in terms of the follow through, you do take a few gentle steps, but im talking about having several really hard strides after the action where youve really exploded through the crease and the momentum just carries you through. when im really going for it my follow through off of 3 steps is about the same length as my follow through when i bowl my fast medium pace off of a 12 stride sprint run up! i think my leg spin is probably only 5-10mph slower now as well, ive found loads more pace from last season.
my club had their first indoor net of the season last night. its just at a school sports hall on mats, but surprisingly they offer more realistic bounce than the expensive indoor cricket centre, and also replicate minor uneven bounce very well (which pretty much all club wickets have) and its not too forgiving for turn, it only turns if you hit the seam!
i started out bowling to the clubs star batsman. he smashed loads of records last season, i think he averaged over a 100 or something mad, Bradman eat your heart out haha. anyway, in the 15 mins i bowled at him he only hit me once, and i maybe got him out once. mostly he was just using his feet and smothering the ball before it had a chance to turn on him. if i dropped shorter he would just wait on it instead, so it was hard to get his wicket. 2 or 3 deliveries caught him out and found the edge, but he was getting to the pitch so well that the edges were very low and wouldnt have carried. still though, extremely reassuring considering i didnt find any rhythm at all last night. i was hitting good lines and lengths a lot early on.
then i had my usual spell of no rhythm whatsoever against the next couple of batsman (one a leftie, which is what lost me my rhythm to begin with), and sending ball after ball down the leg side, or long hops. unlike last year though i managed to drag it back. having bowled about 10 rank balls in a row, the first one i landed on middle stump on a good length turned past the outside edge and clipped the top of off stump for a cracking wicket. i had him out a couple more times, once stumped off a ball that turned a mile and missed off stump by millimetres, and once edged to slip.
towards the end i found my rhythm again, and had my friend batting that i practice with all the time. had him out a few times to outside edges and almost clean bowled him. i really found my line and length from then on.
the best moment of the night was when i tried an off spinning flipper. i bowled it fast and flat outside off stump, and for once i landed it where i wanted it!! normally they end up flying down the leg side. it pitched a yard too short unfortunately, but it turned back in big and stayed low, and he had to scramble to get bat on ball and dig it out. its a genuine alternative to a googly. because its a bit faster and flatter and stays so low batsmen have an even harder time defending it if they arent expecting it. if id landed it a yard fuller im fairly confident id have clean bowled him as he just wouldnt have got his bat there in time. he was expecting a short wide leg break and was looking to flay it through point or cover off the back foot. so it worked perfectly really.
need to get down the gym hard in the next 6 weeks as the season is fast approaching. get my fitness levels back up, get my strength up, get loads of bowling practice in, and i reckon il get a flying start to the season with rusty batsmen giving their wickets away
