Steven Smith, video link, general thoughts

Top Contributors
seems to be a bit of late mail that smith might make the test squad. i notice stu macgill picked him in his bowling line-up. maybe at the back of their minds is giving him at least 1test probably sydney, because of how well he bowled on a 4 day wicket at scg late last season.

it is hard for me personally to get excited about any series without a legspinner. but if katich is the only wristie, swann should be great to watch.

a lot of aussies havent seen a pro english offie since emburey and might be shocked what a tangle they can get our blokes in. depends if he can get the drift as much as spin set the field and stick to his plans. he looks to be in great form and looks leaner and meaner than last ashes. you only have to hear swann handle interviewers to know he is one smart cookie.
 
macca said:
seems to be a bit of late mail that smith might make the test squad. i notice stu macgill picked him in his bowling line-up. maybe at the back of their minds is giving him at least 1test probably sydney, because of how well he bowled on a 4 day wicket at scg late last season.

it is hard for me personally to get excited about any series without a legspinner. but if katich is the only wristie, swann should be great to watch.

a lot of aussies havent seen a pro english offie since emburey and might be shocked what a tangle they can get our blokes in. depends if he can get the drift as much as spin set the field and stick to his plans. he looks to be in great form and looks leaner and meaner than last ashes. you only have to hear swann handle interviewers to know he is one smart cookie.
Click to expand...

Watching Swann bowl against the Pakis over in England was amazing. Ive never seen an off spinner get so much drift and turn. If he can get half that over here we are in trouble.
 
Yeah I'd like to see Smith get a game, if only once. Swann we're all hoping will be pivotal in our success and if can maintain his composure in the face of such a historical opportunity, he'll probably cause your blokes problems and play a big role in our success if we pull it off, but I reckon it's gonna be a nail biter.
 
Smith just about batted his way into the test team down in Tassie. I am going to check his bowling out on TV next few days, hopefully he gets a long bowl. That wicket is a bit of a greentop, but its hard. Then again the ball didn't grip for monty today. He got some curve and drift with the wind but the ball skids thru down there.

I see smith and hilditch want to push the line he is wanting to be regarded as a batsman who bowls legspin. This all started this week and is being pushed by mark taylor, ian chappell and everybody else. I dunno i have been a fisherman for 40 years and i haven't smelt anything this fishy.

That might be an admission that as legspinner at test level he has a long way to go, which he has, or maybe something is cooking.

Smith hasn't been in everyones first test team, but i have had a strong sense for a while now that he is penciled in for at least one test.

This england team looks the strongest since 86 or 77-78. But like when you play the west indies, we should pick the best legspinner in the country, stuff fingerspinners, because these jokers never could play good legspin, that's why they changed all the rules back in the Grimmett O 'Rielly heyday.
 
Well smith looked like a typical club spinner when he got his chance to bowl at collingwood and bell. Trouble was he wasn't bowling to club batsmen

wide long hops, ridiculously loopy full tosses, beginner level drag downs, Bell was on him straight away and pretty well murdered each bad ball.

smith got shown up bad by o'keefe who bowled so well and accurately he might have played doherty into the test team because they are similar.

They wont pick a legspinner just for the sake of it.
 
Yeah poor bloke got spanked unfortunately. Did you notice after he had been hit for the first few balls he was just stopping at the crease and not following through properly. I really noticed it after doctortrans posts. I guess its hard not to sieze up and go back into your shell when you are getting hit.
 
Smith isn't ready for international bowling IMO. the more I see of him, the more it is clear that he needs a few good seasons at state level yet. the problem is that people just make the Warne comparison all the time, and how Warne had a few bad tours to begin with and then exploded onto the scene. but that was luck and many second chances (which Australia seem less willing to offer these days), and if Smith has a few more bad series (if given the chance) then he will more likely just get forgotten anyway. theyre doing more harm than good by persevering with him when hes bowling so poorly, he needs to get sent back to state now and left to learn his trade quietly. bowling at Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood when youre bowling badly is going to destroy anyones confidence. Warne aside, who completely tormented Bell, they are both excellent players of spin when in form. and Bell is on some of the best form of his career.

i never understand why Cameron White doesnt get to bowl his leg spin? by all accounts he is a decent bowler, and hes captaining Australia A, surely he should be bowling himself?
 
Jim2109 said:
Smith isn't ready for international bowling IMO. the more I see of him, the more it is clear that he needs a few good seasons at state level yet. the problem is that people just make the Warne comparison all the time, and how Warne had a few bad tours to begin with and then exploded onto the scene. but that was luck and many second chances (which Australia seem less willing to offer these days), and if Smith has a few more bad series (if given the chance) then he will more likely just get forgotten anyway. theyre doing more harm than good by persevering with him when hes bowling so poorly, he needs to get sent back to state now and left to learn his trade quietly. bowling at Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood when youre bowling badly is going to destroy anyones confidence. Warne aside, who completely tormented Bell, they are both excellent players of spin when in form. and Bell is on some of the best form of his career.

i never understand why Cameron White doesnt get to bowl his leg spin? by all accounts he is a decent bowler, and hes captaining Australia A, surely he should be bowling himself?
Click to expand...


He doesn't bowl because he was bowling absolute dross in India 2-3 years ago when they tried him out as a Test spinner. He obviously made the decision after that disaster that to really make something out of his career he would have to drop the leg spin completely and concentrate on making it as a batsman. Which to be fair to him has worked out a treat. we all know how consuming and potentially demoralising bowling leg spin is, and if he couldn't do it as well as a he wanted to why bother to get himself down about it and risk ruining his career. lets be honest he was never that good anyway.

I've been watching Steve Smith bowling this morning on the highlights of the warm up game against England, his action looks like its really coming along, its much smoother than it was back in the summer when he was playing at Worcester and doesn't look so ugly. In fact i was quite enjoying seeing him twirl away. Bell was really giving him some humpty, his footwork was impeccable, but it was nice to see Smith giving it bags of flight and trying to get the drift even if it didn't quite work out. His line and length are obviously still a work in progress, we all know that pain i think! but he was turning it a bit on what had become a bit of a road (it was a vicious green top when we were bowling on it) and it was cold (for an Australian anyway) so pretty crap conditions allround for a spinner. I think it would be silly to play him in the Ashes proper but honestly the Aussie's aren't exactly spoilt in the bowling department. o'keefe looks a good un but doesn't seem to be being considered whilst xavier doherty looks crap in my opinion. looks like they're stuck with Hauritz for the time being. Also i believe Ashes highlights are going to be on ITV4 this year rather than channel 5.
 
Smith and White are rubbish leg-spinners, part-timers at best. In fact White isn't even that anymore, hardly ever bowls at all, maybe a few overs at best.

Smith should forget about bowling cause it won't ever be good enough for international level.
 
Jim2109 said:
i never understand why Cameron White doesnt get to bowl his leg spin? by all accounts he is a decent bowler, and hes captaining Australia A, surely he should be bowling himself?
Click to expand...

I could never understand why no one showed white, warne was his captain, if he moved his wrist 90degrees to the left he could have bowled legbreaks. Topspinner was his stock ball.
 
GoldenArm said:
He doesn't bowl because he was bowling absolute dross in India 2-3 years ago when they tried him out as a Test spinner. He obviously made the decision after that disaster that to really make something out of his career he would have to drop the leg spin completely and concentrate on making it as a batsman. Which to be fair to him has worked out a treat. we all know how consuming and potentially demoralising bowling leg spin is, and if he couldn't do it as well as a he wanted to why bother to get himself down about it and risk ruining his career. lets be honest he was never that good anyway.

I've been watching Steve Smith bowling this morning on the highlights of the warm up game against England, his action looks like its really coming along, its much smoother than it was back in the summer when he was playing at Worcester and doesn't look so ugly. In fact i was quite enjoying seeing him twirl away. Bell was really giving him some humpty, his footwork was impeccable, but it was nice to see Smith giving it bags of flight and trying to get the drift even if it didn't quite work out. His line and length are obviously still a work in progress, we all know that pain i think! but he was turning it a bit on what had become a bit of a road (it was a vicious green top when we were bowling on it) and it was cold (for an Australian anyway) so pretty crap conditions allround for a spinner .
Click to expand...

I agree with your analysis completely goldenarm. You must have watched it too

Smith had hand warmers in his pockets, they showed up on hot spot.

He bowled absolute crap to bell. but collingwood he found the edge of his bat without trying (?). I mean, what was going on there? sure bad conditions no turn for anyone, in fact smith drifted and turned a lot more than o keefe and monty, but he did not bowl any variety except length.

Probably he is about as good a bowler of legspin as say keith stackpole, but dont forget warne was under orders in 93 to bowl crap at hicks at worcester and stay under the radar.

Smith seemed pretty down on himself yesterday. Almost kicking the ground after every bad ball he chucked up. Overacting perhaps?
 
macca said:
I agree with your analysis completely goldenarm. You must have watched it too

Smith had hand warmers in his pockets, they showed up on hot spot.

He bowled absolute crap to bell. but collingwood he found the edge of his bat without trying (?). I mean, what was going on there? sure bad conditions no turn for anyone, in fact smith drifted and turned a lot more than o keefe and monty, but he did not bowl any variety except length.

Probably he is about as good a bowler of legspin as say keith stackpole, but dont forget warne was under orders in 93 to bowl crap at hicks at worcester and stay under the radar.

Smith seemed pretty down on himself yesterday. Almost kicking the ground after every bad ball he chucked up. Overacting perhaps?
Click to expand...


I'd love to think he's just playing it up. But it looked like genuine disappointment to me, having experienced those same feelings. in the nets he's probably bowling like a demon then he goes out there and it all falls to pieces. He also had the look of a man who was wondering why the hell they're playing cricket so early in the season who'd rather be inside having a pint! He did definitely bowl better at Colly, when he found the line and length he was quite dangerous, especially considered the conditions. Only time will tell, it will certainly be interesting to see where he is in two years time. we can but hope. There's not exactly a wealth of leggies on the horizon, looks like we'll have to keep watching the old videos of Warnie for the time being! Speaking of which i have a treat for everyone, I've ripped some videos and put them on my Blog. they're taken from the King of Spin DVD which was very hard to get hold of over here. the first one is a tutorial and is up now:

http://topspincricket.blogspot.com/2010/11/king-of-spin.html

The second will be up later or tomorrow and is called Warnie's Great 8 and is a countdown of his favorite wickets from his career and has some excellent replays from all angles of some fantastic deliveries, some of which I had personally never seen before. the flipper to richie richardson and the ripper to Chanderpaul are real breath takers. The third one is the entire hour long special which is a short but brilliant look at his career with a bevy of highlights that are extremely rare, such as his 7-52 against the Windies, plus a whole host of other stuff. It beats the hell out of that ESPN legends of cricket thing anyway which i never think does any player justice being so short and so lacking in any proper footage. It was made pre 2005 as far as I can tell as well so you won't be watching the wickets you've seen a thousand times before.
 
They should have let him play for nsw against tassie up here, but that was a greentop as well.

2 years in shield cricket is what smith needs with nsw giving him heaps of bowling work. He is still 2 years younger than warnes debut and the youngest leggie we have ever picked.

i remember macgill reckoned he was happy to get it down to one bad ball an over, and that bad ball often got him a wicket. Smith has got it down to one good ball an over, so still a long way to go.
 
Top work Golden arm, but I reckon you might be approached by either youtube or the owners of the rights to the video. I've recorded it just in case, so I've got my own copy!
 
Absolutely superb legspin bowling from steve smith so far this morning.

Dry ball makes a difference. Still no variations just all legbreaks around the same pace. But impeccable length. Drift and drop plus sidespin.
 
someblokecalleddave said:
Top work Golden arm, but I reckon you might be approached by either youtube or the owners of the rights to the video. I've recorded it just in case, so I've got my own copy!
Click to expand...


i know i was worried about that, but here's hoping nobody kicks up a fuss. This footage needs to be out there! I shudder to think of all the footage of Warne bowling thats never going to see the light of day, away tours and the like, and on that note here is the next video:

http://topspincricket.blogspot.com/2010/11/king-of-spin-part-2.html

watch it while the goings good!
 
macca said:
Absolutely superb legspin bowling from steve smith so far this morning.

Dry ball makes a difference. Still no variations just all legbreaks around the same pace. But impeccable length. Drift and drop plus sidespin.
Click to expand...

Prior was playing perhaps too aggressively but it was still a great ball. here's hoping he just keeps bowling those leggies and leaves the flippers and wrong uns in the locker for the time being!
 
GoldenArm said:
Prior was playing perhaps too aggressively but it was still a great ball. here's hoping he just keeps bowling those leggies and leaves the flippers and wrong uns in the locker for the time being!
Click to expand...

The order must have come on down from on high to give him a good long bowl. Either he is in the side or they want to have a one last look. He did bowl a lot better than a part time test bowler today. Considering he is our youngest legspinner ever, it was a great sign for the future.

He only bowled one wrongun at legs 11, but it was a good one.

He is bowling and batting and carrying on like someone who knows he's on a promise from selectors. Maybe if he keeps it up, sydney test.
 
what on earth is Warne talking about in the first video regarding the Slider?! palm of the hand facing the batsman is just a square leg break. when he demonstrates it he is clearly showing it as a backspinner by his wrist angle, and then just completely mis-describing it. when he bowls the demonstration delivery hes just dragging the fingers down the back to scramble it. the match delivery they show isnt even a slider, its a leg break that didnt turn.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top