Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Four)

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someblokecalleddave said:
That's a big turn around in the fielding dept there, I recall you used to say that you were pretty indifferent towards fielding and now you sound like you're well up for it!

I've just had a good evening with my younger son (8). I made up a score sheet with all the main components on it and we watched an IPL full match with Warnes Rajistan Royals and I've been teaching him how to score and he seems to have picked it up pretty well first time. I've been doing the same thing myself over the last few months so I can offer to score if need been next season.
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I have old ABC cricket books from series in the 1930's. They had scorecards in them as they do today and my grandfather used to fill them in. I can just imagine him sitting by the wireless listening to Bradman and Hutton all through the night and pencilling in the scores!!!
 
chippyben said:
I have old ABC cricket books from series in the 1930's. They had scorecards in them as they do today and my grandfather used to fill them in. I can just imagine him sitting by the wireless listening to Bradman and Hutton all through the night and pencilling in the scores!!!
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Jim Maxwell would like to see those old books, i think he has a full set except one from 30,s he said on radio.

I remember my old man used to tell us when he was a kid, pre-wireless, huge crowds would gather around the telegraph office all day and night and watch the scores as they put them up via cables.
 
macca said:
Jim Maxwell would like to see those old books, i think he has a full set except one from 30,s he said on radio.

I remember my old man used to tell us when he was a kid, pre-wireless, huge crowds would gather around the telegraph office all day and night and watch the scores as they put them up via cables.
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My grandfathers generation (born 1920) were cricket fanatics. He died when I was pretty young unfortunately, I would love to chat to him now about those old days.
I keep all those books at my mums but I'll be visiting her at xmas and go through them all again. There's a few tour guides from the 30's, I know the one Maxwell is missing is really rare so hopefully its one of the ones Ive got. I know there is the Invincibles 48 tour guide and guides right through to the 70's. The most interesting books though are Wisden style books put out by the NSWCA from 1935/6 and 1936/7 that have all the stats for the season. I'm really looking forward to having a look through them all again now.
I know you love that era of cricket Macca
 
Poor old Cameron Boyce. He's just had a shocker in the shield match against NSW 0/130 off 30 in the first innings, 0/63 off 11 in the second and to top it off a golden duck in the first innings and a second ball duck in the second
 
someblokecalleddave said:
That's a big turn around in the fielding dept there, I recall you used to say that you were pretty indifferent towards fielding and now you sound like you're well up for it!
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yeh at the start of last season at my previous club i had a couple of shocking games in the field. bearing in mind i had hardly played cricket, and as with most beginners, was partly scared of the ball still after wearing a few on my shins. i now know that fielding is all about confidence, the more confident you are the calmer you are, whereas if you are afraid to receive the ball for fear of misfielding, you tense up even more and it makes things even worse. when youre new to cricket and youve got 2 captains in 2 matches that absolutely slate you every time you make a mistake, but never give credit when you get it right, then theres only ever going to be one outcome.

i joined my current club and went straight into sunday friendly matches. everyone is much more relaxed, and because it was a new club and i knew that my fielding had cost me big at my old club i put specific emphasis on getting it right from the outset. and my first few games i fielded really well. that confidence then bred better performances, and my fielding has now developed to being solid. the only weakness id say ive got now is in throwing, and i occasionally get ahead of myself. indoors its a non issue because its so small so throwing is easy, but i often think too far ahead and think about the throw before ive picked the ball up, and end up missing the ball lol. outdoor i cant throw long distances, but im very good from anywhere inside the circle. my specialist positions are mid-on and point, so i get loads of run out opportunities.

i just keep working on it and putting the effort in. fielding is hugely important in team selection, and i overlooked that at my old club. i should get first XI call ups next season for fielding alone if they are short on players (i did this season), irrespective of how my bowling goes over the winter and pre-season. if my bowling improves further then il get in for that as well, but it takes the pressure off the bowling somewhat. much like Steve Smith in the Australia setup really. his batting and fielding can get him picked even when his bowling cant, and thats a valuable thing to have as a leggie when your bowling performances are often indifferent.
 
Antipodean said:
I have to agree with Chippyben, great piece of research. I agree with your conclusion too, that the slider and zooter (the zooter in particular) are just different names for the OBS. Perhaps we should petition Warnie to finally write that book. He seems a lot more open and honest now that his living isn't based on guile and deceit (except when it comes to his poker.)
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Hey Antipodean, hows the bowling going. Do you get a bowl in matches??
 
chippyben said:
Hey Antipodean, hows the bowling going. Do you get a bowl in matches??
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Hey mate, the bowling was going really well up until last weekend. Went to the nets and just lost any sense of rhythm. The only thing I was having any luck bowling was the toppie. I don't currently play, haven't for a few years, but would like to get back into it. Like you, I was originally a medium pacer and have only just taken up wrist spin this year. It's funny, I'd finally gotten my head around what my wrist was doing and getting the ball coming out nicely and then my action falls to pieces on me. Think I might have a couple of weeks away from bowling over the holidays.

Speaking of which.. I'm heading over to your fair land next week. Got a mate on the Gold Coast, I'm staying with for a week or so.
 
Antipodean said:
Hey mate, the bowling was going really well up until last weekend. Went to the nets and just lost any sense of rhythm. The only thing I was having any luck bowling was the toppie. I don't currently play, haven't for a few years, but would like to get back into it. Like you, I was originally a medium pacer and have only just taken up wrist spin this year. It's funny, I'd finally gotten my head around what my wrist was doing and getting the ball coming out nicely and then my action falls to pieces on me. Think I might have a couple of weeks away from bowling over the holidays.

Speaking of which.. I'm heading over to your fair land next week. Got a mate on the Gold Coast, I'm staying with for a week or so.
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Yeah mate that is really common, when you just think you've got it, it all falls apart. If you keep practicing then you should be primed for next season and hopefully take a few bagfuls. Have a good chrissy then and leave our lovely Gold Coast girls alone!!
 
Thanks Chippyben. You too! Pity I can't get down to Melbourne for the Ashes. I did suggest it but my wife wouldn't have a bar of it. It'd be nice to see Aus go 2-1 up.
 
Jim2109 said:
yeh at the start of last season at my previous club i had a couple of shocking games in the field. bearing in mind i had hardly played cricket, and as with most beginners, was partly scared of the ball still after wearing a few on my shins. i now know that fielding is all about confidence, the more confident you are the calmer you are, whereas if you are afraid to receive the ball for fear of misfielding, you tense up even more and it makes things even worse. when youre new to cricket and youve got 2 captains in 2 matches that absolutely slate you every time you make a mistake, but never give credit when you get it right, then theres only ever going to be one outcome.

i joined my current club and went straight into sunday friendly matches. everyone is much more relaxed, and because it was a new club and i knew that my fielding had cost me big at my old club i put specific emphasis on getting it right from the outset. and my first few games i fielded really well. that confidence then bred better performances, and my fielding has now developed to being solid. the only weakness id say ive got now is in throwing, and i occasionally get ahead of myself. indoors its a non issue because its so small so throwing is easy, but i often think too far ahead and think about the throw before ive picked the ball up, and end up missing the ball lol. outdoor i cant throw long distances, but im very good from anywhere inside the circle. my specialist positions are mid-on and point, so i get loads of run out opportunities.

i just keep working on it and putting the effort in. fielding is hugely important in team selection, and i overlooked that at my old club. i should get first XI call ups next season for fielding alone if they are short on players (i did this season), irrespective of how my bowling goes over the winter and pre-season. if my bowling improves further then il get in for that as well, but it takes the pressure off the bowling somewhat. much like Steve Smith in the Australia setup really. his batting and fielding can get him picked even when his bowling cant, and thats a valuable thing to have as a leggie when your bowling performances are often indifferent.
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Thats good Jim, I reckon a good fielder is always looking for run out opportunities. They happen very rarely but when you get a run out it has a huge effect, more than an ordinary wicket.
I reckon you can learn a lot about the game in the field if you keep an active mind. Watching batsmen and trying to work out their strengths and weaknesses and also watching the bowler and what lines and lengths trouble the batsman and what fielding positions work best.
In our matches we have 35 over sessions without a break so its hard trying to keep the concentration level up, especially when its well over 30 degrees and no wickets are falling. We share the talking around with 3 or 4 of us taking it in turns to encourage the bowler and just talk things up or have a joke because as soon as the talk stops our fielders go to sleep. The other thing we do is for the first five overs or so we whip eveything into the keeper and attack the ball as though its a run out every ball just to make the openers think, bloody hell these guys are on the ball. Its impossible to go the whole match doing it but its a good little thing to do when a long partnership is going on to get the fielders awake again and put a bit more pressure on the batsman. Its also intimidating to have a ball whistle past you to the keeper every ball you play if you are a batsman.
 
Antipodean said:
Thanks Chippyben. You too! Pity I can't get down to Melbourne for the Ashes. I did suggest it but my wife wouldn't have a bar of it. It'd be nice to see Aus go 2-1 up.
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Ah mate you did it all the wrong way round, first you buy the tickets and the airfare and THEN you tell the Mrs!!
Glad to see your supporting us.
 
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chippyben said:
The other thing we do is for the first five overs or so we whip eveything into the keeper and attack the ball as though its a run out every ball just to make the openers think, bloody hell these guys are on the ball. Its impossible to go the whole match doing it but its a good little thing to do when a long partnership is going on to get the fielders awake again and put a bit more pressure on the batsman. Its also intimidating to have a ball whistle past you to the keeper every ball you play if you are a batsman.
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I like this idea, it's one of those things that is so obvious, but needs someone to say it and isntigate it in a match, it's definitely one to remember.
 
Well Im off down to the country for xmas so I won't be on big cricket until after new year so have a great xmas everyone on the forum and Happy New Year and thanks to all who have improved my bowling. Hopefully we are 2-1 up by the time I get back.
 
I think we have had 2 weeks complete break from any cricket so time to start back up with 4 weeks to next game and sharp end of season. Really playing for something this year, promotion to higher division and longer games on turf with official umpires every week.

Got to make sure he stays top spinner in his age group. So going to get right back into it. It will be interesting to check his accuracy straight up after a lay-off of a fortnight. I got a piece of carpet that i will use as a target and see if he can drop on that to start with. We will put in plenty of work on lefthanders as well this month. Trying to do what Swann does to righthanders in reverse, kind of. Spin, Spin, Slide, Wicket. Legbreaks and Straight-ones like Grimmett.

But I am really happy with his wrongun as well at the moment. This is the first year he has actually bowled it in a match and now he uses one every game. But not no wickets from it yet. He had this kid set up last game who didn't have a clue but he failed to deliver the 'coup de grace', after the game he said he was tossing up what to bowl at him, slider, zooter or even a flipper to try and finish him off, but didn't want to stuff up in front of the club selectors in such an important game. He can land his legbreak and topspinner on a length with a blindfold on, but his flipper is pretty wild and liable to end up anywhere. Good chance it could double bounce and get the stumps on the second half volley if he fails to click, literally click. So he keeps it as a potential revenge ball if one of our guys gets double bounced!
 
We had a good session this arvo. Length spot on, line a little wayward but good revs and drift today with lots of nice rotation of the seam. I am liking the way the ball is passing the batting crease on the up with topspin off a full length.

If you have a break, even a short one, and come back and bowl crap well that goes for a few years while you are learning but if you put in the time, that varies i suppose, but eventually you reach a stage where you surprise yourself how good you can bowl after a break, even though it still takes a few overs to really get going. That is when you are near the end of your apprenticeship of spin.

I suppose at 13 my kid is too young to be even starting an apprenticeship, he is probably more like one of those 8 year olds they used to send down the mines in the olden days, he dont know any better!
 
I advocate taking a break if you seem to be getting nowhere with your bowling and other things in life as well. You just seem to come back with a slightly different approach to it and somehow make good progress. You can get to a point where too much become detrimental, you tend to be repeating the same bad stuff and to stop for a while helps. I suppose even if you're bowling well and take a break you still could come back refreshed in some way?
 
Can some one help me a bit with my bowling action. It far too slow. Its just tw-3 steps come togethe,and rip the 3rd finger across the ball.Could someone post avideo of a decent action to try to adopt also,some tips on bowling the quicker one as per arm position9i.e 12o'clock,11o'clock etc)?
 
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