Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Three)

[macca]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Three)

dont see getting hit for a boundary as a negative. an aggressive batsman is usually a reckless batsman. especially if they come at you endlessly and dont simply pick you off on odd deliveries. if they are determined to score runs off every delivery then its only ever a matter of time before they misjudge one.

the key is to keep your head and bowl to your plan, which is obviously where you went wrong this weekend, but its the natural response, you just have to fight it.

there is no hard and fast rule on how to bowl at sloggers as every one does it differently. i think ive developed some pretty solid methods in the nets this pre season to handle players of all sorts of aggressive techniques. the only ones i dont have an answer for yet are the ones that dont actually slog the ball, but play shots with proper form using their feet rather than their arms to smash you around.

everyone else however might as well hold up a sign saying where they want me to put the ball. you can read the exact shot they plan to play from their body language, and you can also read where they want it to pitch. for example, my stock line is on leg stump on an average length with good bounce. the batsman is likely to drop deep in his crease and step away from the stumps to free himself up for a massive pull shot. he will usually show his intent in his stance, or sometimes they are even stupid enough to take their guard in the position they intend to finish!! my answer to this would be to bowl really full at his legs with a backspun leg break, mostly just to cramp his shot. id set the field strong between square leg and mid wicket to cover off the shot in case he still digs it out.

the 2nd most fun players are the ones that wish they had footwork, but really dont, and want to charge you every ball. the really bad ones will get stumped all day long, just bowl faster and shorter at their legs, theyll have to play across the line coming down the wicket, miss the ball, and when it then turns back past their pads theyll get stumped. the less retarded ones need a little more respect, but i still like to drop the ball short to them. if they are coming down the wicket its because they want to meet the ball full, so give them the opposite of what they want! il usually bowl slower at these batsmen as well to enable maximum turn and hope for a mistimed shot. the best scenario is where they get forwards by a stride really early, start their swing and then have to check it as they realise its slow and short, and then their only remaining option is defence or stupidity. if they miss the ball theyre still getting stumped. this only works if you read them charging. if you bowl this ball and they stay back then youll get creamed!!

left handers are even more fun!! bowl at their legs with packed leg side fields. after a few deliveries when they try to free up space on the off side (by stepping away) bowl one well outside off stump with men at deep cover point, point, slip and gully. if youve got a wrong'un then use that as well. dont worry if its a wide, most batsmen will try and hit it anyway! if they dont take the bait and still want to free up the off side then bowl a straight one at middle stump as fast as you can.

as for the number 1 most fun aggressive batsmen to bowl at? idiots who think the switch hit is a worthwhile shot to have in your armoury!! even Kevin Pietersen struggles to make it work, he used it once to great effect because no-one expected it. Graeme Swann was the same, the first time he did it he caught people by surprise. people expect it now so its harder to pull off. club batsmen just arent patient enough, they always switch their hands or start to move their feet prior to ball release. so i see them coming a mile off. then i change my line to outside leg stump and very full (to right handers) so that when they are then in their leftie position theyre forced to get bat on ball or they are clean bowled. i did it the other day in nets (but dropped it a bit shorter than intended) and got the ball to turn back so far that it hit "off stump" (now leg stump) behind his legs, via his flailing glove. all day long mate. nothing makes a batsman look more stupid, i cant wait for someone to try it in a match!!

This is gold. Jim's rounded up all the batting bunnies and stuck tags on em.

 

[someblokecalleddave]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Three)

Exactly - his knowledge and theory is amazing!!! It's like he doesn't go to work - he sits there analysing cricket videos all day or something!!!

 

[macca]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Three)

Here's a question for Macca and anyone else that advocates the throwing of the ball up against a wall underarm as practice. If you do this with the Leg break where are you expecting to see it spin, because when I'm doing it the ball spins and forces the ball in a very steep downwards direction - is that right?

We go roundarm against the wall or if its high enough we might go higherarmed and spin up a bit. Not really bowling full on just working wrist and fingers mainly. The ball spins to your left off the wall for leggie , straight out for toppie and to the right for wrongun. I'll post a clip of a routine.

 

[legspinenthusiast]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Three)

Does anyone have the video of Shane Warne bowling in the test matches. Like all of his bowling or his 700 odd wickets? I would love to see the hour by hour bowling of warne, right from his starting days. There might be some archive in the australian cricket where you can pay and see those videos. Is this wrong to assume? It would be a mammoth video of all the 145 test matches and 194 ODIs that he played. He bowled 51,346 balls in total. Assuming he took 4minutes an over it would be 214hrs of video. If there is nothing on those lines is there some way we can extract his bowling from all the test matches he played (again based on the assumption that we can get videos of Australian cricket)? I know I am asking for a lot here but it could be a very nice portal and I am willing to help any way I can. Please let me know if any one would be interested in participating.

 

[shrek]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Three)

dont see getting hit for a boundary as a negative. an aggressive batsman is usually a reckless batsman. especially if they come at you endlessly and dont simply pick you off on odd deliveries. if they are determined to score runs off every delivery then its only ever a matter of time before they misjudge one.

the key is to keep your head and bowl to your plan, which is obviously where you went wrong this weekend, but its the natural response, you just have to fight it.

there is no hard and fast rule on how to bowl at sloggers as every one does it differently. i think ive developed some pretty solid methods in the nets this pre season to handle players of all sorts of aggressive techniques. the only ones i dont have an answer for yet are the ones that dont actually slog the ball, but play shots with proper form using their feet rather than their arms to smash you around.

everyone else however might as well hold up a sign saying where they want me to put the ball. you can read the exact shot they plan to play from their body language, and you can also read where they want it to pitch. for example, my stock line is on leg stump on an average length with good bounce. the batsman is likely to drop deep in his crease and step away from the stumps to free himself up for a massive pull shot. he will usually show his intent in his stance, or sometimes they are even stupid enough to take their guard in the position they intend to finish!! my answer to this would be to bowl really full at his legs with a backspun leg break, mostly just to cramp his shot. id set the field strong between square leg and mid wicket to cover off the shot in case he still digs it out.

the 2nd most fun players are the ones that wish they had footwork, but really dont, and want to charge you every ball. the really bad ones will get stumped all day long, just bowl faster and shorter at their legs, theyll have to play across the line coming down the wicket, miss the ball, and when it then turns back past their pads theyll get stumped. the less retarded ones need a little more respect, but i still like to drop the ball short to them. if they are coming down the wicket its because they want to meet the ball full, so give them the opposite of what they want! il usually bowl slower at these batsmen as well to enable maximum turn and hope for a mistimed shot. the best scenario is where they get forwards by a stride really early, start their swing and then have to check it as they realise its slow and short, and then their only remaining option is defence or stupidity. if they miss the ball theyre still getting stumped. this only works if you read them charging. if you bowl this ball and they stay back then youll get creamed!!

left handers are even more fun!! bowl at their legs with packed leg side fields. after a few deliveries when they try to free up space on the off side (by stepping away) bowl one well outside off stump with men at deep cover point, point, slip and gully. if youve got a wrong'un then use that as well. dont worry if its a wide, most batsmen will try and hit it anyway! if they dont take the bait and still want to free up the off side then bowl a straight one at middle stump as fast as you can.

as for the number 1 most fun aggressive batsmen to bowl at? idiots who think the switch hit is a worthwhile shot to have in your armoury!! even Kevin Pietersen struggles to make it work, he used it once to great effect because no-one expected it. Graeme Swann was the same, the first time he did it he caught people by surprise. people expect it now so its harder to pull off. club batsmen just arent patient enough, they always switch their hands or start to move their feet prior to ball release. so i see them coming a mile off. then i change my line to outside leg stump and very full (to right handers) so that when they are then in their leftie position theyre forced to get bat on ball or they are clean bowled. i did it the other day in nets (but dropped it a bit shorter than intended) and got the ball to turn back so far that it hit "off stump" (now leg stump) behind his legs, via his flailing glove. all day long mate. nothing makes a batsman look more stupid, i cant wait for someone to try it in a match!!

Brilliant! If you can pull it off each time, you'd better be playing at least in the county!

Let me ask you a question half as a middle order batsman with more than a decent record against spinners - how would you bowl against someone who isn't really aggressive, but keeps picking you for singles with proper form and technique? Obviously, club bowlers will bowl at least 1 bad ball an over which I try to maximize.

As a bowler I find that extremely irritating and that is why I keep doing it to the ones I face.

On the same page, I'm sure you guys would've read this before :
When trickery was afoot | Specials | Cricinfo Magazine | Cricinfo.com

 

[someblokecalleddave]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Three)

We go roundarm against the wall or if its high enough we might go higherarmed and spin up a bit. Not really bowling full on just working wrist and fingers mainly. The ball spins to your left off the wall for leggie , straight out for toppie and to the right for wrongun. I'll post a clip of a routine.

Nice one as it'd be appreciated, I'd just like to see how it comes out of the hand.

 

[someblokecalleddave]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Three)

On the same page, I'm sure you guys would've read this before :
When trickery was afoot | Specials | Cricinfo Magazine | Cricinfo.com

Hadn't seen it before - nice post, smiled all the way through it, I've been in situations where I've had to listen to commentary on the radio before and in same ways it might even be better than watching it on Sky with all that crap advertising - hold on here we go again...........

 

[shrek]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Three)

The vaughan dismissal written about is at 1:00 in this video
YouTube - Shane Warne vs England 2005

Loved watching it

 

[Jim2109]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Three)

Brilliant! If you can pull it off each time, you'd better be playing at least in the county!

Let me ask you a question half as a middle order batsman with more than a decent record against spinners - how would you bowl against someone who isn't really aggressive, but keeps picking you for singles with proper form and technique? Obviously, club bowlers will bowl at least 1 bad ball an over which I try to maximize.

As a bowler I find that extremely irritating and that is why I keep doing it to the ones I face.

On the same page, I'm sure you guys would've read this before :
When trickery was afoot | Specials | Cricinfo Magazine | Cricinfo.com

the problem is that i cant pull it off each time though, otherwise i wouldnt be struggling to get into my club side!!

with regards batsmen that like to nurdle the ball around and rotate the strike, its harder to devise a plan in nets because very few batsmen play this way in nets, only in matches. and those that do, its hard to judge when they are getting singles, and when they are getting dots. i have 2 mindsets against these players:

1. contain by attacking
2. attack by containing

personally i think leg spin is about attacking the batsman, and i dont like to see young leg spinners either choosing to, or being told to, contain batsmen with negative lines for the sake of it. Adil Rashid springs to mind recently, but most spinners in one day matches are adopting a similar approach. but in some situations, the best form of attack is defence. it depends on the batsman, and i think sometimes a bit of both is the best measure.

lets say ive got a batsman with solid technique who isnt struggling to play my leg side line, and is using his front foot, but not his back foot (if he was using both feet then he would be a top order batsman). he knows theres no danger outside leg stump of an LBW decision, so he can just probe at the ball, provided he doesnt find an edge. this is your typical balanced middle order club player. not aggressive, but not defensive, they look to score runs every ball even if they are just singles, and capitalise on anything loose.

the first thing to do is put doubt in his mind. so there are 2 options. one is to put a fielder in at bat pad or a very close leg gully. the other is to switch my line to middle stump to force him to play straighter. his back foot stays put, so i know that he will either come forwards to full balls, or rock back to short ones. i want his bat in front of his pad, and i want him playing straight. so ive got to pitch it full. full on middle stump with lots of overspin and a little side is going to contain him all day long. and its still very aggressive and likely to find an edge (inside onto stumps, or outside to slip or gully). i also generate lots of bounce with my overspin, so regularly il find the splice or upper edges of the bat against batsmen expecting less bounce. if you plant the seed of doubt on bounce then you can wreak havoc with all the different leg break and straight variations. the middle stump line is important else you remove the risk of LBW and batsmen relax. you want them tense and uncomposed.

if you plug away outside leg with a close fielder then youve got to use a similar method, youre hoping for the same outcomes, youve just got the close fielder in place to play on their mind and try to discourage them from playing dab shots onto the leg side. youre basically trying to remove the option of the badly played single, and force them into playing more technical shots that they might get wrong.

the above method seems defensive at first glance, but is actually quite aggressive, whilst still being very good at containing. even if it doesnt get the wicket, chances are if you dont bowl any bad ones youll keep the batsman from scoring any runs. and at some point a middle order batsman is likely to lash out at one. just make sure the rest of your field is set to capitalise if he does.

another method, particularly against well rounded batsmen who can play the straight bat shots with high technique, but also the angled bat shots like sweeps, cuts and pulls to a high standard, is the total containment method. these batsmen arent necessarily aggressive (they will play shots with timing more often than power. for sloggers see my previous post), but they are usually able to play a shot to any kind of line and length. so they dont give you a "go to delivery" that you can just throw up 6 times an over and restrict them. theyll score runs off of anything, which results in most bowlers losing their heads and getting desperate. this method is less about the deliveries, and more about the field placements.

if you observe a player like this against other bowlers, then first ball send one up outside leg stump on a good/middle length (with a defensive leg side field) and see what they do. if they sweep it then you know they favour the front foot, if they pull it then they favour the back foot. if they try to defend it or drive it then chances are they fit into the category above, or are just weaker on the leg side than the off side (unless they actually drive it, in which case id say they are more of an opening batsman, who have a different set of rules). if they look weaker on the leg side though just keep bowling leg side. set the field to restrict the single, but offer them the boundary at mid wicket, straight down the ground, and anywhere on the off side. but make sure they have to go airborne to get it, dont give them ground shots. where to put fielders is dictated by the favoured areas of the batsman.

this appears negative, and most batsmen would probably see it that way. this is what you want them to believe. you want them to think you cant handle them, so that they get cocky and try bigger shots! Kevin Pietersen is IMO this sort of player (but also with the technique of an opener). most people see him as an aggressive slogger based on his highlight reels, but if you watch a full innings against top opposition he actually just wants to rotate the strike with fast singles so that he can dictate the field, and then open up the bigger shots as well, and his driving is world class. if you cut off the singles and restrict the drives then it forces him big and stops his runs from ticking over, and then he gets out playing desperate shots. most bowlers try too hard (and too aggressively) to get his wicket and give him easy boundaries, whereas they need to contain him to force the mistakes. by offering the batsmen the aerial route straight down the ground or into the mid wicket region, you offer them the highest risk shots possible to a leg side line (especially if youre drifting it!), playing against the spin or driving straight. but at the same time you restrict the easy options in the form of singles and 2's. if they want a "low risk" shot then theyve got to position themselves to hit one onto the off side (be careful to cover the cut shot off, because if the ball turns and/or bounces you offer this up, you dont want to allow runs here, only forward of square) which requires them to play difficult inside out shots with high risks of missing the ball completely or finding the edge.

then your last type of middle order player is me (although usually less reckless). im more a tail ender to be honest because i lack any technique whatsoever and i swing at just about everything. but il score runs off leg spin all day long if they dont have a plan, simply because i know exactly what i want as a bowler, so i give them the opposite lol. sweeps are the order of the day to anything pitched inline with the stumps, or outside leg. outside off stump and its cut shots. never play straight, never defend, ignore the field placements until they start to be set in your favour. just play those shots and take whatever you can get. this is the kind of player that is stronger at the angled bat shots, scores regular runs from them, and doesnt play much with a straight bat. they dont intend to nurdle singles, they want to hit boundaries, but they just dont connect regularly enough. they are both the hardest, and the easiest players to bowl at.

firstly, they will punish anything full on the leg side without using their feet too much. this is my stock line, which poses a problem. secondly, they will punish anything short regardless of where it is pitched. their biggest weakness depends on whether they use their feet to get out of their crease! if they do then the answer is guile. if they dont use their feet much then the answer is to give them some rope to hang themselves. il expand:

middle order players with footwork who dont play straight bat are the players, like me, who fancy themselves as a good player of spin without having a "proper" technique, and their ego dominates their actions. they arent necessarily sloggers, but they want to dominate the bowler. if the bowler gets on top then they will make poor decisions. so your first form of guile is to sledge the sh*t out of them about their technique. you want them angry and headstrong, so that they want to sweep you for 6 next ball! then you start mixing your length and pace up all over the place, using all your variations. but use a good universal field setup. youre just looking for them to hole out. if they are smart enough not to after an over then bowl a solid full length on middle/leg and vary the overspin. set fields based on where they favour their shot placement. youll get a mistake eventually, and you cant really contain this player unless they have a specific weakness. thus this is the one type of player i dont really have a plan for that i have control over. my plan is just to mix things up and be as unpredictable as possible, in the hope that the batsman will get a false sense of security that he has control, and will gift me his wicket. in the meantime i am always looking to see which of the random deliveries i send them causes them issues. if they have a weakness then you re-formulate the plan to prey on it. my weakness is full deliveries outside off stump, and the occasional fast flat arm ball.

the ones who play like this, but cant use their feet are easier. the sweep shot is very high risk unless executed perfectly. i reckon i have a very strong sweep shot, the strongest of any batsman ive seen club level (very few even play the sweep, at my club there are maybe only 1 or 2 other players that even try it in nets), but despite that i still top edge or miss the ball on a regular basis. the point i am making being that its a high risk shot, even for someone who plays it well and uses their feet. if youve got static feet then youre dead in the water once bounce comes into the equation!!

the batsman wants the ball on or outside leg stump, on (or just short of) a front foot driving length. not too short else they can pull of the back foot, but not too full that the ball doesnt get a chance to pitch. bowl with tons of overspin to get maximum dip and bounce, but also vary that around to a big leg break sometimes to get maximum drift. the very first delivery that the batsman misjudges for either length or bounce (through dip), or line (through drift) will almost certainly give you a catching opportunity. just make sure youve got fielders where they need to be. leg gully is useful for close stuff. hence giving the batsman some rope to hang themselves with. you give them exactly what they want, knowing that theyll gift you their wicket at some point in time because they arent equipped to play the shot strongly enough.

those are my theories anyway. if i ever get a chance to use them in a match then we will see how that compares to formulating them in the nets! selection happens on Monday nights, and i didnt get a call/txt asking about my availability. so whats the betting im not being considered. i think i might be changing clubs next week.

a new record for my longest ever post?

 

[Jim2109]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Three)

Exactly - his knowledge and theory is amazing!!! It's like he doesn't go to work - he sits there analysing cricket videos all day or something!!!

technically i dont, i work for myself, so when ive got a spare 10 mins i have a browse on here. i do most of my cricket analysis whilst im at club net practices though. due to the retarded nature of club nets you generally have 3-8 bowlers per batsman, so in those 3 minutes or so between deliveries you can either stand around talking about how drunk you got at the weekend, or watch the batsmen and the other bowlers and formulate ideas. i dont drink, so...

 

[shrek]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Three)

the problem is that i cant pull it off each time though, otherwise i wouldnt be struggling to get into my club side!!

RESPECT! and don't worry about it, with amount of thought you are putting in, you would play for a better team sooner rather than later.
I think I understand now, Grimmett's suggestion that bowling at batsmen in nets is a waste of time - We are better off practicing again and again the line and length we want to bowl and at what trajectory - instead of getting stuck with all of this. Thinking about all of this before we have any semblance of control over flight ruins it for most leggies

 

[someblokecalleddave]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Three)

I've lost it. Whatever I do at the minute it's crap. One ball turns another doesn't, then it's a wrong un and then it it's decent leg break, then it's a tiny leg break. Nothing is going right it's a nightmare and it's getting very frustrating and boring. I think I've messed around with my bowling action, the rotation, the drive through the action and now I don't know how I bowl anymore - how did I used to bowl - where did it all go wrong? More worryingly the wrong un keeps turning up when it's not meant to - sounds like the Googly syndrome is coming back. I reckon I might have another go tomorrow night and if its rubbish I'm going to stop for a while and see what difference a break makes?

 

[shrek]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Three)

I've lost it. Whatever I do at the minute it's crap. One ball turns another doesn't, then it's a wrong un and then it it's decent leg break, then it's a tiny leg break. Nothing is going right it's a nightmare and it's getting very frustrating and boring. I think I've messed around with my bowling action, the rotation, the drive through the action and now I don't know how I bowl anymore - how did I used to bowl - where did it all go wrong? More worryingly the wrong un keeps turning up when it's not meant to - sounds like the Googly syndrome is coming back. I reckon I might have another go tomorrow night and if its rubbish I'm going to stop for a while and see what difference a break makes?

Tough luck there mate. Perhaps you could try bowling from a stand still. As demonstrated by Casson towards the end of the david freeman tutorial
YouTube - David Freedman legspin coaching video

 

[someblokecalleddave]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Three)

Tough luck there mate. Perhaps you could try bowling from a stand still. As demonstrated by Casson towards the end of the david freeman tutorial
YouTube - David Freedman legspin coaching video

Yeah tried that - looked promising initially and then went to pieces as well. I'll try it tomorrow again if it's as bad as today. Just noticed in that vid that his release doesn't look that complex, looks like a cocked wrist unfurling to put the spin on it?

 

[legspinner_don]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Three)

Try not to think about it too much Dave. I know the feeling - we've all been there. Standing start is the best thing to do I think, really concentrating on the rotation and bringing that back foot over and round, like in the Freedman video. Just keep persevering and it'll come.

You could leave it for a week... It might be that you're thinking about it too much and as a result you're overcomplicating it all.

5 Ways to be a better leg spinner | Cricket coaching, fitness and tips See if that helps... Don't give up though Dave, you've put too much into it to let it go now!!

 

[Jim2109]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Three)

ive got a game on saturday

its only an inter-club friendly, so il be playing against batsmen ive already bowled at in nets. which is both a positive and a negative. i know their weaknesses, but they also know mine. however i think ive got the upper hand as a bowler, since ive been bowling match situations in nets, whilst theyve mostly been playing recklessly. lets see how they fare with fielders around the bat!

my target is 3 wickets. i dont care about economy rate. and i want at least one stumped and one clean bowled.

one potential problem is that the weather forecast is heavy rain on friday, with showers on saturday. so the pitch might not be quite as dry as it is now. hopefully they cover it.

 

[macca]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Three)

ive got a game on saturday

its only an inter-club friendly, so il be playing against batsmen ive already bowled at in nets. which is both a positive and a negative. i know their weaknesses, but they also know mine. however i think ive got the upper hand as a bowler, since ive been bowling match situations in nets, whilst theyve mostly been playing recklessly. lets see how they fare with fielders around the bat!

my target is 3 wickets. i dont care about economy rate. and i want at least one stumped and one clean bowled.

one potential problem is that the weather forecast is heavy rain on friday, with showers on saturday. so the pitch might not be quite as dry as it is now. hopefully they cover it.

The first few balls it can pay to think dot ball instead of wicket but it depends on how many overs you get i suppose. If you only get 3-5 overs and you want wickets you might attack from the outset. Depending on the batsmans style you can approach it a bit like a swing bowler. Keep the ball up , invite the drive and leave a big gap in front of the wicket. I know you dispense with mid off and mid on a bit anyway dont you ? that gives you a couple of extra blokes to stick around the bat.

 

[Jim2109]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Three)

il probably go for the latter, pitch the ball well up and attack like crazy.

i generally dont use anyone at mid-on or mid-off unless i have a specific purpose for them. most captains employ those 2 fielders as a matter of course, and i normally field at mid-on (i want to field at slip or gully). but its not a position that gets much use against leg spinner unless youve got a really good batsman using his feet to drive you.

id rather leave the drive completely open and encourage it. then plug the hole if necessary. as you say, this frees up fielders to put around the bat, not that anyone has the balls to field there.

il probably be torn between 2 fields. one is my "stock field", the other is my super aggressive field that basically gifts the boundary but punishes absolutely any mistakes whatsoever. il see whos batting (and also what the pitch is doing, if its not taking much turn then it forces my hand), if its someone that attacks me il go stock, if its someone thats scared of me then il go aggressive.

my stock field (for a full length on leg/middle) is:

slip
close gully
leg gully
point
extra cover
mid-on
deep backward square leg
square leg (fairly short)
deep mid wicket

my super aggressive field (for varied length outside leg stump) is:

slip
close gully
leg gully
bat pad
cover
mid off
short mid-on
square leg
deep backward square leg

ive also got memorised fields for defending, and also for covering my bases in case my bowling is straying leg side and i cant get it back. the rest i just have to play by ear. left handers also require a completely different field, and there should be at least 1, possibly upto 4, playing this weekend. right hand left hand combination is my worst nightmare for changing fields. il be looking to bowl maidens if that happens!!!

 

[Jim2109]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Three)

looks like ive got a midweek T20 cup match tonight! a friend of a friends team are short a man, so im filling in for them. hopefully i should get a few overs, 3 or 4 would be great, but being T20 i might only get a couple.

lets hope the opposition batsmen are all lead-footed sloggers.

 

[shrek]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Three)

my stock field (for a full length on leg/middle) is:

slip
close gully
leg gully
point
extra cover
mid-on
deep backward square leg
square leg (fairly short)
deep mid wicket

my super aggressive field (for varied length outside leg stump) is:

slip
close gully
leg gully
bat pad
cover
mid off
short mid-on
square leg
deep backward square leg

Not to sound fretful, but don't you bowl even one full toss (or even a half volley) an over when you are looking to pitch up ?

When I bowl to batsmen here, I cannot afford to go without a mid on and mid off or I'd be taken for at least 10 an over easily.

Even the best spinner that I've faced (a left arm orthodox who has been picked up in all stars XI), bowls with a mid on and a mid off - In the match that he picked up 7 wickets for 16 against us, I still managed to pinch him off singles to mid on (4 off 7 before I was runout).

Look at his record here
Midwest Cricket Conference
214 wickets from 83 matches at 3.22 an over in Division I is a huge haul.

His field is generally -
mid on, mid off, short extra cover, cover, point, slip,midwicket, deep square leg, short fine leg - normal
and
mid on, mid off, short extra cover, silly mid off, point, slip, gully, midwicket, leg slip - super aggressive.

Being a finger spinner, he'd generally have greater accuracy than us wrist spinners.