Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Two)

[someblokecalleddave]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Two)

What's your favourite - The Zooter or the Off-Spinning Flipper - I didn't quite understand at the end there?

 

[Jim2109]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Two)

What's your favourite - The Zooter or the Off-Spinning Flipper - I didn't quite understand at the end there?

off spinning flipper, but the zooter is also good. however i dont know what it will do on a proper wicket, and id rather be able to bowl it using a leg break action as opposed to a flipper. the hand position looks similar, but its clearly different to anyone who is watching carefully and knows what to look for. so probably not many players at club level to be fair.

 

[someblokecalleddave]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Two)

That's interesting as you've obviously worked on the Off-spinning Flipper to the point where you're able to bowl it well and it's obviously giving you something different in your attack? I take it this is because of the lack of a Wrong Un, so therefore it's a good move. I reckon if you're able to get this to turn just a bit as you've said and you can bowl it with accuracy amongst your leg breaks you're onto a winner. In a lot of ways the wrong un is too obvious and this maybe a good option to the wrong un?

 

[macca]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Two)

might see some legspin from young steve smith and katich in an hour or so if you can get to see the champions league from india tonight

 

[Jim2109]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Two)

That's interesting as you've obviously worked on the Off-spinning Flipper to the point where you're able to bowl it well and it's obviously giving you something different in your attack? I take it this is because of the lack of a Wrong Un, so therefore it's a good move. I reckon if you're able to get this to turn just a bit as you've said and you can bowl it with accuracy amongst your leg breaks you're onto a winner. In a lot of ways the wrong un is too obvious and this maybe a good option to the wrong un?

yeh it definitely looks closer to the leg break than the conventional wrong'un. ive established why i cant bowl a wrong'un now, its because i wasnt dropping and rotating my shoulder and trying to just use my wrist. i still cant bowl one, but i know why now. its something il maybe have a play with over the winter.

in fairness im not sure i really need one with this flipper. the best part about the flipper version is that it doesnt really require my muscles to do anything hugely different to a leg break, so theres less chance of me getting the googly syndrome with it. the added bonus being that it looks similar as well. so as long as ive got a delivery that goes the wrong way i dont think theres the need to have multiple versions of it. it would be nice if i could add a top spinning version as well, ive got the side spinner and the back spinner already.

my leg break seems to have lost all of its accuracy and rhythm now though. its partly down to practicing at sunset with the sun in my eyes to the point that i can barely see, and practicing like this my last 2 sessions for several hours. it was a really bad idea in hindsight. and partly because ive spent too much time trying to video myself and all my variations. for some reason my fingers are lacking grip on the ball lately as well, possibly because the air is cooler and thus drier and the lack of moisture in my hands and sweat has reduced the grip.

now ive just got to clear my head and get back to the basics, so leg break practice with an occasional variation. and also try to develop my action and my pace to improve those aspects of my bowling for next season.

 

[someblokecalleddave]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Two)

If you had to choose 2 variations to accompany your Leg Break what would be your choices?

 

[Jim2109]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Two)

If you had to choose 2 variations to accompany your Leg Break what would be your choices?

tough one to call. the off-spun flipper is a given. the other depends. it probably needs to be a "straight break" of some kind, but that leaves top spinner, slider, flipper and zooter lol. deliveries that go straight seem to be the ones i find easiest! assuming im bowling it as well as i can, id probably go with slider. in terms of overall consistency probably the flipper.

 

[someblokecalleddave]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Two)

tough one to call. the off-spun flipper is a given. the other depends. it probably needs to be a "straight break" of some kind, but that leaves top spinner, slider, flipper and zooter lol. deliveries that go straight seem to be the ones i find easiest! assuming im bowling it as well as i can, id probably go with slider. in terms of overall consistency probably the flipper.

Yeah it's a dilemma. I think I'm with you to some degree with your Off-Spin Flipper because my Top-Spinning Flipper requires minimal tweaking and it can be bowled as either a small off-break or a leg break with very good accuracy.

I'm not fussed on any of the sliders as a back-spinning option and would always go for the Flipper as a 1st choice back-spinner, but I'm pretty convinced that you only need to bring the Flipper out maybe once an over at the most and then when you do it's got to be on the money and that requires a lot of practice especially as my Flipper produces erratic swing e.g. some days it does others it doesn't and when it does it swings a mile, so I'm not sure about committing myself to so much practice.

 

[someblokecalleddave]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Two)

I'm currently thinking along the lines of having 4 really good variations for next season and my current train of thought goes along the lines of -

1. My Stock Leg Break
2. A good wrong un with accurate Line and Length (Needs some work)
3. Top-Spinning Flipper (Not convinced I get it to dip that well)
4. Flipper (Needs some work)

I'm thinking if I was to focus on these and try and get it so that I could pull any of these out of the hat and bowl them on a good line and length with consistency I'd be happy to drop all the other variations for a year and see how this bag of tricks served me? What do you reckon - does that sound too ambitious. The rusty ones are the Wrong un and the Flipper.

Or I could try bowling like Mendis use all the variations in every over, that'd be easier to train for I reckon. I'd just bowl Leg Breaks in between the variations, so every over would be made up of 3 leg breaks with the variations mixed in between.

 

[Jim2109]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Two)

given the strength of your wrong'un, id play to your strength! if you can get that much turn on the googly then you should be able to bowl a killer top spinner. the top spinning flipper has its merits, but its never going to be as good as a round-the-loop top spinner. the flipper action just cant generate the same revs in top spin, i cant get any of my flippers over 1000rpm in actual bowling, whereas i can generate 1200rpm between my hands. round-the-loop deliveries i can hit 1300rpm in actual bowling. its much easier to get the revs. the top spinning flipper is also the hardest of them all.

with regards the Mendis method, im still curious to see if it works at club level. in theory it should confuse the hell out of batsmen and wickets should be easy to come by so long as the accuracy is spot on. but accuracy would be crucial. at least with 6 leg breaks an over youve got 5 "practice" balls to find a cherry on the 6th and take a wicket. if youre mixing it up every ball and you dont find your rhythm then its just 6 balls wasted. if youre consistent enough to pull it off though then it should work. on the other hand you cant set Warne-esque traps by bowling leg break after leg break followed by a variation. but in a match where you may only get 3-6 overs of bowling is there even the time to do so? its a conundrum.

my current plan is to practice with 6 balls and bowl 5 leg breaks (of all types, overspun round to backspun) with a single variation in each set. then dedicate a couple of "overs" to each variation per session where i bowl 12 of the same ball back to back. bowling 1 every 6 should help train me to deliver the variations on the spot when required (which is how it will be in a match, no practice deliveries), and the grouped deliveries will just help to improve the overall action for that delivery. the leg break still gets about 80% of the time allocation though, as it needs to!

 

[someblokecalleddave]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Two)

Exactly I need the technology that you've got so I can analyse which of the 2 Top-Spinners is the one to go with. Despite the initial difficulty of the Top-Spinning Flipper (TSF) I think it's like your Off-Spinning Flipper (and probably all deliveries), as long as you put the work in it'll come and I've got that one sussed. Whereas my big ripping round the loop Top Spinner is inconsistent, but I acknowledge that it may well have far more spin on the ball because of the big flick? I'm considering practicing both, I reckon I can maintain the TSF with very little practice leaving me more scope to work on the round the loop version. So I may well heed your advice on that.

So.... Recap -

Leg Break
Top Spinner
TSF
Wrong un
Back-spinning Flipper

I reckon if I do that, I run out both versions of the Top-Spinner in the nets in January and see if I can afford to drop one of them?

 

[Jim2109]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Two)

Exactly I need the technology that you've got so I can analyse which of the 2 Top-Spinners is the one to go with. Despite the initial difficulty of the Top-Spinning Flipper (TSF) I think it's like your Off-Spinning Flipper (and probably all deliveries), as long as you put the work in it'll come and I've got that one sussed. Whereas my big ripping round the loop Top Spinner is inconsistent, but I acknowledge that it may well have far more spin on the ball because of the big flick? I'm considering practicing both, I reckon I can maintain the TSF with very little practice leaving me more scope to work on the round the loop version. So I may well heed your advice on that.

So.... Recap -

Leg Break
Top Spinner
TSF
Wrong un
Back-spinning Flipper

I reckon if I do that, I run out both versions of the Top-Spinner in the nets in January and see if I can afford to drop one of them?

whats the news on your high speed cameras, did you manage to persuade your department to buy a couple in the end?

ive been trying to figure out how to use motion capture techniques to track a cricket ball. i reckon it must be possible. motion capture uses highly contrasting coloured balls (compared to the background) stuck to a persons body to track their limb movements using nothing more than software that identifies the contrast in colours and links the movements up with time. you need shots from a minimum of 2 angles. if you had black sheets up around a cricket net, a camera on the bowlers end and another from the side, and used a white ball i dont see why that couldnt be tracked in the same way and its path plotted in 3D. that way youd basically have home made Hawkeye!! the only issue is the software, i cant find any that doesnt cost £2000+ that looks like it would do the job.

given that you work in the industry, do you know anyone that knows anything about motion capture?

 

[someblokecalleddave]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Two)

My interest in the technical is pretty limited in fact negligible when it comes to video, I'm a bit of a luddite on that front. People at work might know more than me so if you compile some questions I'll see if I can answers for you.

Those cameras are on order but the levels of bureuacracy involved in the ordering process are ridiculous and it may take weeks.

 

[Jim2109]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Two)

My interest in the technical is pretty limited in fact negligible when it comes to video, I'm a bit of a luddite on that front. People at work might know more than me so if you compile some questions I'll see if I can answers for you.

Those cameras are on order but the levels of bureuacracy involved in the ordering process are ridiculous and it may take weeks.

thats got to be better than a department that spends money senselessly though. when i was at college they blew their entire budget in about 4 months and we spent the rest of the year using recycled printer paper because they couldnt afford the proper stuff lol. ive got a folder full of assignments printed on rough yellow paper.

with regards motion capture questions. the first one is the most simple, is it even possible within the realms of cheap DIY (excluding the price of the cameras) to perform a basic motion capture on a single object (e.g. the ball)? would a white cricket ball moving through the air against a black backdrop be sufficiently contrasting (or red against white)? and finally, is there any cheap/free software that does the job?

ive got my own ghetto way of doing it using photoshop. it can import a video as individual frames and place each frame on its own layer within an image. then youve got to edit every frame individually (im sure theres a batch processing method for this but thats way beyond my knowledge of PS) so that you remove most of the background, highlight the ball as a bright colour, and then change the opacity. and eventually you create the path of the ball. but its 2-dimensional. you could use 2 cameras to have a pair of 2D shots from behind and side-on which would give pretty much all the required info. but its labour intensive and so not worth the effort when you can basically see these things in video anyway. and overlaying multiple videos for comparison does the same thing and takes a few minutes. it just depends on 2 cameras firing at the same time off the same trigger. if i had 2 of my camcorder that would be extremely easy.

 

[TheGreasyPole]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Two)

Hi Guys,

Thought I'd fill you in on how my much more rudimentary winter practice went this week. (all this talk of developing 4-5 balls and advice on them is being filed away for the future, but it sure is depressing reading it now when I can't land my stock ball nicely ! I only hope in a few years I can join in proudly recounting the 2-3 I land nicely, and the 2-3 that need improvement to use in match. Lol.)

Anyway..... I did some practice on tarmac to gauge how much spin I am currently getting and landing on a good length (Dave's batsmen in a crease stretching his bat out length) I was getting about 30cm turn on wet tarmac and about 40cm when it was dry by the time the ball passed the stumps. (with a couple of 50cm+ rippers). I reckon I'm getting enough spin, even on the wet days, to land on leg and spin to just outside off.

I'm thinking thats roughly what I'll get on a good pitch if I can get this on tarmac, so I think the spin is ok for now (if rudimentary, I'd want it stronger eventually) and I should still develop the accuracy.

In some good news .... I had a great spell on Day 3..... About 5 minutes after starting practice they just started coming out and hitting a good line and length one after the other. I got about 20 balls, all landing on my tabletop, and within the "better" (in line with the stumps, on a good length) areas of the tabletop. It was awesome, I was really pumped. The spell ended with me bowling 3 wides in row though (I think I got overexcitied, dragged a couple down then heaved one over leg releasing it early in an attempt not to drag down) and I went back to my more usual "1/2 reasonable balls, 1/2 terrible balls" bowling afterwards.

This "average" is probably gradually improving, and I was able to sort out a couple of things with my action that was causing me trouble (staying tall in the delivery stride, instead of bending my back which I noticed I did..... getting my stock ball spinning more side on rather than half top/hald leggie that it had begun devolving too..... getting my arm higher, at 11 O'clock rather than 10 O'clock).

I also had another mini "cracked it" moment on the last day.... where I could feel it "coming out good" as it left the hand, so that I think I'm getting a good feel for what I need to do....... so I'm hoping to "lock in" that action as much as I can and get those spells of consistency just expanding and expanding as I groove in the action. At the moment, I think it's the fact that my action isn't fully repeatable, and so is different each time, that is the problem with my accuracy. I went to get that "good feeling" action of the two spells when I looked like a proper legspinner to be my "every time" action. I'll just have to keep plugging away.

The newer, straighter, higher action is also helping with the few bits I was getting sore (outside/behind left knee, shoulder, fingers). It seems the straighter higher action I am trying puts less strain on at least the first two (and I think the fingers are just toughening up). The knee was getting particularly bothersome on the pivot, but with the higher action and a straighter back it's not getting as stiff and sore as it was the first few weeks practice.

The only low point of the week was the g'damn parkies at the park. I was thrown out of the tennis courts that were my tarmac surface (Only tennis balls allowed in the courts apparently, even though he agreed I was causing no damage and that no-one else was there) so I'm going to have difficulty bowling on wet days. I discovered another place..... but it's much farther from work, such that it would cut my spells down to 30min a day.

I'm considering just trying to brazen it out with the parkies..... I figure if they can't be bothered to chuck me out every day..... or it takes thm 30 min to notice and chuck me out.... then it's still better than tromping over to the new place. I just hope they don't put a padlock on the gates to the tarmac tennis courts. They're Ok with me practicing on the grass..... but I figure they'll only be one day in 10 that the grass will be dry enough over the winter.

My path is strewn by cowpats from the devils own satanic herd !

Sounds like it's all going well with you guys, and I am watching every video posted and readin all the posts ..... they never fail to give me ideas on improving my action, or ideas on things to do that I'm filing away for future practices.

Yours,

TGP

 

[macca]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Two)

Hi Guys,

Thought I'd fill you in on how my much more rudimentary winter practice went this week. (all this talk of developing 4-5 balls and advice on them is being filed away for the future, but it sure is depressing reading it now when I can't land my stock ball nicely ! I only hope in a few years I can join in proudly recounting the 2-3 I land nicely, and the 2-3 that need improvement to use in match. Lol.)

Anyway..... I did some practice on tarmac to gauge how much spin I am currently getting and landing on a good length (Dave's batsmen in a crease stretching his bat out length) I was getting about 30cm turn on wet tarmac and about 40cm when it was dry by the time the ball passed the stumps. (with a couple of 50cm+ rippers). I reckon I'm getting enough spin, even on the wet days, to land on leg and spin to just outside off.

I'm thinking thats roughly what I'll get on a good pitch if I can get this on tarmac, so I think the spin is ok for now (if rudimentary, I'd want it stronger eventually) and I should still develop the accuracy.

In some good news .... I had a great spell on Day 3..... About 5 minutes after starting practice they just started coming out and hitting a good line and length one after the other. I got about 20 balls, all landing on my tabletop, and within the "better" (in line with the stumps, on a good length) areas of the tabletop. It was awesome, I was really pumped. The spell ended with me bowling 3 wides in row though (I think I got overexcitied, dragged a couple down then heaved one over leg releasing it early in an attempt not to drag down) and I went back to my more usual "1/2 reasonable balls, 1/2 terrible balls" bowling afterwards.

This "average" is probably gradually improving, and I was able to sort out a couple of things with my action that was causing me trouble (staying tall in the delivery stride, instead of bending my back which I noticed I did..... getting my stock ball spinning more side on rather than half top/hald leggie that it had begun devolving too..... getting my arm higher, at 11 O'clock rather than 10 O'clock).

I also had another mini "cracked it" moment on the last day.... where I could feel it "coming out good" as it left the hand, so that I think I'm getting a good feel for what I need to do....... so I'm hoping to "lock in" that action as much as I can and get those spells of consistency just expanding and expanding as I groove in the action. At the moment, I think it's the fact that my action isn't fully repeatable, and so is different each time, that is the problem with my accuracy. I went to get that "good feeling" action of the two spells when I looked like a proper legspinner to be my "every time" action. I'll just have to keep plugging away.

The newer, straighter, higher action is also helping with the few bits I was getting sore (outside/behind left knee, shoulder, fingers). It seems the straighter higher action I am trying puts less strain on at least the first two (and I think the fingers are just toughening up). The knee was getting particularly bothersome on the pivot, but with the higher action and a straighter back it's not getting as stiff and sore as it was the first few weeks practice.

The only low point of the week was the g'damn parkies at the park. I was thrown out of the tennis courts that were my tarmac surface (Only tennis balls allowed in the courts apparently, even though he agreed I was causing no damage and that no-one else was there) so I'm going to have difficulty bowling on wet days. I discovered another place..... but it's much farther from work, such that it would cut my spells down to 30min a day.

I'm considering just trying to brazen it out with the parkies..... I figure if they can't be bothered to chuck me out every day..... or it takes thm 30 min to notice and chuck me out.... then it's still better than tromping over to the new place. I just hope they don't put a padlock on the gates to the tarmac tennis courts. They're Ok with me practicing on the grass..... but I figure they'll only be one day in 10 that the grass will be dry enough over the winter.

My path is strewn by cowpats from the devils own satanic herd !

Sounds like it's all going well with you guys, and I am watching every video posted and readin all the posts ..... they never fail to give me ideas on improving my action, or ideas on things to do that I'm filing away for future practices.

Yours,

TGP

It must be hard finding a place to bowl over winter? Never ever a problem here but further south it gets a bit harder as the winters get cooler. What about indoor facilities?
You can achieve so much by using a wall and a few yards of area. Even indoors with rubber balls, especially the flipper.

Grimmett trained all through adelaides winter everday hail or shine, and became, according to Bradman, the best ever bowler of a wet ball he saw.

 

[macca]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Two)

First game of the season next saturday and my sons team are playing in a higher grade than they should be. That doesn't worry us because him and a couple of others in the team are up to the grade but as a whole this is the 2nds from our suburb taking on the firsts from all the other suburbs in the comp. I reckon they should bowl first when they can because i am worried they wont bat out their 30 overs.

In the trial on wednesday my kid was the only one to take wickets (3) in his 3 overs. He was getting more bounce than anyone and they just could not keep from hitting him in the air. Coach was full of praise for his spin and accuracy but probably doesn't know of the hours we put in.
Today we had a long bowl and he had the wrongun happening again. It is just past the topspinner on the loop but it spins fast and surprises me as it is a new element. Funny how it happened, we have been working on a wrongun for 4 years and have been through wrongun syndrome but we did not really plan on bowling one in games even this year, concentrating on legbreak and topspinner exclusively. Today he bowled a great little flipper, kept low and hit stumps, most of his legbreaks were bouncing well over the woodwork. Now i have banned the flipper and he was just showing off to a mate of mine but the way he bowled it i am not so sure he should not try it in a match if it seems a good idea for him.


Warne and Grimmett both proved the wrongun is not the be all and end all of legspin bowling as neither had a particularly good one but they always threw one in the mix just to warn the batsmen the ball may turn the other way even if he can read you from the hand.

 

[someblokecalleddave]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Two)

With regards practicing over here in the winter depending on where you live and how much disposable income you've got it does get a bit difficult. But it could be worse there was a bloke on this thread or the simply cricket forum that preceded it who lived in Canada and he practiced inside his house somehow as it was -17 outside with the snow 15' deep!

All the playing fields are now being churned up by almost every bloke in the country playing 'Soccer' chasing a 200,000,000 to 1 chance that they may become the next David Beckham. So by about Nov what with the rain bowling on grass becomes almost impossible. Around then I convert to concrete and tarmac using anywhere that's flat with an adjacent fence or wall. Playgrounds, basketball courts, parking lots even deserted subways before now! Fortunately as I live in a fairly urban area there's several council sports facilities designed for cricket practice on concrete. There's even one or two artificial wickets, but they get damp and slippery and become unusable by about mid Nov as they never quite dry out as the sun is so weak.

With regards indoors, there's plenty of sports halls, but you need to hire the full hall and they range from about 25 quid to 80 an hour. Some of these can be divided up into Badminton courts and you're charged a 3rd of the fee and we sometimes (Me and my lads) pay the 8 quid for an hour to have a practice.

Clubs here usually almost cease to exist till after Christmas and then late January they start their net sessions running up to the start of the season in April. If you can get a bunch of you together you can hire nets at schools and council sports facilities and they're as mentioned earlier around about 80 an hour, but it's getting a 8 blokes together to do it to make it viable.

Outside on concrete in a fenced off basketball court is my preferred option as seen in my googly syndrome blog

 

[someblokecalleddave]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Two)

First game of the season next saturday and my sons team are playing in a higher grade than they should be. That doesn't worry us because him and a couple of others in the team are up to the grade but as a whole this is the 2nds from our suburb taking on the firsts from all the other suburbs in the comp. I reckon they should bowl first when they can because i am worried they wont bat out their 30 overs.

In the trial on wednesday my kid was the only one to take wickets (3) in his 3 overs. He was getting more bounce than anyone and they just could not keep from hitting him in the air. Coach was full of praise for his spin and accuracy but probably doesn't know of the hours we put in.
Today we had a long bowl and he had the wrongun happening again. It is just past the topspinner on the loop but it spins fast and surprises me as it is a new element. Funny how it happened, we have been working on a wrongun for 4 years and have been through wrongun syndrome but we did not really plan on bowling one in games even this year, concentrating on legbreak and topspinner exclusively. Today he bowled a great little flipper, kept low and hit stumps, most of his legbreaks were bouncing well over the woodwork. Now i have banned the flipper and he was just showing off to a mate of mine but the way he bowled it i am not so sure he should not try it in a match if it seems a good idea for him.


Warne and Grimmett both proved the wrongun is not the be all and end all of legspin bowling as neither had a particularly good one but they always threw one in the mix just to warn the batsmen the ball may turn the other way even if he can read you from the hand.

Sounds like he's doing well, I'm not over excited with the wrong un either I find that although it surprises the bat with my slowish bowling they usually react quick enough to get some bat on it. I suppose if you were really good and accurate with it it's the ball to use against the Lefties turning it away from the bat like a leg break.

 

[Jim2109]

Re: Wrist Spin Bowling (Part Two)

Sounds like he's doing well, I'm not over excited with the wrong un either I find that although it surprises the bat with my slowish bowling they usually react quick enough to get some bat on it. I suppose if you were really good and accurate with it it's the ball to use against the Lefties turning it away from the bat like a leg break.

this is where i think pace comes into play to some extent. the leg break either turns away or skids though, most good batsmen ive faced tend to play fairly straight (as if the ball wont turn) and then adjust if necessary (i havent played since i really got the ball to turn consistently though). the variations therefore tend to be quite easy to play since most of them go straight or just inside of straight. there is enough time to move the bat and cover the ball. however il bet the wrong'un is economical? i cant see too many batsmen finding time to react to it, AND playing a shot off it. so it could work well just as a control tactic, if the batsman is getting after you bowl him a good wrong'un, then walk down the pitch to collect the ball yourself staring him straight in the eyes the whole way there. it gives him some food for thought. i even practice this in the nets with an imaginary batsman stood there lol.

however to cause real problems i think the ball has to arrive at the bat a little quicker. the only way to simulate this without adding actual pace to the delivery is to pitch it up, but that is dependant on the batsman and their playing style as to whether they wouldnt just find that easier to play.

With regards practicing over here in the winter depending on where you live and how much disposable income you've got it does get a bit difficult. But it could be worse there was a bloke on this thread or the simply cricket forum that preceded it who lived in Canada and he practiced inside his house somehow as it was -17 outside with the snow 15' deep!

All the playing fields are now being churned up by almost every bloke in the country playing 'Soccer' chasing a 200,000,000 to 1 chance that they may become the next David Beckham. So by about Nov what with the rain bowling on grass becomes almost impossible. Around then I convert to concrete and tarmac using anywhere that's flat with an adjacent fence or wall. Playgrounds, basketball courts, parking lots even deserted subways before now! Fortunately as I live in a fairly urban area there's several council sports facilities designed for cricket practice on concrete. There's even one or two artificial wickets, but they get damp and slippery and become unusable by about mid Nov as they never quite dry out as the sun is so weak.

With regards indoors, there's plenty of sports halls, but you need to hire the full hall and they range from about 25 quid to 80 an hour. Some of these can be divided up into Badminton courts and you're charged a 3rd of the fee and we sometimes (Me and my lads) pay the 8 quid for an hour to have a practice.

Clubs here usually almost cease to exist till after Christmas and then late January they start their net sessions running up to the start of the season in April. If you can get a bunch of you together you can hire nets at schools and council sports facilities and they're as mentioned earlier around about 80 an hour, but it's getting a 8 blokes together to do it to make it viable.

Outside on concrete in a fenced off basketball court is my preferred option as seen in my googly syndrome blog

ive got similar options around me. local sports halls are in the same sort of price range as you specified, e.g. too expensive for one person. all of the playing fields are football oriented through summer as well as winter, none of them have cricket facilities anymore, all of the cricket clubs have their own grounds. my local cricket club have dismantled their nets which really sucks as they were my favourite practice site, despite being near-derelict. the carpet on the concrete is wafer thin and well worn down, and when it gets wet its the ultimate practice setup, its hard to find turn but you are rewarded for good spin with the seam vertical, so it teaches good seam discipline. my club is a 20 minute drive and their nets stay up. but the carpet was new this year and its impossible to bowl on when its wet, the ball does absolutely nothing, it doesnt even bounce. plus they get really slippy underfoot and its hard to bowl.

there is a place 10 mins from me called Dummer Cricket Centre, its an independant (e.g. not county owned/run) cricket coaching centre with top notch indoor net facilities and full time pro coaches. however its £24/hour to use a net lane, so again that only works if youve got several people to share it with. they do have bowling machines though for batsmen, they also have an indoor arena for indoor matches and run a league through the winter. ive tried to find a team to play for but no luck thus far. i fancy having a go with the indoor ball, apparently its really hard to turn, but i reckon that would make for good accuracy practice. also i generate good revs so i reckon id get it turning anyway.

however i think my regular practice site is going to end up as a tennis court a few mins walk from my house. its fairly rough concrete, and surrounded by a wire mesh fence so should be perfect for bowling practice. the balls can never stray further than a few yards or get lost anywhere. id like to try and find a cheap roll of flat rough carpet that i can haul up there and lay on the ground, then i can use actual cricket balls instead of hockey balls. astroturf is crazy expensive, but just old carpet with no backing would work well enough. i used to have a perfect roll of it in the garage, but as always happens i threw it away because it was junk, and then a few years later i find a use for it!

November through to March the weather rarely tops 10°C though in England (if that) so its going to require some dedication. i wonder if bowling with cold fingers will make bowling with warm fingers easier, or if it has no influence at all? the bigger issue though is light - when the clocks go back at the end of the month it is pitch black at about 4pm and most people dont even get home from work before that. i might have to take to early morning practice, but it doesnt get light until about 8am once you get deep into winter. it sucks. maybe i should move to Australia for 4 months...