Re: Wrist Spin Bowling
just been watching the ashes coverage, and during lunch they ran a leg spin masterclass with Shane Warne!!
he was out on the wicket with Nasser Hussain presenting and he had Max Waller and Will Beer, 2 young county leg spinners with him to pass on some of his advice.
firstly, Shane Warne hasnt lost his touch at all! he still gets it turning big. the 2 youngsters were getting small amounts of turn, but fairly good accuracy on the few deliveries they bowled. neither of them has a wide range of variations, which is probably a good thing as it means they are obviously focussing on their leg breaks. they both had a wrong'un, but in fairness looking at their wrong'un and also Warnes, and how little it turned, i can bowl one with the same amount of turn when i go too far with my top spinner. so thats reassuring for me.
they also had a slider each, but its not what i think of as a slider (or how i bowl it), neither is Warnes. he doesnt use his leg break action turned inside out, he just slides his fingers over the back of the ball.
he then showed them the flipper and they both tried it, Will Beer was landing them well, he said he was planning to add the flipper over the winter. Max Waller wasnt so good, but if youve never bowled one before thats hardly suprising.
the rest of the masterclass was just words of Warne wisdom. some of it i had heard before (how to generate drift and dip for example - his response was to spin the ball hard), some of it was new and useful. he spoke about bowling around the wicket and why you would want to, and that was a very interesting insight. one thing in particular he said is that if youre bowling to a right hander from your normal position, then you go very wide on the crease over the wicket,the batsman has to turn to face you, and this closes his stance up. you then go round the wicket but its important to go as wide on the crease as you can for the biggest change in angle. the batsman then automatically has to open up his body to face your delivery, even more so if you drift the ball away further! this can then square the batsman up and make him vulnerable to the turn.
he said about not over using variations. he said his leg break was his best delivery, so he liked to use it as much as possible, then throw in a very occasional variation. the only time he used the variations more was if a batsman was playing his leg break comfortably and he would throw the wrong'un in more often to plant some seeds of doubt.
he also said some things about field placements. spin bowling is all about rhythm, and it takes time to find it. so its not a great idea to have close fielders in your opening overs as it puts pressure on you. if youve got the close fielders in and you dont find your rhythm instantly then a few runs might get hit, and then the captain will withdraw the fielder, and this sends a message to the batsman that he is on top. on the other hand, if you start with a ring field restricting the singles whilst you find your rhythm, THEN bring in the bat-pad or silly point, etc then you as the bowler have the momentum. youve got the batsman struggling and then youre piling the pressure on his shots.
finally the other thing i can remember is he spoke about how he developed his superb control of his deliveries, e.g. his accuracy. he said that he just used to practice for hours and hours with his brother. he basically supported the much-stated principle of learn to spin the ball hard, and then just practice by bowling every spare hour you get and the accuracy will come. he sort of said that spinning is the talent that not everyone is born with or can acquire, and once youve got that talent you have to make use of it by just practicing.
it was quite a useful 15 minute insight. for anyone who missed it youve missed out on a useful masterclass, not so much in technique but in tactics and mental method. ive got it recorded on Sky+ (apart from the first 2 mins because it didnt start recording properly), but i dont know if its possible for me to transfer that to the internet. we will have to see if anyone else sticks it on youtube in the coming days.
just been watching the ashes coverage, and during lunch they ran a leg spin masterclass with Shane Warne!!
he was out on the wicket with Nasser Hussain presenting and he had Max Waller and Will Beer, 2 young county leg spinners with him to pass on some of his advice.
firstly, Shane Warne hasnt lost his touch at all! he still gets it turning big. the 2 youngsters were getting small amounts of turn, but fairly good accuracy on the few deliveries they bowled. neither of them has a wide range of variations, which is probably a good thing as it means they are obviously focussing on their leg breaks. they both had a wrong'un, but in fairness looking at their wrong'un and also Warnes, and how little it turned, i can bowl one with the same amount of turn when i go too far with my top spinner. so thats reassuring for me.
they also had a slider each, but its not what i think of as a slider (or how i bowl it), neither is Warnes. he doesnt use his leg break action turned inside out, he just slides his fingers over the back of the ball.
he then showed them the flipper and they both tried it, Will Beer was landing them well, he said he was planning to add the flipper over the winter. Max Waller wasnt so good, but if youve never bowled one before thats hardly suprising.
the rest of the masterclass was just words of Warne wisdom. some of it i had heard before (how to generate drift and dip for example - his response was to spin the ball hard), some of it was new and useful. he spoke about bowling around the wicket and why you would want to, and that was a very interesting insight. one thing in particular he said is that if youre bowling to a right hander from your normal position, then you go very wide on the crease over the wicket,the batsman has to turn to face you, and this closes his stance up. you then go round the wicket but its important to go as wide on the crease as you can for the biggest change in angle. the batsman then automatically has to open up his body to face your delivery, even more so if you drift the ball away further! this can then square the batsman up and make him vulnerable to the turn.
he said about not over using variations. he said his leg break was his best delivery, so he liked to use it as much as possible, then throw in a very occasional variation. the only time he used the variations more was if a batsman was playing his leg break comfortably and he would throw the wrong'un in more often to plant some seeds of doubt.
he also said some things about field placements. spin bowling is all about rhythm, and it takes time to find it. so its not a great idea to have close fielders in your opening overs as it puts pressure on you. if youve got the close fielders in and you dont find your rhythm instantly then a few runs might get hit, and then the captain will withdraw the fielder, and this sends a message to the batsman that he is on top. on the other hand, if you start with a ring field restricting the singles whilst you find your rhythm, THEN bring in the bat-pad or silly point, etc then you as the bowler have the momentum. youve got the batsman struggling and then youre piling the pressure on his shots.
finally the other thing i can remember is he spoke about how he developed his superb control of his deliveries, e.g. his accuracy. he said that he just used to practice for hours and hours with his brother. he basically supported the much-stated principle of learn to spin the ball hard, and then just practice by bowling every spare hour you get and the accuracy will come. he sort of said that spinning is the talent that not everyone is born with or can acquire, and once youve got that talent you have to make use of it by just practicing.
it was quite a useful 15 minute insight. for anyone who missed it youve missed out on a useful masterclass, not so much in technique but in tactics and mental method. ive got it recorded on Sky+ (apart from the first 2 mins because it didnt start recording properly), but i dont know if its possible for me to transfer that to the internet. we will have to see if anyone else sticks it on youtube in the coming days.
