Picking Spin

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Morbers

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Picking Spin

Afternoon,

I played a T20 game last night and opened the batting, usually it is mostly quicks or med bowlers but the opposition opened with a spinner. I played two balls which decevied me all ends up and managed to get off strike thanks to a bye, at the end of the over I even had to ask my partner which way it was turning. I just could not pick it.

this chaps following over I still could not read it well despite now knowing what he was bowling, so gambled and drove him for a few fours over his head by just getting as near to the pitch as I could to negate the spin, all well and good as it came off this week, but next time if he bowled a bit shorter I would not know what to do.

So basicly the question is, how do you guys pick spin, and what should I be doing?

thanks,

Morbers
 
Re: Picking Spin

first and foremost it helps to figure out what type of spinner youre facing. if you know whether they are primarily an offie or a leggie then youll know what their stock delivery is, and youll know which way it should turn. there are generally some tell-tale signs, primarily the hand and wrist actions. as a leg spinner, i can tell you that youre looking for the hand to pivot at the wrist from right to left and end up with the back of the hand facing the bowlers face. once youve picked that youll know what to expect, but variations can still come into play.

so far as variations go, i think its dangerous to try and pick a delivery out of the hand regardless of your understanding of spin. a leg spinners googly and flipper are the only 2 that are easily picked, but they can be also be disguised, and leg breaks can be disguised as googlies and flippers to throw a batsman off. personally i think its a bad idea to try and pre-empt the delivery in that way.

your best bet is to watch the seam in flight. if its flighted then youll have time to do this, and its fairly easy to see the spin on the ball if youre focussed on it. if the ball is too flat and fast to read the seam then it will likely go straight on anyway. always expect the stock delivery and try to pick the variations though. never try to anticipate variations as youll end up getting yourself in trouble.

once youve picked the delivery then your only problem is playing it!! :D
 
Re: Picking Spin

Thanks Jim, and very true. My main problem is that as an opener I had no reference to what way he was spinning it and my eye sight is simply not good enough to pick it out of the hand. I am short sighted and take glasses for some things, but it feels strange to wear them with a helmet, and when I don't wear my helmet (which is whenever I can when those pesky ECB regulation inforcers are not around- I just hate the feel of a helmet, dispite growing up wearing one, strange) I don't wear glasses just incase I do get one in the face, which could be messy.

SO basicly without picking stuff out the hand, I can just about get away with seeing and playing the stock ball, but if the action is similiar for the flipper, googly, whatever, I struggle picking it up quickly, (which is fine but limits my shots as I just don't have the time to play certian shots if I have to watch it onto the bat.) and thus bat in fear that the varient is coming, which effects my playing of the stock ball.

hope I am making my self semi clear and not just rambling on here.

Edit: forgot to read your last paragraph Jim, which you offer a way to play expecting the stock ball. I think my point still stands about 'bating in fear' though, and this mindset, perhaps is way I score slowly, as I am batting, primarly to not get out, rather then looking to get runs.

thanks

Morbers,
 
Re: Picking Spin

Don't forget to use the batsman at the bowlers end! He will have a better view than you and should be able to tell you what type of bowler you're facing, if nothing else.
 
Re: Picking Spin

heh, something as simple as that is easily forgoten when you come to think about things. Thanks for the heads up ;)
 
Re: Picking Spin

Morbers;403532 said:
heh, something as simple as that is easily forgoten when you come to think about things. Thanks for the heads up ;)
Click to expand...

We often get bogged down in looking for grand solutions. Good communication in cricket can buy you easy runs and wickets but we rarely think about it.
 
Re: Picking Spin

Aye to that. Such a pain running with the tail who are day dreaming up the non strikers end. in a good partnership one can work out areas to target (ie run on the arm of the bald bloke) and can easily tot up the runs.
 
Re: Picking Spin

im short sighted as well, but i wear contacts for cricket now. i can see the seam rotating in flight from about halfway down the pitch. so by the time it starts to drop i know what the seam is doing and can then anticipate any turn. ultimately though picking the spin is only one small part of playing a shot, it could turn small, or it could turn huge, sometimes with extra bounce and sometimes with less. the safest option is just to negate the spin by getting to the pitch of the ball and using your feet. unless its short enough to play off the back foot in which case you can just rock back and wait to see where it goes.

if you stay at the crease and look to play shots with minimal footwork then even if you pick the spin youre going to struggle against a good spinner. you pretty much played the right way the other day by getting to the pitch of the ball. if the bowler has to drop it shorter to negate your footwork then you can simply play off the back foot instead which is easier. the key to this is then picking the length early. against very slow spin this will be fairly easier, but hand-grenade bowlers that bowl the ball 10 feet above head height are really hard to predict for length, as are faster spin bowlers. but fast spin deliveries rarely turn, and hand grenade bowlers are best played aggressively IMO. i always look to take a few big strides and smash the ball full toss. youve got enough time for it, you just have to make sure you dont miss the ball or youll end up stumped.
 
Re: Picking Spin

Yes, good points Jim.
Primarily I play off the front foot to most bowls, bar clear shorter ones- just, rightly or wrongly, how I roll. But it has to be said my foot work is minimal, if it is in the slot I drive, else I end up fiddling outside off stump.

So now i am begining to realise that essentially getting right next to the pitch should negate the spin as much as possible, without yorking yourself. So I probably just need to work on moving my feet more and applying myself, then, as with my last outing, a few 'cultured' strokes might pay off.

On another playing spin question, what type, line, length ball is a sweep good to play. I am fairly happy about playing the shot as far as the technique goes but never really like to bring it out in games as I have previously top edged sweeping. I am far more happy reverse sweeping as I feel I can get my head more over the ball, and less chance of getting bowled.

thanks again for the help,,
PLaying tommorow if the rain holds off and am in a decent enough run of form in the longer games, so hope I can continue and apply some of the things I have read in here and on the boards.
 
Re: Picking Spin

the sweep shot is the only shot im really good at, but i generally only pull it out against leg spinners. the length is relative to your footwork, but i basically try to get it so that if i put in my biggest stride and get down onto my left knee, then reach out in front of my with the bat, the ball needs to land about 12-36" short of the end of the bat so that youre middling it as it rises up off the bounce, and can get over the top of it so as not to sky it.

so if youre fairly static at the crease, then the above will dictate length. but im fairly happy to use my feet to anything outside leg stump as i know that the ball isnt getting past me for a stumping, isnt going to get me LBW, so the sweep is fairly low risk as long as i get into position for it. hence i only really use it against leg spinners or slow left armers. unless a bowler messes up and puts the ball down the legside for me.

if youre top edging then youre probably not getting close enough to the pitch of the ball. you need to take bounce out of the equation as much as possible, and get as low to the ground as you can (e.g. fully on your back knee) and play on top of the ball to make sure you ground it.
 
Re: Picking Spin

We aren't going to tell you how to pick us :p
Nah in aall seriousness, the stuff above is all good.; If you have an old head in the team who has played all these teams before he might be able to help you pick each bowler before you bat . Eg this weekend just past we played against NCI III who we played earlier in the season and they demolished us with their opener taking 18-8; (i survived only to be bowled by one of their female players, much to my teams delight)
So it came to the rematch away, and we knew how the female bowler was going to bowl, and how the other bowlers were going to bowl (their opener from first match got bumped into 2nds unsuprisingly) and we rattled off a nice quick 196 in 40.
Just try and remember individual players, dont forget about who you've played before.
 
Morbers said:
Picking Spin

Afternoon,

I played a T20 game last night and opened the batting, usually it is mostly quicks or med bowlers but the opposition opened with a spinner. I played two balls which decevied me all ends up and managed to get off strike thanks to a bye, at the end of the over I even had to ask my partner which way it was turning. I just could not pick it.

this chaps following over I still could not read it well despite now knowing what he was bowling, so gambled and drove him for a few fours over his head by just getting as near to the pitch as I could to negate the spin, all well and good as it came off this week, but next time if he bowled a bit shorter I would not know what to do.

So basicly the question is, how do you guys pick spin, and what should I be doing?

thanks,

Morbers
Click to expand...
You actually have to see the ball .See the angle of the ball.See the revolutions.See the speed.And thats how to pick the spin
 
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