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EFA Centenary ArtEFActs: Fives Cannon

The Fives Cannon was the brainchild of four-time Kinnaird Cup winner Matthew Wiseman.

In 2013, Matthew wanted to practise “a very particular cut return” and needed to create a “cutting machine” to do so. Working closely on its construction with a cricket bowling machine manufacturer, Matthew’s initial experiments involved adjusting a pre-existing mechanism in a baseball pitching device.

The main mechanism in bowling machines consists of two heavy wheels, fitted with solid or pneumatic rubber tyres, each driven by its own electric motor. These are mounted in a frame such that the wheels are in the same plane, slightly less than the diameter of a ball apart. A controller allows variation of the speed of each wheel, meaning the machine can be slowed down, or, when the motors are not running at the same speed, spin can be simulated.

Matthew first used the Fives Cannon to assist coaching at Westminster School and The Lyceum Alpinum School in Zuoz, Switzerland. This particular machine was purchased by Charterhouse School in 2017.

Matthew describes the Fives Cannon as “about as high-tech as Fives can get”, excelling “when dealing with very large groups of up to 20 people at a time”. He recommends “Group vs Machine” competitions where the challenge is to return a set proportion of cuts, and notes it is useful when dealing with troublesome students: “put them in front of this machine and all of a sudden you get immediate total full focus!  

 

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