[arthurus]

The English there called it “hurling.” In softball the equivalent is “pitching.”

[Winniesboy]

Interesting. Cricket has always had a plethora of very local, short-lived jargon which you won't find in any lexicon of the game (for instance, the not-dissimilar 'nurdler' is used by contemporary English cricketers to describe a batsman who has no natural syle or flair, but who accumulates runs by dogged determination. Every English cricketer knows what it means, but you won't find it in any cricket manual). I can only assume that 'hurler' was something very local to the expats there - in a lifetime of playing and sudying the game I've never come across this usage. On the other hand you refer to your father as the 'relief hurler', as if there were only one or two in the team - whereas every cricket team needs several bowlers. Perhaps it was their own private jargon for a fast bowler, of which an amateur team might indeed have only one or two.