Howzat! Cambridge University engineers recreate Venn’s historic bowling machine

A wooden contraption that bowled out an Australian international cricketer four times in 1909 – and was designed by the mathematician who gave his name to Venn diagrams – has been recreated by Cambridge University engineers. The bowling machine was the brainchild of Dr John Venn and its recreation can launch balls towards a batter at around 33mph. Dr Venn, who died in 1923 aged 88, was president of Cambridge’s Gonville and Caius College and created the device in the early 1900s.