Wrist Spin Bowling (part Five)

[Jim2109]

played my 2nd game of the weekend yesterday. we lost quite convincingly having fielded first (in sweltering heat) and I felt at the end of our innings we had conceded 60-70 runs more than we were capable of chasing with the batting we had, and thats about how many we lost by in the end.

2 colts opened the bowling, which I was sceptical about, but it was hard to argue the decision when one of them clean bowled the opening batsman first ball!! I claim a little credit, as the opener was rather a large chap and it was pretty clear he would have zero footwork and just swing a heavy bit of wood at whatever he could. so I told him to bowl full and straight and make sure he hit the stumps, and it moved a bit and sure enough the batsman couldn't move his feet for it.

I came on 2nd change (4th bowler) after about 13 or 14 overs. at that stage they were about 60 or something for 1 wicket and not going very fast, but their partnership was accelerating. I didn't bowl quite as well as on Saturday, but it was still alright. 6-0-34-1 were my final figures, I bowled my spell straight and then had a long day in the field after that lol. the seamer at the other end was fairly cheap in support, but there were so many byes from anything that strayed a little wide. there were a few byes off my bowling as well. so between the pair of us we bowled 12 overs for 52 runs, but that was probably more like 70 after byes which wasn't great.

my first over was rank long hop followed by overpitched delivery, and repeat. last ball of the over I nailed one on a good line and length and forced a shaky forward defense. 2nd over was a little better but the occasional overpitched delivery was going for 2 runs between fine leg and deep square, and the short balls were going for a single to deep square leg. so whilst I don't think I went for a single boundary in my first 3 overs, they were just milking me for 6 an over in singles and 2's. occasionally if I strayed outside off stump I'd leak 2 runs through cover as well. the good balls were dots, but I didn't beat the edge that much early on, I got a few turning back big that hit pads though but pitched outside leg.

overs 3-6 were better in general. there was probably 2 good balls per over, 2-3 average balls and 1-2 rank deliveries. the good balls went for dots or sketchy singles off edge/toe/whatever the batsman could get on it. as is often the case though, I took my wicket with probably the worse ball of the spell in the 3rd or 4th over. a juicy waist high full toss, smashed high and long to the square leg boundary, and caught on the rope! I wish I could say it was on purpose, as Warney apparently used to do it as a tactic sometimes, but in my case it was just a bad ball that got lucky. after that though my confidence surged and I landed a few really nice deliveries in a row straight after.

I beat the edge about 5 times, 2 of them were agonisingly close to catches, 1 almost hit the stumps. but there were too many short or overpitched balls in the mix to really build any proper pressure. fairly disappointing really from a performance standpoint, but a few positives to take away.

I am bowling in the middle with probably 80-90% of the intensity I have in the nets. my consistency is pretty much the same as in nets (I don't get any worse in matches under pressure). I'm not really feeling pressure either, last season I'd get that weird feeling in my stomach when I came on to bowl, this season I am really relaxed and confident (probably because I'm practicing well and making huge improvements all the time). my pace is much better, nobody is playing me comfortably, and yesterdays opposition were pretty good. and once I get a bit of consistency I will be a much bigger threat.

the opposition had an off spinner bowling when I went out to umpire. our best batsman came in and faced 3 deliveries to this guy, they all turned a bit but nothing huge (decent for an offie, but he was quite slow and flighty and the wicket was kind to turn if you bowled slowly), and the batman looked a little uncomfortable defending them as he hadnt really got his eye in, and its hard to face decent spin when you first come in. then 4th ball he landed one about 8" outside off stump, the batsman sort of prodded at it, and it turned back huge (he thinks through the gate, I thought it went behind the bat though) and clipped the top of leg stump!! a stunning delivery that I would have been proud of as a leggie, so very impressive for an off spinner. I didn't turn any as big as that, but then my action didn't really click properly. it is really temperamental on seam position at the moment depending on when I release the ball. if I don't hook it all up then the seam comes out tilted and it turns smaller.

 

[chippyben]

played my 2nd game of the weekend yesterday. we lost quite convincingly having fielded first (in sweltering heat) and I felt at the end of our innings we had conceded 60-70 runs more than we were capable of chasing with the batting we had, and thats about how many we lost by in the end.

2 colts opened the bowling, which I was sceptical about, but it was hard to argue the decision when one of them clean bowled the opening batsman first ball!! I claim a little credit, as the opener was rather a large chap and it was pretty clear he would have zero footwork and just swing a heavy bit of wood at whatever he could. so I told him to bowl full and straight and make sure he hit the stumps, and it moved a bit and sure enough the batsman couldn't move his feet for it.

I came on 2nd change (4th bowler) after about 13 or 14 overs. at that stage they were about 60 or something for 1 wicket and not going very fast, but their partnership was accelerating. I didn't bowl quite as well as on Saturday, but it was still alright. 6-0-34-1 were my final figures, I bowled my spell straight and then had a long day in the field after that lol. the seamer at the other end was fairly cheap in support, but there were so many byes from anything that strayed a little wide. there were a few byes off my bowling as well. so between the pair of us we bowled 12 overs for 52 runs, but that was probably more like 70 after byes which wasn't great.

my first over was rank long hop followed by overpitched delivery, and repeat. last ball of the over I nailed one on a good line and length and forced a shaky forward defense. 2nd over was a little better but the occasional overpitched delivery was going for 2 runs between fine leg and deep square, and the short balls were going for a single to deep square leg. so whilst I don't think I went for a single boundary in my first 3 overs, they were just milking me for 6 an over in singles and 2's. occasionally if I strayed outside off stump I'd leak 2 runs through cover as well. the good balls were dots, but I didn't beat the edge that much early on, I got a few turning back big that hit pads though but pitched outside leg.

overs 3-6 were better in general. there was probably 2 good balls per over, 2-3 average balls and 1-2 rank deliveries. the good balls went for dots or sketchy singles off edge/toe/whatever the batsman could get on it. as is often the case though, I took my wicket with probably the worse ball of the spell in the 3rd or 4th over. a juicy waist high full toss, smashed high and long to the square leg boundary, and caught on the rope! I wish I could say it was on purpose, as Warney apparently used to do it as a tactic sometimes, but in my case it was just a bad ball that got lucky. after that though my confidence surged and I landed a few really nice deliveries in a row straight after.

I beat the edge about 5 times, 2 of them were agonisingly close to catches, 1 almost hit the stumps. but there were too many short or overpitched balls in the mix to really build any proper pressure. fairly disappointing really from a performance standpoint, but a few positives to take away.

I am bowling in the middle with probably 80-90% of the intensity I have in the nets. my consistency is pretty much the same as in nets (I don't get any worse in matches under pressure). I'm not really feeling pressure either, last season I'd get that weird feeling in my stomach when I came on to bowl, this season I am really relaxed and confident (probably because I'm practicing well and making huge improvements all the time). my pace is much better, nobody is playing me comfortably, and yesterdays opposition were pretty good. and once I get a bit of consistency I will be a much bigger threat.

the opposition had an off spinner bowling when I went out to umpire. our best batsman came in and faced 3 deliveries to this guy, they all turned a bit but nothing huge (decent for an offie, but he was quite slow and flighty and the wicket was kind to turn if you bowled slowly), and the batman looked a little uncomfortable defending them as he hadnt really got his eye in, and its hard to face decent spin when you first come in. then 4th ball he landed one about 8" outside off stump, the batsman sort of prodded at it, and it turned back huge (he thinks through the gate, I thought it went behind the bat though) and clipped the top of leg stump!! a stunning delivery that I would have been proud of as a leggie, so very impressive for an off spinner. I didn't turn any as big as that, but then my action didn't really click properly. it is really temperamental on seam position at the moment depending on when I release the ball. if I don't hook it all up then the seam comes out tilted and it turns smaller.

Well done Jim, sounds like you haven't had a bad weekend. Remember you said you were aiming for 4 good balls per over. It seems you are geting up there with 2-3. Perhaps its more important that your bad balls aren't horrers as there is always going to be bad balls. And your not getting taken apart either, good field settings seem to be protecting the bad balls. Nerves dying down is also a very good sign. You got a decent spell too which is great. Its all looking up and a big bag is just around the corner. Imagine next time you bowl you get a wicket straight up and that confidence you got from your "lucky" wicket yesterday comes early, well Lookout!!

The thing that most worries me about leg spin, having only bowled it in a match 3 times is nerves. When I bowled pace I was so confident in my action and ability to put it where I wanted that I always wanted to bowl, especially at the death or in close
and tense situations and mostly came out on top. Now bowling leg spin its a completely different situation and requiring a very different mental approach. Im just practicing as hard as I can to try and get a grooved action that I can get some confidence in. The other thing that is hard to get my head around is giving away so many runs compared to fast bowling. I guess with more experience my attitude will change.

 

[macca]

played my 2nd game of the weekend yesterday. we lost quite convincingly having fielded first (in sweltering heat) and I felt at the end of our innings we had conceded 60-70 runs more than we were capable of chasing with the batting we had, and thats about how many we lost by in the end.

2 colts opened the bowling, which I was sceptical about, but it was hard to argue the decision when one of them clean bowled the opening batsman first ball!! I claim a little credit, as the opener was rather a large chap and it was pretty clear he would have zero footwork and just swing a heavy bit of wood at whatever he could. so I told him to bowl full and straight and make sure he hit the stumps, and it moved a bit and sure enough the batsman couldn't move his feet for it.

I came on 2nd change (4th bowler) after about 13 or 14 overs. at that stage they were about 60 or something for 1 wicket and not going very fast, but their partnership was accelerating. I didn't bowl quite as well as on Saturday, but it was still alright. 6-0-34-1 were my final figures, I bowled my spell straight and then had a long day in the field after that lol. the seamer at the other end was fairly cheap in support, but there were so many byes from anything that strayed a little wide. there were a few byes off my bowling as well. so between the pair of us we bowled 12 overs for 52 runs, but that was probably more like 70 after byes which wasn't great.

my first over was rank long hop followed by overpitched delivery, and repeat. last ball of the over I nailed one on a good line and length and forced a shaky forward defense. 2nd over was a little better but the occasional overpitched delivery was going for 2 runs between fine leg and deep square, and the short balls were going for a single to deep square leg. so whilst I don't think I went for a single boundary in my first 3 overs, they were just milking me for 6 an over in singles and 2's. occasionally if I strayed outside off stump I'd leak 2 runs through cover as well. the good balls were dots, but I didn't beat the edge that much early on, I got a few turning back big that hit pads though but pitched outside leg.

overs 3-6 were better in general. there was probably 2 good balls per over, 2-3 average balls and 1-2 rank deliveries. the good balls went for dots or sketchy singles off edge/toe/whatever the batsman could get on it. as is often the case though, I took my wicket with probably the worse ball of the spell in the 3rd or 4th over. a juicy waist high full toss, smashed high and long to the square leg boundary, and caught on the rope! I wish I could say it was on purpose, as Warney apparently used to do it as a tactic sometimes, but in my case it was just a bad ball that got lucky. after that though my confidence surged and I landed a few really nice deliveries in a row straight after.

I beat the edge about 5 times, 2 of them were agonisingly close to catches, 1 almost hit the stumps. but there were too many short or overpitched balls in the mix to really build any proper pressure. fairly disappointing really from a performance standpoint, but a few positives to take away.

I am bowling in the middle with probably 80-90% of the intensity I have in the nets. my consistency is pretty much the same as in nets (I don't get any worse in matches under pressure). I'm not really feeling pressure either, last season I'd get that weird feeling in my stomach when I came on to bowl, this season I am really relaxed and confident (probably because I'm practicing well and making huge improvements all the time). my pace is much better, nobody is playing me comfortably, and yesterdays opposition were pretty good. and once I get a bit of consistency I will be a much bigger threat.

the opposition had an off spinner bowling when I went out to umpire. our best batsman came in and faced 3 deliveries to this guy, they all turned a bit but nothing huge (decent for an offie, but he was quite slow and flighty and the wicket was kind to turn if you bowled slowly), and the batman looked a little uncomfortable defending them as he hadnt really got his eye in, and its hard to face decent spin when you first come in. then 4th ball he landed one about 8" outside off stump, the batsman sort of prodded at it, and it turned back huge (he thinks through the gate, I thought it went behind the bat though) and clipped the top of leg stump!! a stunning delivery that I would have been proud of as a leggie, so very impressive for an off spinner. I didn't turn any as big as that, but then my action didn't really click properly. it is really temperamental on seam position at the moment depending on when I release the ball. if I don't hook it all up then the seam comes out tilted and it turns smaller.

Its all good mate 'cause you got a couple of wickets to report for the weekend. Waist high full toss comes in handy, fancy that eh, caught on the square leg boundary, I just love hearing about batsman blowin' it against legspinners. Good to see you setting high standards even if you are not reaching them for enough deliveries for your liking, other people looking on might be a bit more impressed than yourself, you beat the bat a bit did you get any feedback from anyone on the day ? Sometimes no feedback is a good sign.

 

[Jim2109]

I got a little feedback. umpires pretty much always comment on how much its turning, sometimes even if I think I'm only turning it small (they should see what it does when I get one to rip!! haha). saturdays umpire seemed impressed enough, yesterday the umpire for most of my spell was the offie that took the wicket I mentioned with a stunner, so maybe he was less easily pleased.

on Saturday as well one of the batsmen scraped a single off me early on (think maybe he inside edged it past leg stump) and when he came to the non-strikers end he said nice delivery. my team mates are always encouraging (sometimes they are saying encouraging words but you know its a nice way of saying "sort yourself out because this is awful", but that wasnt really the case this weekend) but I've learnt to block them out. I know when I'm bowling well and when I'm not, I know exactly what is wrong with my line/length, and I generally can pinpoint what aspect of my action now is causing it. everything else is just noise lol. so I just keep my head down and work on my plans. my captain on Saturday (who is the first XI captain, and I stand zero chance of playing first XI cricket at the start of this season, 2nd's should happen all being well) said after my first 3 or 4 balls "the line is good, you're just a touch too short or a touch too full, get it in the middle". which was utterly obvious to me and I had identified it from the 2nd ball lol, but its always good when the captain who isn't a spinner identifies the same problem, because it probably means he knows roughly what field you want for the good balls since he knows what line and length you are aiming for (I had a lot of input into it anyway, being a friendly captains are fairly lenient on fields, come league season I bet he's more reluctant to give anyone the choice). yesterday a few people were saying "nice delivery" on balls that I was furious about dropping a yard short on haha. one of them was 2 or 3 yards short but turned about 4 feet (as a result of being short) and everyone thought it was brilliant. apart from the batsman who could have had a 4 if he had his wits about him, but still played it with zero effort for a single I think.

I really wanted to alter my field yesterday to protect myself against the bad balls (mostly they actually weren't "bad", just a tiny bit full on the leg side, and one of the batsmen was very strong at tucking it round the corner in between fine leg and deep square. I moved fine leg wider, but the keeper was missing most of the legside stuff that got through so the captain wanted to protect the byes as well), but my captain refused on the basis that he didn't mind singles and 2's, he wanted to protect 4's and discourage 6's, and I think he knew that leaving a man deep at square leg would get me a catch at some point (it pretty much always gets me a chance in Sunday cricket, and I chose the man to field there well. I put my best catchers at deep square leg and short mid wicket, with my best ground fielder at cover). his decision was a good one because it came off, if I had my way I'd have had that man in on the single quite early on, but at the same time I could have built pressure and I would have probably found better rhythm if the strike wasn't rotating 3 or 4 times an over. cheap singles drive me nuts, especially when its down to bad bowling, because it just eats at me. I don't mind 6's one bit because they are aerial shots and high risk, and I don't mind 4's in the "V" because it means the batsman is driving with a straight bat. cheap 1's and 2's bother me way more than good boundaries!!

plenty of positives though. as you say, maybe I am setting myself high standards, and had I bowled this weekends spells at the start of last season (I actually bowled a better one for my old club, but that was a one off fluke, I never repeated it) I probably would have been delighted and expecting to be a 1st XI bowler within weeks. this season I am more realistic. I should get 2's cricket I would think as I've done enough to impress with my fielding alone, the fact I can bowl if required (I hope for a rather more prominent role than that though), bat a bit too, and always make myself available (whilst many others are hugely unreliable) means I should jump the order a bit. I've paid up all my membership and kit, etc really early on whereas lots of people are yet to pay as well, plus I'm often doing groundwork whilst most people can't be bothered. its ass kissing at its worse, but if it gets me more cricket I don't mind being teachers pet haha. once I get a foot hold I can prove my worth and push for 1st XI cricket. but I really need to nail my consistency first. yesterdays spell in a 2nd XI league game with the captain they've got would probably see me dropped the next week. I'm not sure that he really understands leg spin, but there is a big bowler shortage this season and the first XI are looking to poach a few youngsters that should probably be 2nd XI, so that will help.

the thing I am most happy about is that I feel confident to bowl. my action is "repeatable" enough (its not THAT repeatable, but its good enough that I can pretty much cut out the really rank balls, and most of the bad ones are still either on a good line OR a good length, so don't tend to go for 6 like they did before) that I rock up first ball expecting to land it where I want it. confidence is half the battle with leg spin in match situations. and I'm a few practice sessions away I feel from another big breakthrough.

 

[someblokecalleddave]

Well done Jim, sounds like you haven't had a bad weekend. Remember you said you were aiming for 4 good balls per over. It seems you are geting up there with 2-3. Perhaps its more important that your bad balls aren't horrers as there is always going to be bad balls. And your not getting taken apart either, good field settings seem to be protecting the bad balls. Nerves dying down is also a very good sign. You got a decent spell too which is great. Its all looking up and a big bag is just around the corner. Imagine next time you bowl you get a wicket straight up and that confidence you got from your "lucky" wicket yesterday comes early, well Lookout!!

The thing that most worries me about leg spin, having only bowled it in a match 3 times is nerves. When I bowled pace I was so confident in my action and ability to put it where I wanted that I always wanted to bowl, especially at the death or in close
and tense situations and mostly came out on top. Now bowling leg spin its a completely different situation and requiring a very different mental approach. Im just practicing as hard as I can to try and get a grooved action that I can get some confidence in. The other thing that is hard to get my head around is giving away so many runs compared to fast bowling. I guess with more experience my attitude will change.

Definitely the case, I think you've got to extremely thick skinned and in a very stable head space that is seen as being either arrogant, indifferent or just mental.....standard stuff for the Wrist Spinner. What you can't do is start cursing or looking like the batsman is getting under your skin, remember you've got to give the impression that what happens is meant to happen and that it's all part of a plan that is coming together - or that a mistake that happens makes no difference, as your next ball up is likely to be the one that sends them back to the sheds. You have to be philosophical about balls that are mis-fielded/dropped, as if you let that bother you as well in the field your bowlings more likely going to go to pieces. I think we said it in a thread somewhere else here, if you've put the time and you're able bowl welll with a wholly focussed state of mind, you know you're bowling well and it's only going to be on days when you're facing an accomplished batsman that you're going to be hit to the boundary and you should be able to accept that without losing it in anyway and treat the process as a duel and think and bowl your way to acceptable outcome.

 

[Jim2109]

I've definitely lightened up this year. I had one of the umpires cracking up on Saturday at my appeals for LBW. to say I give it everything would be an understatement, and I'm fairly well renowned for it by my team mates, even players that have never seen me play know about it. and the midweek T20 team I played for last year had a bit of a wooden spoon prize at the end of the season for the most memorable moment/s of the season that every player voted for. I was on the list for my wicket celebrations (which are similar to my appeals) and won 2nd place

anyway, on Saturday I appealed an optimistic shout and it was given not out, I gave it a monster appeal as if it was a dead cert pitching on middle and hitting the stumps or something, but I always knew it pitched just outside leg, and so did the umpire, and he thought it was hilarious that I gave it so much for such an optimistic appeal. as soon as he gave it not out I told him why it wasn't, we both knew. so about 2 balls later a ball pitched miles outside leg stump and I went to appeal just as loudly before stopping almost immediately knowing that it was never out. he was cracking up. then a few balls later I appealed huge on one that was clearly going down leg and he gave it out!!! so there you go, ridiculous LBW appeals work if you get the umpire laughing at you and appeal so loudly he loses concentration the most plum of them all nearer the end got given not out though when it was far closer, which actually quite annoyed me because it was a really good delivery and deserved the wicket. prior to that I'd had 3 near-clean-bowled chances miss the stumps by less than an inch so I felt a little unlucky.

I still take myself very seriously inside my head, and I'll often talk to myself quite angrily (which I need to stop doing because I can do it in my head and then the batsman can't see it), but that is more to calm myself down. I do the same when I am batting if I play a stupid shot. I walk well away from the stumps toward square leg and tell myself how stupid I am, then head back in the game, focus, and face the next delivery with a fresh mind. leg spinners probably need a similar approach. as doctortran said somewhere earlier on, you can't think about the past, there is far too much going on in the present.

 

[someblokecalleddave]

I've definitely lightened up this year. I had one of the umpires cracking up on Saturday at my appeals for LBW. to say I give it everything would be an understatement, and I'm fairly well renowned for it by my team mates, even players that have never seen me play know about it. and the midweek T20 team I played for last year had a bit of a wooden spoon prize at the end of the season for the most memorable moment/s of the season that every player voted for. I was on the list for my wicket celebrations (which are similar to my appeals) and won 2nd place

anyway, on Saturday I appealed an optimistic shout and it was given not out, I gave it a monster appeal as if it was a dead cert pitching on middle and hitting the stumps or something, but I always knew it pitched just outside leg, and so did the umpire, and he thought it was hilarious that I gave it so much for such an optimistic appeal. as soon as he gave it not out I told him why it wasn't, we both knew. so about 2 balls later a ball pitched miles outside leg stump and I went to appeal just as loudly before stopping almost immediately knowing that it was never out. he was cracking up. then a few balls later I appealed huge on one that was clearly going down leg and he gave it out!!! so there you go, ridiculous LBW appeals work if you get the umpire laughing at you and appeal so loudly he loses concentration the most plum of them all nearer the end got given not out though when it was far closer, which actually quite annoyed me because it was a really good delivery and deserved the wicket. prior to that I'd had 3 near-clean-bowled chances miss the stumps by less than an inch so I felt a little unlucky.

I still take myself very seriously inside my head, and I'll often talk to myself quite angrily (which I need to stop doing because I can do it in my head and then the batsman can't see it), but that is more to calm myself down. I do the same when I am batting if I play a stupid shot. I walk well away from the stumps toward square leg and tell myself how stupid I am, then head back in the game, focus, and face the next delivery with a fresh mind. leg spinners probably need a similar approach. as doctortran said somewhere earlier on, you can't think about the past, there is far too much going on in the present.

My sons are brilliant at that aspect of their game. During the game you'd think that they were robots while the games not going their way - totally poker faced, no sense of being put off their stride by being hit for runs or making mistakes, it's only when they get a wicket do they allow any emotion. I don't think I even taught them to do it and I'm not aware that their coaches push that at all, but they're both recognised at being supremely unflappable. Better than me, as I tend to curse myself with wides down the legside.

 

[someblokecalleddave]

I've been looking for somewhere to post this and couldn't find anywhere, so I'll run it by our community first before 'I go public' with it. It concerns youth cricket. I'm aware of a team of lads U13's that didn't do so well last season here (I think they lost every game) and as a result one of the better players left the team during the off-season. This team has now been bolstered by an influx of new lads from the age group below who are far superior players than 50% or more of the U13 boys that are still in the team from last year. How do clubs deal with this situation normally when all the lads want to play and more than 30 0r 40% of the players that are available each weekend are basically terrible players?

 

[Spiderlounge]

I had a pretty depressing weekend to be honest with you all, I did get a bowl in Saturday's game (so that's a plus) but it was in absolutely the worst circumstances possible. Then today I had an hour or two of a practise but 50% of the balls I bowled were absolutely horrid, I had any number of outside distractions to cope with and I got really angry with myself.

In the match we got to about 30 overs and I thought the Captain had either forgotten me or decided not to bowl me, but a bit later he brought me on. The match was heading their way big time and they had plenty of overs and wickets left and only about 50 to get. Worse still the batsmen I was bowling at were the two out of the whole 3rd team (it was our own 3rd team the 4ths were playing against) that I would have LEAST wanted to bowl at. Ali is a very experienced left-hander who'd be in the 2nds if he wasn't captaining the 3rds, and Paul is a solid right-hander who has been smacking me round the nets all winter. What's more they'd been together for about 20 overs and were both well set giving virtually no chances away.

My concentration was very good at least - so much so I couldn't tell you what sort of field I was bowling to, as I was too busy thinking about how I was bowling. My first ball would have been a wide if Ali hadn't hit it for 4, but I knew what my mistake had been (front arm not high enough) and after that I was bowling pretty well. Ali was hogging the strike as you'd expect so I tried to vary the bounce a bit, bowling one mis-directed zooter (I forgot to adjust where I aim it) that was called a wide. They got a couple of singles and another wide ball was turned into a 4, with another boundary off a fair ball, but I wasn't getting upset or anything, as I was bowling reasonably well by my standards and I accepted that the situation was not helpful, especially as I only bowled 3 balls at the right-hander. My top-spinners seemed to be working well and asking questions. I was feeling very good about how I'd bowl my third over but sadly I didn't get to bowl it, finishing with figures of 2-0-0-17.

Lots of guys were saying I'd bowled well but it did feel as if there was a silent caveat of "by your standards". I was perfectly happy with how I'd executed what I'd practised in the nets, and very happy with my concentration, but it was clear to me that while I'd made the batsmen think a little I wasn't significantly challenging them. Of course, if they'd been in a situation where they needed to attack things might have been different, but I think the bottom line is that I just bowl too slowly to cause any problems for most reasonably good batsmen with any sense.

Anyway this afternoon I went for some practise but for one reason or another (gusty wind from over my right shoulder, people giggling in the next-door nets, me just getting frustrated, and other random distractions) I just wasn't able to establish anything close to a rhythm and was bowling terribly. I did try bowling faster and I am capable of doing it and still spinning the ball but my accuracy just falls apart, and it's bad enough to start with. It feels as if adding even a small amount of speed may involve a total recalibration of my bowling action right from run-up to follow-through, and at this point I really can't face it. Hopefully I'll get things in perspective later in the week but for now I'm just extremely pissed off.

 

[someblokecalleddave]

I had a pretty depressing weekend to be honest with you all, I did get a bowl in Saturday's game (so that's a plus) but it was in absolutely the worst circumstances possible. Then today I had an hour or two of a practise but 50% of the balls I bowled were absolutely horrid, I had any number of outside distractions to cope with and I got really angry with myself.

In the match we got to about 30 overs and I thought the Captain had either forgotten me or decided not to bowl me, but a bit later he brought me on. The match was heading their way big time and they had plenty of overs and wickets left and only about 50 to get. Worse still the batsmen I was bowling at were the two out of the whole 3rd team (it was our own 3rd team the 4ths were playing against) that I would have LEAST wanted to bowl at. Ali is a very experienced left-hander who'd be in the 2nds if he wasn't captaining the 3rds, and Paul is a solid right-hander who has been smacking me round the nets all winter. What's more they'd been together for about 20 overs and were both well set giving virtually no chances away.

My concentration was very good at least - so much so I couldn't tell you what sort of field I was bowling to, as I was too busy thinking about how I was bowling. My first ball would have been a wide if Ali hadn't hit it for 4, but I knew what my mistake had been (front arm not high enough) and after that I was bowling pretty well. Ali was hogging the strike as you'd expect so I tried to vary the bounce a bit, bowling one mis-directed zooter (I forgot to adjust where I aim it) that was called a wide. They got a couple of singles and another wide ball was turned into a 4, with another boundary off a fair ball, but I wasn't getting upset or anything, as I was bowling reasonably well by my standards and I accepted that the situation was not helpful, especially as I only bowled 3 balls at the right-hander. My top-spinners seemed to be working well and asking questions. I was feeling very good about how I'd bowl my third over but sadly I didn't get to bowl it, finishing with figures of 2-0-0-17.

Lots of guys were saying I'd bowled well but it did feel as if there was a silent caveat of "by your standards". I was perfectly happy with how I'd executed what I'd practised in the nets, and very happy with my concentration, but it was clear to me that while I'd made the batsmen think a little I wasn't significantly challenging them. Of course, if they'd been in a situation where they needed to attack things might have been different, but I think the bottom line is that I just bowl too slowly to cause any problems for most reasonably good batsmen with any sense.

Anyway this afternoon I went for some practise but for one reason or another (gusty wind from over my right shoulder, people giggling in the next-door nets, me just getting frustrated, and other random distractions) I just wasn't able to establish anything close to a rhythm and was bowling terribly. I did try bowling faster and I am capable of doing it and still spinning the ball but my accuracy just falls apart, and it's bad enough to start with. It feels as if adding even a small amount of speed may involve a total recalibration of my bowling action right from run-up to follow-through, and at this point I really can't face it. Hopefully I'll get things in perspective later in the week but for now I'm just extremely pissed off.

It's back to the drawing to the drawing board and reflecting on what happened and what you need to do in order to address it. But I have to say that last year in the first game of the season I (And many others) was hit for 10 + an over by a batsman that went on to score in excess of 200 and it smashed my confidence. I didn't recover and feel I was able to bowl with any confidence until July, maybe even August. If you can pick yourself up and get back to your practicing. One other thing is that these blokes know you and know how to play you, the outcome may well have been different if it had been blokes who didn't know your bowling?

 

[Spiderlounge]

It's back to the drawing board and reflecting on what happened and what you need to do in order to address it. But I have to say that last year in the first game of the season I (And many others) was hit for 10 + an over by a batsman that went on to score in excess of 200 and it smashed my confidence. I didn't recover and feel I was able to bowl with any confidence until July, maybe even August. If you can pick yourself up and get back to your practicing. One other thing is that these blokes know you and know how to play you, the outcome may well have been different if it had been blokes who didn't know your bowling?

It's not so much a lack of confidence as a deep frustration. I don't think it'll last too long. I should get a bowl next week so if the situation's more in my favour (and that's pretty likely) I should hopefully enjoy that a bit more.

 

[shrek]

Lots of guys were saying I'd bowled well but it did feel as if there was a silent caveat of "by your standards". I was perfectly happy with how I'd executed what I'd practised in the nets, and very happy with my concentration, but it was clear to me that while I'd made the batsmen think a little I wasn't significantly challenging them. Of course, if they'd been in a situation where they needed to attack things might have been different, but I think the bottom line is that I just bowl too slowly to cause any problems for most reasonably good batsmen with any sense.

Anyway this afternoon I went for some practise but for one reason or another (gusty wind from over my right shoulder, people giggling in the next-door nets, me just getting frustrated, and other random distractions) I just wasn't able to establish anything close to a rhythm and was bowling terribly. I did try bowling faster and I am capable of doing it and still spinning the ball but my accuracy just falls apart, and it's bad enough to start with. It feels as if adding even a small amount of speed may involve a total recalibration of my bowling action right from run-up to follow-through, and at this point I really can't face it. Hopefully I'll get things in perspective later in the week but for now I'm just extremely pissed off.

Forget the doubters spider- keep plugging away. I know all too well how horrible it all felt two seasons ago,(where I even got a wooden spoon award as a shane warne pretender) but that stand start drill from beau casson's video really helped me out. Don't bother about adding pace to your bowling right now. I've seen plenty of bowlers bowl it so very slowly, that you can take a tea break in between and still have enough time to get out. My philosophy has been - spin it hard always, control over line and length and only then add speed to it. If you are bowling slow - just make sure that you are tossing it over the eyeline- At that pace the only safe way to play would be off back-foot so plug away those gaps. If batsmen come out onto front foot- as you are spinning it a lot, it will dip viciously and the ones that look like juicy full tosses will sneak under the bat.

 

[chippyben]

It's not so much a lack of confidence as a deep frustration. I don't think it'll last too long. I should get a bowl next week so if the situation's more in my favour (and that's pretty likely) I should hopefully enjoy that a bit more.

Ah mate your not the only one whose gotten really frustrated. Sometimes you just want to go down and kick the boody stumps over when its really not working. Don't worry though next time it'll come good and you'll wonder how it went so wrong before.

 

[Jim2109]

you'll find more games go that way to begin with than go the way you want them to. its the standard first season or 2 of cricket for most leggies, especially those of us who have taken it up in our 20's (or later), kids have it loads easier because they are allowed to play badly (even if they've been playing longer), whereas adults are just expected to produce results. I used to get so annoyed at not being given a bowl early on, and getting a couple of overs at the death in situations where a wicket is required, and you're just expected to rock up and take a wicket straight away and save the captains bacon where the seamers haven't got the job done. you'll get used to it. the important thing is to just be patient and focus on doing well when you get a chance. I can't count the number of times I have (and still do) sulked in the field shaking my head whilst one dibbly dobbly medium pacer after another dishes up boundaries, then the opening seamers come back on and do the same, then an 11 year old gets a few overs to see if he can make a difference, then a few offies. then if all else fails you get the shout for some leg spin. you explain to the captain that you aren't likely to be economical, but set aggressive fields and you'll try and get a wicket, since thats what the game needs. only for the captain to sh!t his pants after the first ball goes for 6 and put 8 men back on the rope, give them singles and 2's wherever they want them, and then you get hauled off when your first 2 overs go for 15-20 runs and you don't get the miraculous wicket.

its par for the course for an aspiring leg spinner. just hang in there, keep practicing, make sure your fielding is spot on, you put in 100% effort, and you work on your batting a bit. and over time you'll get more and more chances to prove yourself, and as long as you hang in there it should all come good. worse case scenario is you have to move club, I did because I was just never going to get a proper chance where I was, but once you find a club that is accomodating and you get on with everyone it all comes together eventually. never ever let your effort drop in the field as a result of your disappointment at not bowling or getting to bowl when you wanted. captains have a tendancy to remember the negatives and forget the positives, and it will count against you forever!

its true that leg spin is a 5 year plan really. you will start out badly, but showing promise. practice for a few months on your own and make massive improvements, and you think "another year like this and I'll be the best leggie in the county!". then you find a club thinking you are pretty good, but as soon as batsmen start carting you it knocks you back. you are a superstar in the nets but just can't produce the same results in the middle. you keep improving all the time but development slows down. and you realise that the initial development is always rapid, but thereafter it takes a lot longer to improve those small flaws. and ultimately in 3-5 years of hard work you will get where you want to be. I genuinely thought I had a shot at county cricket after my first 6 months of leg spin bowling, such was the rate of progress, and I expected it to continue. but unfortunately everyone plateaus somewhere, and you just have to embrace that and enjoy your cricket. I reckon the best I can ever hope to achieve is ECB premier or maybe minor counties at a push, but I'm 5-10 years too old for a proper go at it. I'll be happy enough to be a solid club cricketer playing in a solid team, and just trying to push them as far up the leagues as they can go. big fish in a little pond = more wickets anyway

 

[someblokecalleddave]

Forget the doubters spider- keep plugging away. I know all too well how horrible it all felt two seasons ago,(where I even got a wooden spoon award as a shane warne pretender) but that stand start drill from beau casson's video really helped me out. Don't bother about adding pace to your bowling right now. I've seen plenty of bowlers bowl it so very slowly, that you can take a tea break in between and still have enough time to get out. My philosophy has been - spin it hard always, control over line and length and only then add speed to it. If you are bowling slow - just make sure that you are tossing it over the eyeline- At that pace the only safe way to play would be off back-foot so plug away those gaps. If batsmen come out onto front foot- as you are spinning it a lot, it will dip viciously and the ones that look like juicy full tosses will sneak under the bat.

Yeah, Spider, you need to go and watch club cricket where they have either some wiley old bloke who's bowled all his life, or some kid that has that pre-growth spurt ability to naturally spin the ball who hasn't discovered mobile phones or facebook. They bowl ridiculously slow sometimes, but walk away with the oppositions batting order in tatters. Speed isn't the answer necessarily, flight and length have a massive bearing on the outcome.

 

[someblokecalleddave]

Forget the doubters spider- keep plugging away. I know all too well how horrible it all felt two seasons ago,(where I even got a wooden spoon award as a shane warne pretender) but that stand start drill from beau casson's video really helped me out. Don't bother about adding pace to your bowling right now. I've seen plenty of bowlers bowl it so very slowly, that you can take a tea break in between and still have enough time to get out. My philosophy has been - spin it hard always, control over line and length and only then add speed to it. If you are bowling slow - just make sure that you are tossing it over the eyeline- At that pace the only safe way to play would be off back-foot so plug away those gaps. If batsmen come out onto front foot- as you are spinning it a lot, it will dip viciously and the ones that look like juicy full tosses will sneak under the bat.

Shrek, that's an interesting point you've alluded to there about the gaps. What do you do with your field when they're playing like that - what's your approach?

 

[shrek]

Shrek, that's an interesting point you've alluded to there about the gaps. What do you do with your field when they're playing like that - what's your approach?

If they are playing everything off the back-foot - and you aren't really bowling short, it means the gaps that you should plug away are midwicket to cover (depending on the line). And typically those are little nudges and pushes that will get them singles. Put in your best fielder at short extra cover and one at short midwicket. One at square leg (leave fine leg open - at slow pace it will be difficult for batsmen to sweep fine and get more than 1 run anyway), one at point. Then have good catchers at long on, long off, deep midwicket (not necessarily fast movers). You still have two fielders left - you can place them at a short third(/wide gully) if batsmen are driving a lot, or at deep square leg if they are sweeping a lot. Cover can be in or out depending on your confidence.

By setting such a field, you are probably giving away 4 singles an over easily. But the trouble is, when you are bowling that slowly, batsmen don't want just singles, they want boundaries and keep tossing it up, you will get a catch once every two overs.(the batsmen who get out will curse and say they got out to shit bowling, but they still got out). With that strike rate, a captain will readily forgive 5-6 runs an over. The one ball you have absolutely cannot bowl is the long hop. At such slow speeds, if you bowl short, batsmen will line you up. Good length balls, half volleys, even low full tosses, yorkers are all kosher.

 

[Spiderlounge]

Yeah, Spider, you need to go and watch club cricket where they have either some wiley old bloke who's bowled all his life, or some kid that has that pre-growth spurt ability to naturally spin the ball who hasn't discovered mobile phones or facebook. They bowl ridiculously slow sometimes, but walk away with the oppositions batting order in tatters. Speed isn't the answer necessarily, flight and length have a massive bearing on the outcome.

I'm not saying I need to turn myself into Shahid Afridi, but I know I can bowl 5-10 mph quicker without losing spin even if the accuracy goes. If I can learn to bowl that with better accuracy then it'll help me a lot, as while the slow loopy balls are OK for tail-enders or flash Harrys who are hitting out, in the situation I was in on Saturday they were just patiently waiting, watching and then playing me off the pitch and I couldn't do anything to threaten them because they didn't have to commit themselves at any point. So I need the option of bowling a little bit quicker against batsmen who aren't attacking, but I know that most of the time I will need to loop it up to help the ball move in the air.

I understand very well that it's a five-year project I've signed up to (some members at the club seem shocked when I tell them this), and while I'm always trying to improve I'm happy with the progress I've made so far. I'm still working on my basic accuracy and not wasting too much time worrying about new variations or other more advanced aspects. I do often think about them in a "one day I'll be bowling with this in mind" way, but for the minute I'm trying to stay in the present and do what I can. Everyone says I'm the hardest working player at the club, but as Philpott says that shouldn't be seen as dedication if bowling leg-spin is what you enjoy most...

Anyway, I had a read of various bits of Philpott's book last night and my grumpiness has gone now There were lots of things I read that seemed to be telling me I was thinking the right things and approaching my bowling the right way, so it was nice to have that reassurance. There was an interesting bit in it about how back-spinning balls developed in Australia because otherwise the bounce was taking the ball over the stumps, which was particularly interesting to me as we usually play our home games on an artificial wicket which bounces quite a lot.

 

[doctortran]

If

I'm not saying I need to turn myself into Shahid Afridi, but I know I can bowl 5-10 mph quicker without losing spin even if the accuracy goes. If I can learn to bowl that with better accuracy then it'll help me a lot, as while the slow loopy balls are OK for tail-enders or flash Harrys who are hitting out, in the situation I was in on Saturday they were just patiently waiting, watching and then playing me off the pitch and I couldn't do anything to threaten them because they didn't have to commit themselves at any point. So I need the option of bowling a little bit quicker against batsmen who aren't attacking, but I know that most of the time I will need to loop it up to help the ball move in the air.

I understand very well that it's a five-year project I've signed up to (some members at the club seem shocked when I tell them this), and while I'm always trying to improve I'm happy with the progress I've made so far. I'm still working on my basic accuracy and not wasting too much time worrying about new variations or other more advanced aspects. I do often think about them in a "one day I'll be bowling with this in mind" way, but for the minute I'm trying to stay in the present and do what I can. Everyone says I'm the hardest working player at the club, but as Philpott says that shouldn't be seen as dedication if bowling leg-spin is what you enjoy most...

Anyway, I had a read of various bits of Philpott's book last night and my grumpiness has gone now There were lots of things I read that seemed to be telling me I was thinking the right things and approaching my bowling the right way, so it was nice to have that reassurance. There was an interesting bit in it about how back-spinning balls developed in Australia because otherwise the bounce was taking the ball over the stumps, which was particularly interesting to me as we usually play our home games on an artificial wicket which bounces quite a lot.

If you want to bowl faster all you have to do is make everything go quicker. Your weight shift faster, increase the speed in which your arm goes from back to front. Make your stride faster. Just don't lose your spin and make your arm do all the talking. Respectively, you'll become a medium pacer and you'll destroy your shoulder. This I think is what did the rotator cuff with Shrek. You increase the arm speed to Wasim Akram levels but you don't increase the body speed/power to the same -- so you become an all arm bowler.

You only have to look at the surgeries caused by bad pitching mechanics in baseball to know how terrible all arm throwing is. I think one day someone will do a study and find that baseball in America has probably caused the most cost to the US health industry of any sport.

 

[shrek]

If

If you want to bowl faster all you have to do is make everything go quicker. Your weight shift faster, increase the speed in which your arm goes from back to front. Make your stride faster. Just don't lose your spin and make your arm do all the talking. Respectively, you'll become a medium pacer and you'll destroy your shoulder. This I think is what did the rotator cuff with Shrek. You increase the arm speed to Wasim Akram levels but you don't increase the body speed/power to the same -- so you become an all arm bowler.

You only have to look at the surgeries caused by bad pitching mechanics in baseball to know how terrible all arm throwing is. I think one day someone will do a study and find that baseball in America has probably caused the most cost to the US health industry of any sport.

Dr.Tran: I've been trying to correct my method of throwing and in fact in the very first session, I told all the members that I will not have any of them throw side-arm or without follow through. That said, throwing with the right technique is so counter-intuitive that I lapse into the bad habits sometimes in spite of being conscious most of the time (especially when there is a runout opportunity etc). Is there one definitive video you'd recommend which says the right things about throwing so that I can use it as an example?

PS: I realize my bowling can cause shoulder injury but I believe that I haven't bowled nearly enough to cause it ( Entire last season, I might have bowled an average 4 -5 overs each day, 3 days a week). That said, I'm working on a longer stride this season and although it is upsetting my rhythm quite a bit, I will keep at it.