Wrist Spin Bowling (part Five)

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doc8176 said:
Yeah I get the late cut problem bowling to left handers.

Because I get some decent turn and bounce on the ball I’m fairly easy to sit back to and just slice down to third man. Thankfully I’ve got arguably the best variation possible for it. A well disguised arm ball that swings/drifts into a left hander, doesn’t bounce quite as much either. I’ve found if I land it in the right spot they’ll go back for cut and get cramped up and they’ll either chop on, get caught lbw or pop it up to slip. My wider angle being around the wicket probably helps with that too.

You could try bowling a slider from wide on the crease and see if you can bait them into cutting it. Doesn’t really work as well if the batsman can pick it though.

The field looks good, but do you have a power play or field restrictions in your league at all?

You might have to bring cover inside the ring if you’re only allowed 2 out.

And yeah if the leg break is coming out well and turning it makes your slider all the more effective. Definitely use it in a game.
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Nah no restrictions at all. The cover idea I was pondering, that way they might opt to go more aggressive and try and hit over the top, with cover out that might be too easy to score singles and rotate yeah?
 
SomeblokecalledDave. said:
Nah no restrictions at all. The cover idea I was pondering, that way they might opt to go more aggressive and try and hit over the top, with cover out that might be too easy to score singles and rotate yeah?
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I'm a pretty defensive opening batsman but if I was faced with your field, I would have three main scoring options on my mind:
1. If you bowl short, I'm rocking back and trying to hook you over short square leg/fineleg area for four. Only if the ball is leg side.
2. Bowl full on the leg side and I'm knocking you for a single wide of midon area.
3. Bowl full on off side and I am hitting you for a very easy single to cover area.

In my opinion, options 1 and 2 are pretty tough with the spin. But option 3 is simply too easy. Gotta bring cover in.
 
Leggy88 said:
I'm a pretty defensive opening batsman but if I was faced with your field, I would have three main scoring options on my mind:
1. If you bowl short, I'm rocking back and trying to hook you over short square leg/fineleg area for four. Only if the ball is leg side.
2. Bowl full on the leg side and I'm knocking you for a single wide of midon area.
3. Bowl full on off side and I am hitting you for a very easy single to cover area.

In my opinion, options 1 and 2 are pretty tough with the spin. But option 3 is simply too easy. Gotta bring cover in.
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Yeah same, except I’m terrible at punishing short bowing.

That cover gap is SO easy to hit singles into, likewise for mid wicket.

Although bring mid on forward a bit I wouldn’t be able to just drop and run in front of him.
 
doc8176 said:
Yeah same, except I’m terrible at punishing short bowing.

That cover gap is SO easy to hit singles into, likewise for mid wicket.

Although bring mid on forward a bit I wouldn’t be able to just drop and run in front of him.
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I really like the point and third man positions though, as my go to against leg spinners is the late cut and therefore that would take away my strength and possibly serve as a way to get me out if I try it.

for some context my main strategy against spinners is to get on the back foot whenever possible. However, I've fallen to the slider over the years because of it.
 
Sweet my club has an overseas player from India coming over for the season.

“A right arm off spinner and middle order aggressive bat, Ritik has had the privilege of being a net bowler for some of the IPL teams such as the Rajasthan Royals”

Wants to try his game in Australian conditions, don’t mind being able to play with a RR net bowler off spinner.

He’s played 3 matches in the North Indian Champions league (T20) and took 3/19 off 4 in one of them.
 
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doc8176 said:
Sweet my club has an overseas player from India coming over for the season.

“A right arm off spinner and middle order aggressive bat, Ritik has had the privilege of being a net bowler for some of the IPL teams such as the Rajasthan Royals”

Wants to try his game in Australian conditions, don’t mind being able to play with a RR net bowler off spinner.

He’s played 3 matches in the North Indian Champions league (T20) and took 3/19 off 4 in one of them.
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Wow, that's gonna be awesome. Especially since he is an offspinner, like you. Hopefully you'll get some advice?
 
doc8176 said:
Yeah that’s what I was thinking. Great opportunity, to think I was potentially going to leave the club this season
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1. Do any of you struggle with week to week consistency?

I’ll be bowling nicely one week and then the next I’ll be struggling to release it consistently.

Like this morning at preseason, I dunno if it was because it was cold, but I couldn’t get much purchase on the ball and I was very one paced and slow. As I got into it it got slightly better but it still felt a little weird.

Batted nicely though so it wasn’t all bad.

2. Being leg spinners would you actually want to bowl on an Indian turning pitch? Or do you think it’d too hard to actually take wickets on.
 
Had a league game yesterday, 40 overs. 1 not out with the bat, did not bowl. Comfortably beaten.

A more enjoyable friendly today. We bowled them out for 124. My figures were 4 overs 0 maidens 28 runs 1 wicket. Wicket was another bowled, this time a left hander. We narrowly lost chasing them down, bowled out for 102. I was 0 not out, only faced two balls and watched the other tailenders chuck their wickets away.

Figures for the season:-

59.1 overs
1 maiden
347 runs
15 wickets
 
doc8176 said:
1. Do any of you struggle with week to week consistency?

I’ll be bowling nicely one week and then the next I’ll be struggling to release it consistently.

Like this morning at preseason, I dunno if it was because it was cold, but I couldn’t get much purchase on the ball and I was very one paced and slow. As I got into it it got slightly better but it still felt a little weird.

Batted nicely though so it wasn’t all bad.

2. Being leg spinners would you actually want to bowl on an Indian turning pitch? Or do you think it’d too hard to actually take wickets on.
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Certainly, week to week consistency is a weird thing for spinners. Like some days I get turn on these synthetic pitch (the one I practice on most), some days I don't. The days I'm bowling the best is when I see that I'm getting turn on that pitch. Cold is definitely a factor.
Yeah I'd love to bowl on an indian pitch, your slider and wrongun would be so much more effective. And your leg spinner would build the pressure because they would just keep missing probably.
 
doc8176 said:
1. Do any of you struggle with week to week consistency?

I’ll be bowling nicely one week and then the next I’ll be struggling to release it consistently.

Like this morning at preseason, I dunno if it was because it was cold, but I couldn’t get much purchase on the ball and I was very one paced and slow. As I got into it it got slightly better but it still felt a little weird.

Batted nicely though so it wasn’t all bad.

2. Being leg spinners would you actually want to bowl on an Indian turning pitch? Or do you think it’d too hard to actually take wickets on.
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For sure, as my form and stats this season will attest. It's a difficult thing to do well consistently.

At the start of the season I was flying and felt in complete control of my rhythm.

Lately I've had more trouble getting my leg break to turn consistently, with spells in the nets where too many top spinners come out. Then I'll sort it out and get my turn and rhythm back, then lose it again. A bit frustrating , but part of the challenge.

I'm taking comfort from picking up wickets regularly even though I don't feel at my best. I think there have only been two matches in which I've failed to get a wicket when I've bowled at least three overs. There was one game where I bowled four deliveries and a other when I bowled one over.

In all of the other matches I've taken at least one wicket including games with 2 over and 3 over spells. Gotta be happy with that. So although it has been difficult to hit the heights of my early season form, I've built up a nice tally of wickets.

Another thing which has hampered rhythm and consistency from week to week this summer has been the weather. The wind and rain have wiped out a lot of matches, and the rain in the evenings cut into a lot of hours where I'd be in the nets.

The weather during matches has been bad, too, with drizzle and strong winds. There was a very strong crosswind when I was bowling in the friendly yesterday going against the direction of spin, for example.

The other thing I am looking out for at my age is fatigue. I think I'm guilty of over practicing, making my legs tired and that leads to the worst bowling. I bowl a lot better after proper rest and with fresh legs, but it's hard to get the balance right between practicing enough to maintain rhythm and staying fresh for bowling in matches. My problem is I just love going to the nets every day, I should probably take some more time out and in particular during the season. But I'm a net junky.
 
Darth Spin said:
For sure, as my form and stats this season will attest. It's a difficult thing to do well consistently.

At the start of the season I was flying and felt in complete control of my rhythm.

Lately I've had more trouble getting my leg break to turn consistently, with spells in the nets where too many top spinners come out. Then I'll sort it out and get my turn and rhythm back, then lose it again. A bit frustrating , but part of the challenge.

I'm taking comfort from picking up wickets regularly even though I don't feel at my best. I think there have only been two matches in which I've failed to get a wicket when I've bowled at least three overs. There was one game where I bowled four deliveries and a other when I bowled one over.

In all of the other matches I've taken at least one wicket including games with 2 over and 3 over spells. Gotta be happy with that. So although it has been difficult to hit the heights of my early season form, I've built up a nice tally of wickets.

Another thing which has hampered rhythm and consistency from week to week this summer has been the weather. The wind and rain have wiped out a lot of matches, and the rain in the evenings cut into a lot of hours where I'd be in the nets.

The other thing I am looking out for at my age is fatigue. I think I'm guilty of over practicing, making my legs tired and that leads to the worst bowling. I bowl a lot better after proper rest and with fresh legs, but it's hard to get the balance right between practicing enough to maintain rhythm and staying fresh for bowling in matches. My problem is I just love going to the nets every day, I should probably take some more time out and in particular during the season. But I'm a net junky.
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Yeah I’m a massive net junky too (when weather and my schedule allows lol).

I do tend to over practice and my worst bit is when I get exhausted towards the end of a net session and starts bowling poorly so I keep bowling trying “fix” my bowling despite the fact I’m just tired.

I’m hyper careful around injuring myself so my action is largely based around economy of movement and motions that I feel put the least stress on my back, shoulders and everywhere really. If I feel a niggle in my back or side I’ll just stop bowling from the day and go home.

I’ve sprained my side twice and it’s a really annoying injury to have, not painful, you just notice it by doing literally anything.

That’s pretty much the only thing that will stop me from netting.
 
doc8176 said:
Yeah I’m a massive net junky too (when weather and my schedule allows lol).

I do tend to over practice and my worst bit is when I get exhausted towards the end of a net session and starts bowling poorly so I keep bowling trying “fix” my bowling despite the fact I’m just tired.
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Funny things, nets. There are spinners at my club who get a lot of wickets and they barely use them. Me, I feel I have to put many hours in just to get to the standard I'm at.

And yeah you always want to leave the nets bowling well and on a high. I've been there too, staying to fix something when I'm probably just knackered. Luckily I have to leave at some point in order to eat and live.
 
I will have to post a video of my bowling again soon on here. The season is coming up (mid October), and I have solidified a couple good changes in my action over the course of the offseason. I seem to be getting some more turn, drift and dip now. Although admittedly it is hard to tell if I am getting more turn, as some balls go straight on and some grip and turn a bit on the astroturf pitch I train on, which is honestly like bowling on glass. I'm hoping when I get bowling on turf again in a month and a bit I can see the increased turn immediately, but again it's hard to gauge on the training nets.
Especially since I bowl a decent pace, the astroturf hardly has any grip in it for a good amount of turn.

Also, all my variations have come a long way, bar the flipper. The flipper just seems to get smacked in the nets and my legspinners and stuff are harder to hit? Maybe it is because the flipper is easier to play on astroturf, but I think the real reason is that my flipper just won't come out fast enough (not even sure if my flipper is faster than my legspinner; I will have to test this too, hopefully this weekend).

So in the absence of a flipper I've started practicing my slider and topspinner a bit more, and they're coming along nicely. I'm praying I can get the flipper right for the start of the season.
 
Leggy88 said:
I will have to post a video of my bowling again soon on here. The season is coming up (mid October), and I have solidified a couple good changes in my action over the course of the offseason. I seem to be getting some more turn, drift and dip now. Although admittedly it is hard to tell if I am getting more turn, as some balls go straight on and some grip and turn a bit on the astroturf pitch I train on, which is honestly like bowling on glass. I'm hoping when I get bowling on turf again in a month and a bit I can see the increased turn immediately, but again it's hard to gauge on the training nets.
Especially since I bowl a decent pace, the astroturf hardly has any grip in it for a good amount of turn.

Also, all my variations have come a long way, bar the flipper. The flipper just seems to get smacked in the nets and my legspinners and stuff are harder to hit? Maybe it is because the flipper is easier to play on astroturf, but I think the real reason is that my flipper just won't come out fast enough (not even sure if my flipper is faster than my legspinner; I will have to test this too, hopefully this weekend).

So in the absence of a flipper I've started practicing my slider and topspinner a bit more, and they're coming along nicely. I'm praying I can get the flipper right for the start of the season.
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I’d imagine because Astroturf is so hard and bouncy you don’t really get enough benefit from a flipper.

I’m not too knowledgeable on it but I’m under the impression it’s the same idea as the slider just slightly harder to pick but harder to bowl?

Imo if you can bowl the slider and top spinner (underrated variation btw) well you don’t even need a flipper. If you’re beating people without it then you probably don’t NEED it. I guess it is handy to have an extra variation.

That being said I have been trying to develop what could be considered an off spinners slider. My hand is in entirely the same position as my stock ball except I bring my middle finger up the front of the ball instead of my index finger going up the back of it. If I do it right it also comes out with an identical seam position to my stock ball but it’s rotating the other way. If I keep my wrist locked it should be fairly hard to pick out the hand as well. On top of that it should swing into a right hander and not bounce as much which sounds perfect for getting LBWs.
 
doc8176 said:
I’d imagine because Astroturf is so hard and bouncy you don’t really get enough benefit from a flipper.

I’m not too knowledgeable on it but I’m under the impression it’s the same idea as the slider just slightly harder to pick but harder to bowl?

Imo if you can bowl the slider and top spinner (underrated variation btw) well you don’t even need a flipper. If you’re beating people without it then you probably don’t NEED it. I guess it is handy to have an extra variation.

That being said I have been trying to develop what could be considered an off spinners slider. My hand is in entirely the same position as my stock ball except I bring my middle finger up the front of the ball instead of my index finger going up the back of it. If I do it right it also comes out with an identical seam position to my stock ball but it’s rotating the other way. If I keep my wrist locked it should be fairly hard to pick out the hand as well. On top of that it should swing into a right hander and not bounce as much which sounds perfect for getting LBWs.
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Yeah astroturf I feel negates one of the important aspects of the flipper - the low bounce. But it still doesn't hide the fact that it's not coming out fast enough.

Well, the slider doesn't have much backspin, whereas the flipper has full backspin. Also the flipper seems to have a higher ceiling pace wise, which could make it harder for batsman to play due to the surprise.

True, yeah I don't need it but I feel like it would really be a weapon, especially in the league I play. Like I mean, if I got it right in game, it would take a wicket most of the time. This is partly because no one really knows what a flipper is. It's akin to people never knowing that leg spinners had wrong'uns; this would lead to easy wickets 100% of the time if you just pitched the wrong un in the right place.

Yeah, that offspin slider sounds tough to bowl. Hopefully you can get it right, in time for the season too.
 
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