CRICKET
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ORANGE inventor Michael Middleton hopes to bowl spectators over when the BendaMenda is featured on the Cricket Show this week.
Middleton was interviewed by former Australian Cricket captain Mark Taylor last month about the bowling brace designed to teach children how to bowl rather than throw.
The 57-year-old came up with the idea for the bowling brace around 20 years ago when he was running a coaching clinic and a father asked how he could stop his son from throwing the ball when bowling.
"So I grabbed a batting pad that was on the ground," Middleton said.
"We wrapped that on his arm and bowled him a few times. We bowled him probably six times and took it off him and he didn't chuck it any more. I thought there was something in this. So I got some black ag pipe and split it and mucked around with velcro."
The BendaMenda has been developed over the years and is now made out of flexible plastic with double sided velcro to hold it in place.
It allows the bowler to reinforce the correct arm position at the point when the ball is released.
Middleton said taking it to the Cricket Show was an opportunity he couldn't pass up. He added there is plenty of research to show the BendaMenda works and testimony from people such as former Australian cricketer Mike Whitney, Cricket NSW Development Officer Max Shepherd and former women's Australian representative Joanne Broadbent.
The BendaMenda is available at the Greg Chappell Cricket Centre in Brisbane and the Kingsgrove Sports Store in Sydney.
Middleton's interview on the Cricket Show is expected to air during the Test between Australia and the West Indies which starts today in Adelaide.
