room.html

01/09/2026

If you naturally swing it into the right-hander, here’s how you add the one that goes away.

You don’t need a mechanical overhaul. Just a subtle grip change.
Drop your fourth finger under the ball. That alone starts to cancel the seam going into the batter.

Then rip down hard behind it and follow through across your body. Instead of your natural inswing seam, it counters the other way and shapes away.

Same action, one finger, a whole new ball.

Comment HUDDLE for my free swing cue card and I’ll send it over.

01/09/2026

Why does this bowler drift into the danger area? Let’s find the cause, not just the symptom.
The direction shift is the effect. My job is finding what’s driving it, so I work back through the likely causes.
First the hips and pelvis. Any glute weakness or stiffness and the pelvis sinks a touch, and that alone can shift his direction.
Then watch his left elbow as he lands into the jump. It comes away from his body. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, so that elbow flying out pulls him across, and there’s another possible cause.
That’s the process. Not what’s happening. Why it’s happening.

This is the depth I go into on my Elite Group calls, and I’m taking applications now.
Link in bio if you’d like to see the detail and apply.

31/08/2026

You keep asking about the braced front leg. Here’s the one I believe in most.

As the front foot lands, I want a star position. Bowling arm below the horizontal, front arm extended out in front, ready to pull in.

Now the front leg. It lands bent, and I like that. The bend absorbs the force. Then you use it. As you pull over, that slightly flexed leg extends, and everything coming through from your run-up fires up through the body, into the arm, the wrist and the ball.

Bent to braced. Absorb, then extend. That’s the one for me.

This is exactly the sort of thing I work through live on my Elite Group calls.

We’re taking applications now, DM me if you’d like to join us.

31/08/2026

Which side of the ball do you choose to shine? Most bowlers never think about it.

Simple rule. Pick the side with the least gold embossing on it. Less gold means more leather showing, and more leather means more to actually shine and look after.

That’s it. More leather, more to work with.

How do you pick your side? Comments.

29/08/2026

Same bowler. Different grip. Another wicket.

Mohammad Ali bowled Harry Brook with the seam angled one way. To Jamie Smith, first innings at Lord’s, he’s tweaked it the other way.

The bit that never changes. Middle finger down the middle of the seam, because it’s the longest and the last on the ball. Wrist upright, fingers behind it, so it comes out at full pace. That’s the non negotiable.

Then he adds angle from the nursery end, catches the seam, and it nips through the gap.

The lesson. There’s never one grip for everyone. Ali got curious and tested. That’s the whole thing.

How do you bowl your wobble ball? Comments.

29/08/2026

Two ways to tweak your grip for the wobble seam, the ball wrecking batters at Lord’s.

Start with your normal grip. Then angle the seam slightly one way, or slightly the other. That little angle is what makes it wobble.

One rule whichever way you go. Keep your middle finger on the seam, because it’s the finger in contact with the ball the longest.

That’s it. Same grip, small tweak, devastating in the right conditions.

Comment HUDDLE for my free swing cue card.

And for 21 Tips From Inside the Pro Dressing Room, free, head to the link in my bio.

28/08/2026

The grip that bowled Harry Brook.

Mohammad Ali read the conditions and backed the wobble seam. New ball, hard, seam still proud.

Watch the grip. Middle finger down the middle of the seam, seam on a slight angle. That’s what makes it shiver through the air, so it lands on the seam and nips.

The trick. He releases it with the same feel as his stock ball, fingers vertical behind it. Same action, shifted grip.

Free in my profile. 21 Tips From Inside the Pro Dressing Room.

28/08/2026

Telling a young bowler he’s too slow is bad enough. Not telling him how to get faster is worse.

Kids get handed these detailed reports. Shoulder angle, delivery stride, all of it. Then it goes to a parent with no cricket background, who passes it to the child. And nobody in that chain knows what to actually do with it.

Feedback without the how isn’t coaching. It’s just judgement.

Head to my profile and help yourself to 21 Tips From Inside the Pro Dressing Room, free.

27/08/2026

Judging whether a 10-year-old is fast enough is how you lose the kid who becomes a quick at 18.

Free download in bio, 21 Tips From Inside the Pro Dressing Room.

27/08/2026

The world’s number one bowler does three things you can copy.

He lands on the front of his back foot, stays tall, and gets a braced front leg through release.

But watch that front leg closely. It’s bent, not straight. What matters is the knee angle doesn’t collapse as he pulls over. Hold the angle and you’ve got a brace, even with a bend.

Can’t do it yet? Strong glutes, hamstrings, quads and calves are what stabilise it. Stay to the end for a free giveaway.

Free download in bio. 21 Tips From Inside the Pro Dressing Room, what the very best actually do.

Address

Holsworthy

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Stuart Barnes Cricket posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share