Full Toss
Also known as: full toss, beamer (waist-high variant)
A full toss is a delivery that reaches the batter without pitching on the ground — arriving above waist height on the full. A deliberate waist-high full toss is called a beamer and is illegal.
Most full tosses are delivery errors — the bowler releases the ball too late and it travels the full distance in the air without bouncing. Because the batter can see the line clearly with no bounce variation, full tosses are easy to hit and result in boundaries more often than any other delivery type. Low full tosses (below waist height at point of impact) are legitimate, if inadvisable. A high full toss above waist height is called a beamer — in the laws of cricket, a deliberate beamer at the batter is dangerous play and can result in a no-ball call, a warning, and ultimately the bowler being banned from bowling in the match. Faster bowlers who over-pitch on a yorker attempt often produce a low full toss; spinners sometimes use a high full toss deliberately in limited-overs cricket as a variation to disrupt the batter's footwork.
Example
The yorker attempt goes wrong — the ball is over-pitched and arrives as a low full toss, which the batter swings to the boundary for six.
Why it matters
A full toss is a free hit for the batter. SwingVantage's cricket analysis (in development) will identify when bowlers are consistently over-pitching — a length calibration the platform will fix through targeted drill recommendations.
Related terms
- YorkerA yorker is a delivery bowled to pitch right at the batter’s feet, under the swinging bat — one of the hardest balls to score off and a key death-overs weapon.
- Good LengthA good-length delivery is one that pitches at the spot that forces the batter to be uncertain whether to play off the front foot or the back foot — the most dangerous line for any bowler.
- No-BallA no-ball is an illegal delivery in cricket — most commonly when the bowler's front foot lands beyond the popping crease — resulting in one extra run and the delivery being re-bowled, and the batter cannot be dismissed (except run out).
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