2023 ‘TrueMan by BOLA’ Bowling Machine

Product details

The 'TrueMan by BOLA' Bowling Machine was developed from bowling machines designed by BOLA that incorporated projected images of bowlers.

Projected images are only effective in low light levels and as all serious cricket practice for club and professional cricketers takes place in well lit circumstances, BOLA had to find an alternative. The answer was the TrueMan, a mono, high-contrast LED screen that works in well lit cricket facilities as well as outdoor nets. The TrueMan displays a high-contrast LED animation of a bowler on the front of the Bowling Machine which synchronises exactly with release of the ball.

These bowler animations are produced by artwork made from real life video footage and so an extensive library of actions and styles of bowling can be built up with any player's action able to be reproduced.  They ‘give players the natural cues they need to get ready for each shot and releases all their normal batting triggers,' is how MCC Head Coach Mark Alleyne described the innovations introduced by TrueMan.

The TrueMan is electromechanically active and programmable by any Wi-Fi enabled device (tablet, phone or laptop) by downloading the BOLA app. All the machine’s functions (line, length, speed and swing) can then be manipulated and saved as individual balls, overs or spells. They can then be used as selected or 'shuffled' to produce random sequences. The bowler animations can be changed at any time and can be matched with any number of deliveries.