Inswinger
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An inswinger is a type of delivery in the sport of cricket. It is bowled by swing bowlers.
An inswinger is bowled by holding the cricket ball with the seam vertical and the first two fingers running along either side of the seam. Once the ball has worn and been polished so that one side is rougher than the other, the rough side is placed on the right (as seen from the bowler's viewpoint). When the bowler delivers the ball, he angles the seam so that it points slightly to the right as well, and releases the ball rotating about a horizontal axis with the seam along the rotational "equator". The angle of the seam to the direction of motion produces an aerofoil effect as the ball moves through the air, pushing it to the right. This is enhanced by differential air pressure caused by movement of air over the rough and smooth surfaces, which also tends to push the ball to the right. The result is that the ball curves, or swings to the right.
From a right-handed batsman's point of view, the swing is in towards his body towards the left, i.e. towards the leg side. This swing in towards the body is the source of the name inswinger. To a left-handed batsman, the swing is away from the body and towards the off side.
Inswingers are not considered to be as difficult for a right-handed batsman to play as an outswinger. This is because the ball moves in towards his body, meaning that his body is often behind the line of the ball, and any miscalculated shot that is hit by the edge of the bat may be intercepted by his body rather than flying to a fielder for a catch. Inswingers can, however, sneak between the bat and pad to hit the wicket and bowl the batsman out, or miss the bat and hit the pads for a leg before wicket. A particularly effective delivery is the inswinging yorker, which can cause a batsman to attempt to pull his feet out of the line of the ball, leaving him vulnerable to being bowled, or out lbw if he is too slow.
A left-handed batsman has more difficulty facing inswingers, because the ball moves away from his body, causing the same sort of problems as an outswinger to a right-handed batsman.