Wrist Spin Bowling (part Five)

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leftie600 said:
Basically when you attempt to move your arm through quicker you unconsciously have your bowling arm in your follow through going down the pitch (more top-spin) instead of across your body (more leg spin). You need to concentrate hard on putting the extra energy in at release not in your arm speed all the way through.
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Yeah, you're spot on. I was thinking about this after I posted and came to the conclusion my arm must be coming through too quickly. I always thought it was a problem with my release, but if your arm comes through too quickly, then the hand position will produce the topspinner.

I was trying to focus on rotating my chest a bit more because I noticed that my chest was slightly towards leg slip at the point of release and if I get that more down the pitch then that hand position will be perfect for the legspinner. You're right, I am looking to use the arm too much and, as a result, getting the arm through too quickly. I'll focus on using my whole body and getting that rotation happening a bit quicker rather than just the arm on its own.
 
Lately, I haven't been bowling as good as I would want to, I've been getting wickets but not bowling properly. My run up is 100% messed up, i stutter, and when I bowl without it i bowl well but can only bowl leg breaks and when I bowl with it, i can get a correct length or sometimes even the normal amount of spin I get, I'll have to work on this during the off season because its a big change to try and do now... Any advice ?
 
shahidpak said:
Lately, I haven't been bowling as good as I would want to, I've been getting wickets but not bowling properly. My run up is 100% messed up, i stutter, and when I bowl without it i bowl well but can only bowl leg breaks and when I bowl with it, i can get a correct length or sometimes even the normal amount of spin I get, I'll have to work on this during the off season because its a big change to try and do now... Any advice ?
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I don't quite understand what you are saying! But if you have a run up problem the way to correct it is to practice just running up and bowling comfortably, e.g. if you want an eight-pace run up, mark out a starting point, then just run up a comfortably eight paces and bowl from it, mark where your front finishes. Repeat a few times and that tells you where you want the crease to be, then from that you calculate how far back you want to start. With your run-up calibrated you should be able to just run up and bowl!
 
Had a league game today. I was surprised to be given the ball first change. I bowled three overs of my military medium. Very slow pitch and although I got complimented on my bowling by team mates I was hammered. There was a quality batsman in at the time, alas. Lucky to take a wicket with my second ball - caught on the boundary.

I can't not bowl legspin anymore. I have a week to practice before the next one and then I damn well have to be putting it on the spot. I want to start winning games for the team!
 
boogiespinner said:
I can't not bowl legspin anymore. I have a week to practice before the next one and then I damn well have to be putting it on the spot. I want to start winning games for the team!
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Stick with it. Sometimes, a small thing is the issue and once that is remedied, you are back bowling well. Unfortunately, bowling legspin is full of times when you question whether to stick with it or not. It's not easy at all.
 
Had a game today. I opted to play for the 3rds. I normally play for the friendly XI but have had enough to sub-standard cricket and sloggers, so decided not to bother. So, the 3rd team captain asked me to play for him today.

Once again, our club's batters were not up to it. We had to bat first and I came in to bat at 51/7. I added 7 runs before getting bowled (when we were 9 down and I was in with a young lad who was unlikely to last very long). I was bowled a very slow left-arm spinner. Just lifted my head on the shot and the ball sneaked under the bat. We ended up 77 all out! Terrible stuff.

The opening bowlers kept it reasonably tight, taking one wicket in the process. I came on after about 10 overs when the opposition were about 20/1. I finished with figures of 10-4-19-2. The first wicket was one of those enjoyable ones with the ball bowling the batter around his legs. The second was a clip to square leg. Lots of other plays and misses and miss hit shots and I bowled a few decent googlys too. In the end, a slogger came in and started hacking away at every delivery. He didn't get many off me (maybe 7 or 8 runs from the 3 or 4 overs I bowled at him) and gave a few chances, including a return catch that was smashed back at me and I could only get the tips of my fingers to it. I told the captain to take me off and try and different bowler to try and get a breakthrough. The opposition got home in 35th over with just the 3 wickets lost.
 
boogiespinner said:
Had a league game today. I was surprised to be given the ball first change. I bowled three overs of my military medium. Very slow pitch and although I got complimented on my bowling by team mates I was hammered. There was a quality batsman in at the time, alas. Lucky to take a wicket with my second ball - caught on the boundary.

I can't not bowl legspin anymore. I have a week to practice before the next one and then I damn well have to be putting it on the spot. I want to start winning games for the team!
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As CP said, stick with it, maybe leave it for a week and don't do it and come back to it afresh?
 
boogiespinner said:
I did have just about a week off recently! That was plenty :D The thing is, although I am far from controlling my stock ball it is definitely developing.
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What about being relaxed, are you getting that bit right. Again I noticed this weekend I bowled so much better when I didn't seem to be trying - especially the run in and through the crease part of the whole thing, that seems for me to be massively integral to what then happens through the air and off the pitch?
 
someblokecalleddave said:
What about being relaxed, are you getting that bit right. Again I noticed this weekend I bowled so much better when I didn't seem to be trying - especially the run in and through the crease part of the whole thing, that seems for me to be massively integral to what then happens through the air and off the pitch?
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This ties in with the type/standard of cricket you are playing as well. As I've said before, if you are playing friendly cricket then you will be bowling to batters who don't really care about getting out. They will usually play with freedom and aggression. I bowled yesterday in a competitive game and 4 of the 5 batters I bowled to all played defesively, waiting for the bad ball. Only the one batter tried to take the game to me and that was the slogger who came in at 5 (who actually said to me at the end "how many times did you nearly get me out there?"). Bowling to those other 4 batters was very enjoyable. I was able to settle on a line and length straight away and bowl with variation (in delivery and pace). It actually got to a point were it was starting to get frustrating that they were not playing a few more shots. I bowled a very nice googly to a batter, but as he was playing defensively he was able to react on a relatively slow pitch and just about keep it out.

If boogiespinner is playing only friendly games, then he will be bowling a lot to batters who are putting pressure on him all the time. The nets don't help much either as almost all batters, in my experience, play very aggressively against spinners in the nets. I've seen pro spinners get smashed out of the nets plenty of times.

Being relaxed if crucial. That's why it also helps if your team are a decent team. Getting runs on the board and putting pressure on the batters will be a big help. Not to mention, opening bowlers picking up 2 or 3 wickets is very helpful too. If your team are not very good and you are playing friendly cricket, you are going to find it hard to be relaxed until your action is solid and dependable.
 
Cleanprophet said:
This ties in with the type/standard of cricket you are playing as well. As I've said before, if you are playing friendly cricket then you will be bowling to batters who don't really care about getting out. They will usually play with freedom and aggression. I bowled yesterday in a competitive game and 4 of the 5 batters I bowled to all played defesively, waiting for the bad ball. Only the one batter tried to take the game to me and that was the slogger who came in at 5 (who actually said to me at the end "how many times did you nearly get me out there?"). Bowling to those other 4 batters was very enjoyable. I was able to settle on a line and length straight away and bowl with variation (in delivery and pace). It actually got to a point were it was starting to get frustrating that they were not playing a few more shots. I bowled a very nice googly to a batter, but as he was playing defensively he was able to react on a relatively slow pitch and just about keep it out.

If boogiespinner is playing only friendly games, then he will be bowling a lot to batters who are putting pressure on him all the time. The nets don't help much either as almost all batters, in my experience, play very aggressively against spinners in the nets. I've seen pro spinners get smashed out of the nets plenty of times.

Being relaxed if crucial. That's why it also helps if your team are a decent team. Getting runs on the board and putting pressure on the batters will be a big help. Not to mention, opening bowlers picking up 2 or 3 wickets is very helpful too. If your team are not very good and you are playing friendly cricket, you are going to find it hard to be relaxed until your action is solid and dependable.
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Or you do as my old captain used to... you don't come on till all the batsmen have gone and you've only got the bowlers to clean up!
 
My team is playing league fixtures and friendlies but tending to lose. We have a fast opening bowler who was once clocked at 81mph but he is actually not taking too many wickets and the opposition bats are getting on top of everyone else. Whenever I have come on to bowl, it's like 150 for 3, or thereabouts.

Whining about that isn't going to help much. I've just decided to practice like crazy for a while, until I can put the thing on the spot 4-5 balls out of six at least. Right now it is around 3. I have a bag of balls which I am bowling solo for practice generally one pace over shortened distance.

This is hard. I found it far easier to do a month's silent meditation retreat.

The encouraging things to report are that other guys are politely remarking that I am getting some turn now, and today flippers were zipping through nicely and I swear they were drifting/swinging to leg - I've never really done this before.
 
boogiespinner said:
My team is playing league fixtures and friendlies but tending to lose. We have a fast opening bowler who was once clocked at 81mph but he is actually not taking too many wickets and the opposition bats are getting on top of everyone else. Whenever I have come on to bowl, it's like 150 for 3, or thereabouts.

Whining about that isn't going to help much. I've just decided to practice like crazy for a while, until I can put the thing on the spot 4-5 balls out of six at least. Right now it is around 3. I have a bag of balls which I am bowling solo for practice generally one pace over shortened distance.

This is hard. I found it far easier to do a month's silent meditation retreat.

The encouraging things to report are that other guys are politely remarking that I am getting some turn now, and today flippers were zipping through nicely and I swear they were drifting/swinging to leg - I've never really done this before.
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I'd focus on bowling only legspinners if you are having problems landing them ball after ball. In the past, when I've had issues, I've not bothered with any variations and bowled only the legspinner.

If you're not videoing yourself everytime, then you should try do that. It's always worth recording 30min-40min spells of bowling on your own to a set of stumps and then watch it back to watch the balance, rythym and release.

It's not much fun coming on to bowl when the opposition are 150/3. Sounds like your quick opening bowler is probably bowling back of a length. That's something you see a lot in club cricket. Too many seamers bowl balls that simply don't trouble the stumps. The reason my team were bowled out for 77 on Sunday was because one of the opposition's opening bowlers simply bowled a full length and attacked the stumps. He picked up 5 wickets and all of them were full deliveries (one caught and bowled, one LBW and the other three clean bowled). That back of a length approach is only worth going to when the opposition are on top or when the batters are playing nice and straight. Most club batters don't play very well in the V until you get to a decent standard. Full length deliveries are hugely effective. Well worth ensuring your seamer is getting the ball nice and full. Get men on the drive and go at the stumps.
 
boogiespinner said:
My team is playing league fixtures and friendlies but tending to lose. We have a fast opening bowler who was once clocked at 81mph but he is actually not taking too many wickets and the opposition bats are getting on top of everyone else. Whenever I have come on to bowl, it's like 150 for 3, or thereabouts.

Whining about that isn't going to help much. I've just decided to practice like crazy for a while, until I can put the thing on the spot 4-5 balls out of six at least. Right now it is around 3. I have a bag of balls which I am bowling solo for practice generally one pace over shortened distance.

This is hard. I found it far easier to do a month's silent meditation retreat.

The encouraging things to report are that other guys are politely remarking that I am getting some turn now, and today flippers were zipping through nicely and I swear they were drifting/swinging to leg - I've never really done this before.
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Nice one! Yeah Flippers definitely swing like mad, mine I have bowl as if trying to pitch way outside of off and then they swing into the stumps - massive swing - but not 'late swing' kind of almost starts about 2/3rds of the way down the pitch. Your playing conditions sound a little like mine e.g. we've lost every single game despite my son taking 6 for 15 2 matches ago and last Saturday the captain taking a five-fer, we just haven't got any batting. I don't mind it myself - played in the 3rds and won - dead dreary, hardly used me to bowl (Nor Joe) and neither of us got to bat. At least in the 4's we get a good bowl and always have to bat, so every week we're in the game fighting, rather than feeling like spare parts as we did this week in the 3rds.

How big is your 'Spot'? Although sometimes I can get it on a 12x12 mat frequently, I'm more than happy to get it anywhere from middle stump to a foot and half outside of the off-stump and any length closer than 5 yards from the stumps as long as it's not a full toss. Preferably it's threatening the stumps, but as long as I've got a half decent off-side field set up, the wider ones only go for singles. If I could just totally negate the balls that end up on leg-stump or outside of leg I'd be a very happy bunny and would I imagine an exceptionally good bowler at this level.
 
Cleanprophet said:
I'd focus on bowling only legspinners if you are having problems landing them ball after ball. In the past, when I've had issues, I've not bothered with any variations and bowled only the legspinner.

If you're not videoing yourself everytime, then you should try do that. It's always worth recording 30min-40min spells of bowling on your own to a set of stumps and then watch it back to watch the balance, rythym and release.

It's not much fun coming on to bowl when the opposition are 150/3. Sounds like your quick opening bowler is probably bowling back of a length. That's something you see a lot in club cricket. Too many seamers bowl balls that simply don't trouble the stumps. The reason my team were bowled out for 77 on Sunday was because one of the opposition's opening bowlers simply bowled a full length and attacked the stumps. He picked up 5 wickets and all of them were full deliveries (one caught and bowled, one LBW and the other three clean bowled). That back of a length approach is only worth going to when the opposition are on top or when the batters are playing nice and straight. Most club batters don't play very well in the V until you get to a decent standard. Full length deliveries are hugely effective. Well worth ensuring your seamer is getting the ball nice and full. Get men on the drive and go at the stumps.
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I reckon if your Flippers coming out nice, keep it for that one in every 7 kind of delivery - as CP says get it up there like a seam bowler nice and full.
 
boogiespinner said:
I don't quite understand what you are saying! But if you have a run up problem the way to correct it is to practice just running up and bowling comfortably, e.g. if you want an eight-pace run up, mark out a starting point, then just run up a comfortably eight paces and bowl from it, mark where your front finishes. Repeat a few times and that tells you where you want the crease to be, then from that you calculate how far back you want to start. With your run-up calibrated you should be able to just run up and bowl!
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I just done that yesterday I'm much more comfortable now and bowl with a better follow through and I'm getting drift thanks
 
shahidpak said:
I just done that yesterday I'm much more comfortable now and bowl with a better follow through and I'm getting drift thanks
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I saw a Glen McGrath video a couple of days ago on this, he said not to set out any specific distance, just run in and bowl at the point where you feel the timing is right, then do it over several times until you establish what feels right and then measure it out or count out the steps - I'll have a look and see if I can find it...
 
Cleanprophet said:
It's not much fun coming on to bowl when the opposition are 150/3. Sounds like your quick opening bowler is probably bowling back of a length. That's something you see a lot in club cricket. Too many seamers bowl balls that simply don't trouble the stumps.
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That's pretty much it. I think he likes going for the 'test match dismissal' ct keeper/slips. But we don't have test match standard keepers or slip fielders. He does bowl the odd very full pitch/yorker. But there's not much on the length that will clip the top of the stumps.
 
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