The Off-Spinning Flipper

[Cleanprophet]

It's a delivery I've never really bothered with. I can't really bowl the googly as it is, so using a googly wrist position with a flipper action is something I'll stay away from.

As SLA said, in a different thread, you don't want to get carried away with too many variations. Most club batters won't spot a googly and react to it, so a wrong wrong un does not have the effect of bamboozling them. It's just another leg spinner.

My feeling is that you just need the one ball that turns away, one that goes straight on and one that goes the 'wrong' way. You should bowl your leg spinner about 90% of the time and use legspin variations with that (with flight, pace, angle etc).

I only bothered with the offbreak flipper because I couldn't bowl the googly. Even though I think it is a better delivery than the googly, if I could bowl the googly I wouldn't have bothered with the offbreak flipper. To this day, I can spend an hour or more in the nets and bowl nothing but legspinners. That is the delivery that will bring almost all of my wickets, so that has to be very, very good.

 

[boogiespinner]

As SLA said, in a different thread, you don't want to get carried away with too many variations. Most club batters won't spot a googly and react to it, so a wrong wrong un does not have the effect of bamboozling them. It's just another leg spinner.

This may well be true, alas.

But for me there's always been this fascination with producing strange spinning deliveries. That's the art that has motivated me to attempt legspin. And keep trying it. I'd have bowled offspin or seam up otherwise! Which might have certainly saved me a hammering around several parks. Even if it's just for my own curiosity, I'll have to play around with this one.

 

[SLA]

It's a delivery I've never really bothered with. I can't really bowl the googly as it is, so using a googly wrist position with a flipper action is something I'll stay away from.

As SLA said, in a different thread, you don't want to get carried away with too many variations. Most club batters won't spot a googly and react to it, so a wrong wrong un does not have the effect of bamboozling them. It's just another leg spinner.

My feeling is that you just need the one ball that turns away, one that goes straight on and one that goes the 'wrong' way. You should bowl your leg spinner about 90% of the time and use legspin variations with that (with flight, pace, angle etc).

I only bothered with the offbreak flipper because I couldn't bowl the googly. Even though I think it is a better delivery than the googly, if I could bowl the googly I wouldn't have bothered with the offbreak flipper. To this day, I can spend an hour or more in the nets and bowl nothing but legspinners. That is the delivery that will bring almost all of my wickets, so that has to be very, very good.

I vary either a) the pace b) the line c) the flight or d) the direction of spin, and that's about it. Combine those variations and it gives 16 (!) different balls. That's more than enough for anyone, surely?

The important bit is knowing WHEN to bowl each one.

 

[Cleanprophet]

The important bit is knowing WHEN to bowl each one.

Fundamentally, that is what spin is all about. It's why spinners do so well in T20. The whole ethos of spin bowling is to be a step or two ahead of the batter and that is an essential part of T20 cricket.

This is something we've all mentioned many times before, but the reason Warne did so well was mainly because of his ability to think batters out and he did so using his legspinner most of the time. The objective of a spinner is to build pressure and you use accurate bowling and good use of your fielders to do that.

All that said, I can understand the fascination in variations. Grimmett worked on all kinds of variations due to his fascination with getting the ball to do different things. But, of course, he had mastered the tools of his trade before spending time on other variations.

 

[macca]

Fundamentally, that is what spin is all about. It's why spinners do so well in T20. The whole ethos of spin bowling is to be a step or two ahead of the batter and that is an essential part of T20 cricket.

This is something we've all mentioned many times before, but the reason Warne did so well was mainly because of his ability to think batters out and he did so using his legspinner most of the time. The objective of a spinner is to build pressure and you use accurate bowling and good use of your fielders to do that.

All that said, I can understand the fascination in variations. Grimmett worked on all kinds of variations due to his fascination with getting the ball to do different things. But, of course, he had mastered the tools of his trade before spending time on other variations.

And following on from that Grimmett, Benaud and Warne were all world class bowlers before they learnt the flipper. Benaud and Grimmett were test bowlers before they learnt the delivery and Warne was at the cricket academy and was on the verge of test selection. Like when Philpott calls the flipper a "post doctoral ball" and not for beginners.

 

[SLA]

This may well be true, alas.

But for me there's always been this fascination with producing strange spinning deliveries. That's the art that has motivated me to attempt legspin. And keep trying it. I'd have bowled offspin or seam up otherwise! Which might have certainly saved me a hammering around several parks. Even if it's just for my own curiosity, I'll have to play around with this one.

There are really only 6 different directions you can spin the ball. Any more than that and you're basically learning multiple ways of doing the same thing, which can be useful if you're trying to disguise it but at some point the marginal cost of learning a new delivery rather than focussing on your key skills outweighs the marginal benefit of having an extra variation.

It depends how old you are and what you are trying to achieve. If you're just trying to learn some party tricks to impress your mates in the garden or in nets, then learn all the different wild and wonderful deliveries you can think of. If you're trying to be the best spin bowler you can be, then you only need a couple of variations, but make sure they are dynamic, accurate and well-disguised, and then learn when and how to use them.

 

[boogiespinner]

It depends how old you are and what you are trying to achieve. If you're just trying to learn some party tricks to impress your mates in the garden or in nets, then learn all the different wild and wonderful deliveries you can think of. If you're trying to be the best spin bowler you can be, then you only need a couple of variations, but make sure they are dynamic, accurate and well-disguised, and then learn when and how to use them.

hmm I want to argue with this but it's difficult! I guess I'd like both really.

Magicians learn many sleights of hand. They practise for hours on end on each, but if you said to a magician you should only learn one, that would be bizarre. So I don't think it's impossible for cricketers to learn a few.

I suppose though, it is mostly about the quality of the stock ball. With legspin even just one stock ball is pretty good going - there is a natural variation of that from the ball failing to grip and going straight on anyway.

I have no doubt that one good stock ball is worth more than fifty mediocre variations.

From my very limited practice with these flippers - when I pitched in on the ground the off-break flipper turned maybe a little, maybe not at all. However, when I pitched the "wrong wrong 'un" the turn was extraordinary - more than the legbreak, although it was holding up I think rather than making pace off the pitch.

 

[Cleanprophet]

From my very limited practice with these flippers - when I pitched in on the ground the off-break flipper turned maybe a little, maybe not at all. However, when I pitched the "wrong wrong 'un" the turn was extraordinary - more than the legbreak, although it was holding up I think rather than making pace off the pitch.

I've never bothered with the legspinning flipper (wrong wrong un is a name I've never liked), but I can imagine it comes out a little slowly and does sit in the surface a little. That may well be a bit odd for a batter when he first sees it, but you don't want a ball to turn too much. In my opinion, the best ball you can bowl is about 75% top spin and 25% side spin, bowled just on off-stump. A ball that turns too much is of little use other than to maybe let the batter know you can turn it big.

The analogy of the magician probably doesn't apply because the aim of both protagonists is very different. I'm going to be bowling on Sunday and I'll probably bowl about 7 or 8 overs. I suspect I will bowl maybe 3 or 4 offbreak flippers and every other ball will be a legspinner with variation in the balance of topspin to sidespin and in flight/pace.

Ultimately, if you can bowl lots of variations and land them all on a good line and length, then that would be great. If you can't land every ball on a good line and length, then you are limited in the standard of cricket you can bowl in. That is, essentially, what spin bowling (all bowling, for that matter) is about. If you can put the ball in the area you want to, then you can set a field, stop the runs and put pressure on a batter. You can bowl an unplayable delivery from time to time, but most wickets you take will come from batter error and you need to facilitate that error. One bad ball an over makes it a bad over.

 

[SLA]

I've never bothered with the legspinning flipper (wrong wrong un is a name I've never liked), but I can imagine it comes out a little slowly and does sit in the surface a little. That may well be a bit odd for a batter when he first sees it, but you don't want a ball to turn too much. In my opinion, the best ball you can bowl is about 75% top spin and 25% side spin, bowled just on off-stump. A ball that turns too much is of little use other than to maybe let the batter know you can turn it big.

The analogy of the magician probably doesn't apply because the aim of both protagonists is very different. I'm going to be bowling on Sunday and I'll probably bowl about 7 or 8 overs. I suspect I will bowl maybe 3 or 4 offbreak flippers and every other ball will be a legspinner with variation in the balance of topspin to sidespin and in flight/pace.

Ultimately, if you can bowl lots of variations and land them all on a good line and length, then that would be great. If you can't land every ball on a good line and length, then you are limited in the standard of cricket you can bowl in. That is, essentially, what spin bowling (all bowling, for that matter) is about. If you can put the ball in the area you want to, then you can set a field, stop the runs and put pressure on a batter. You can bowl an unplayable delivery from time to time, but most wickets you take will come from batter error and you need to facilitate that error. One bad ball an over makes it a bad over.

A big turning ball is a huge asset, it gives you the opportunity to attack the batsman from back of a length simply by beating him off the pitch. If you can get the ball outside of his hitting zone you can get him in big trouble.

It also gives you more leeway in line and length.

 

[loopylegspinner]

I feel that some kind of ball like this would definitely be useful because, with the wrong 'un, there are three main ways to get the batsman out:

• An inside edge which would probably only carry to someone if they were at short leg which, at least at our village team level, is not allowed to be occupied.
• You could get them bowled through the gate if their bat is away from pad.
• Or you could get them out LBW if bat and pad are together.

Only the last two are generally applicable, at least in my case, and yet because of the large percentage of top-spin on the googly, the ball often bounces over the stumps or at least high enough for village umpires to happily give it not out LBW.

Because of this, I have been trying to develop a low bouncing 'wrong 'un'. I can't get the hang of the normal flipper let alone the off-spinning one and it is also advised that younger people do not try the flipper because of damage to the tendons in the wrist. So I have been practising the 'off-spinning slider' for want of a better name. It essentially comes out as a cross-seam, undercut off-spinner - you bowl it like a seamer would bowl a cross-seam ball but turned 90 degrees to the right if you were looking at it from behind. It definitely stays low and turns a little, although admittedly not as much as the googly

 

[Cleanprophet]

A big turning ball is a huge asset, it gives you the opportunity to attack the batsman from back of a length simply by beating him off the pitch. If you can get the ball outside of his hitting zone you can get him in big trouble.

It also gives you more leeway in line and length.

Given the choice, you would always want the ability to be able to turn it big and against high quality batters it is a real asset. But for most club batters, a big spinning ball is beyond their ability. The key to what I said was "a ball that turns too much" is of little use. I've seen it many, many times. There is no doubt, against the very good club batter it is very handy to have big spin, but most club batters and lower order bats can't be relied upon to get themselves out against it, unless you look to bowl on or even outside leg-stump.

 

[SLA]

I feel that some kind of ball like this would definitely be useful because, with the wrong 'un, there are three main ways to get the batsman out:

• An inside edge which would probably only carry to someone if they were at short leg which, at least at our village team level, is not allowed to be occupied.
• You could get them bowled through the gate if their bat is away from pad.
• Or you could get them out LBW if bat and pad are together.

Only the last two are generally applicable, at least in my case, and yet because of the large percentage of top-spin on the googly, the ball often bounces over the stumps or at least high enough for village umpires to happily give it not out LBW.

Because of this, I have been trying to develop a low bouncing 'wrong 'un'. I can't get the hang of the normal flipper let alone the off-spinning one and it is also advised that younger people do not try the flipper because of damage to the tendons in the wrist. So I have been practising the 'off-spinning slider' for want of a better name. It essentially comes out as a cross-seam, undercut off-spinner - you bowl it like a seamer would bowl a cross-seam ball but turned 90 degrees to the right if you were looking at it from behind. It definitely stays low and turns a little, although admittedly not as much as the googly

In this country I hardly ever see pitches that are hard enough for a googly to consistently bounce over the stumps.

Funnily enough, I get quite a lot of slip catches off my wrong'un. The batsmen play for the leg break and look to cut and the ball surprises them by spinning and bouncing back at them and cramps them up and it flies off the edge/the splice/the shoulder to the slip/gully region.

I very rarely get lbws with it, but I do get quite a few bowled through the gate, and a surprisingly large amount stumped through the gate (requires a good keeper).

If you bowl at a decent pace into a decent area of the pitch, and they're not expecting the ball to turn that direction, anything could happen.