I Value Accuracy Over Turn

[Kiri]

I'm a slow left arm spinner. Having played club cricket for three years and having over-shadowed coaches teaching colts; I think accuracy is more important than how much turn you get as a spin bowler.

I can't turn the ball because I bowl with an arm ball grip but it lets me land the ball on the spot more often than not.

Also, when I see players practising and developing their bowling, I can't understand why we're taught to turn the ball first. If we can't put the ball in the right areas, what is the point of turning the ball?

Without control, you're leaking runs instead of giving yourself a chance.

Also, here's my action.

 

[TonyM]

OK, playing devil's advocate, what is the point of being accurate and then having to start again when you learn to spin the ball? Surely you are just a 'slow bowler', possibly difficult to get away but good batters will soon work you out. The whole point of being a spin bowler is that you have enough tricks in your bag (be that drift, dip, turn off the pitch or variations) to proactively get the batter out?

Now, I do appreciate the 'needing to stay on' argument, particularly in adult cricket which can be a little less forgiving environment but in junior cricket there should always be a place for players to get overs irrespective of what happens at 'the other end' and so when I coach juniors I always have a chat with the spinner(s) individually but also explain to the group about what a spinners development looks like and how I expect them to be able to support that as a team - positive comments only, lots of 'oos and aahs' if the bat is beaten and above all a commitment to taking catches.

ps as an umpire I hope you don't expect too many LBWs as I couldn't see the impact so a clear 'not out' from me on every ball

 

[Thivagar]

Basically what he said, on top of that, when you don't turn much, batsmen will easily step out of the crease as soon as the ball leaves your hand and will attack you. You have nothing else to beat the batsman with and your quicker delivery won't cut it as batsmen will pick that from quicker arm speed. With roided bats now a days, bowlers have very little room for mistakes. It is very difficult to climb rankings as well, the higher the division you play, the more smarter and stronger the players are. They will eat you alive. When you can get decent turn, you can still be a threat in non=turning pitches. When you turn big in general, it means you are imparting lot of revs on the ball, meaning any little adjustments done to the seam position (scrambled seam, seam pointing towards the 3rd man, deep backward point, 1st slip and etc) will result in ball behaving differently. This will put the batsman off. When you don't turn big meaning you don't impart tons of revs, you won't see much difference. This is why Shane Warne who didn't have much interest in cricket was fast tracked to the academy over all other bowlers.

 

[SLA]

To be a decent spin bowler, you need pace, accuracy and revs. Of these, the most important is probably accuracy. The most over-hyped and obsessed over by amateurs is big turn, but actually decent batsmen would much rather play a spinner who gets big turn at a lower pace than one who gets small turn at a tricky pace.

A bowler with good pace and good accuracy can be successful at a number of levels, but they're not really a spin bowler - they're basically a medium pacer.

Its worth clarifying that turn and spin (revs) are not the same thing. Many excellent spin bowlers are able to operate effectively in conditions that offer very limited turn.