Wrist Spin Bowling (part Five)

I didn't get to the nets this weekend because of rain and the flu unfortunately so I couldn't shoot any videos. We are off on our end of season trip to Nelson bay this weekend. (Up your way Macca) Beautiful spot but I wont be swimming as there has been 2 shark attacks in the area over the last few weeks. Big weekend, golf, drinking, cricket more drinking, you get the picture, so I wont get any videos til the following weekend now.

You'd be ok swimming in the bay but jimmys beach is outside nelson bay. great fishing beach, and you can walk a few yards and fish in the bay and that is a great spot too. You will always catch plenty of fish around that spot. You will be on the south side at nelson bay. Dolphin watching cruises are great from nelson bay.

Well fishing, legspinning lot of similarities i reckon. Throw the right bait and sit back and wait.

Bill O Rielly reckoned Grimmett told him his basic advice to bowlers was "pin em down, size em up, get em out"
 
You'd be ok swimming in the bay but jimmys beach is outside nelson bay. great fishing beach, and you can walk a few yards and fish in the bay and that is a great spot too. You will always catch plenty of fish around that spot. You will be on the south side at nelson bay. Dolphin watching cruises are great from nelson bay.

Well fishing, legspinning lot of similarities i reckon. Throw the right bait and sit back and wait.

Bill O Rielly reckoned Grimmett told him his basic advice to bowlers was "pin em down, size em up, get em out"

A couple of the blokes go fishing while most of us sit in the Shoal bay hotel burning money on the punt. What an amazing place it is though.
I reckon thats great advice from Grimmett, sometimes things get too complicated, our bowlers could have used that advice in the Ashes. One of the English commentators said something very similar about us overcomplicating our bowling strategies and not just bowling a good line and length.
 
A couple of the blokes go fishing while most of us sit in the Shoal bay hotel burning money on the punt. What an amazing place it is though.

I just hope we dont end up having to play nelson bay in my sons comp next season. I am pretty sure we wont but we had to a couple of years ago and it was a pain having to drive up there and gee it gets hot up there where the kids play. We actually wanted to lose a semi that year so we didn't have to go up there and play them. They were too good and the thing is they had 6 girls in the team that all played rep for nsw! and they were allowed to play 2 years below their age in the boys comp!
 
I've played in a couple of games where there's been a girl, I don't bat, so for me getting bowled by a girl isn't a big deal, but the kind of blokes that get the ache by being bowled by slow bowlers/spinners hate the sight of a girl being given the ball and having to prove their machismo in front of their mates and not get bowled by a girl. Funny to watch.
 
hi,
can anyone tell me the importance of having a still head at the point of release and also the importance of having a follow through straight towards the batsman.
Thanks.
 
hi,
can anyone tell me the importance of having a still head at the point of release and also the importance of having a follow through straight towards the batsman.
Thanks.

You must keep your head steady and still throughout your action to bowl where you want. You can keep your head still by staring at your target on the pitch or the stumps or whatever it is you prefer. The follow through is crucial in putting more revolutions on the ball and it gets you ready for caught and bowled chances.
 
hi,
can anyone tell me the importance of having a still head at the point of release and also the importance of having a follow through straight towards the batsman.
Thanks.

I'm not 100% certain, but it has got to be conected with accuracy and a smooth bowling action. If you're heads moving surely it'll cause inconsistency in your action overall. If you look at video of Jenner for instance his head is very steady from a side to side movement point of view. If you're heads moving sideway that would also suggest your body is and your body should only really be moving forwards.
 
My two lads had a good day today, the younger one Joe who bowls slow (I say that because at the minute he's not spinning it a lot) took 10 wickets - 6 at his practice at nets and 4 here in the paddock see video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA_Nqb_tVXI My knees getting better as well, I've done some light bowling today over 2 sessions off of 2 or 3 steps and I'm sitting here now at 11.36 at night and if there is any soreness it is very minimal which is good, so hopefully in a couple of weeks maybe a little longer I may be able to get back to the new bowling action?
 
we played our last game of indoor league last night. we were relegated weeks ago, but our last game was against the side 2nd from bottom, and the winner had the honour of not finishing dead last! so everything to play for, and arguably our most important game of the season.

we batted first and set 107 as their target. i played my usual cameo coming in at number 5 with hardly any overs left, and just swinging. hit a nice 6 and a no ball 4, got 11 runs off 5 balls then got run out as non-striker.

we came in to field and were pretty slack from the start. I played pretty well, no mistakes, but the same couldn't be said for the straight fielders. a couple of bad misfields, a dropped catch from the best fielder in the team, and the keeper let a couple through his gloves and I knew we weren't going to win it.

as per usual, I didn't get to bowl til right at the end. 10th over, they required 4 runs to win the match, with 4 or 5 wickets in hand. I knew the only way we were winning is if I took every wicket in my over and didn't leak any runs, and I was on a mission!! for the first time since the first game I had a new ball with a "seam" on it!!! leg spinners dream. it had been swinging huge for the fast bowlers.

first ball was a cherry, batsman tried to drive me straight, spooned it up and it fell marginally short of mid-on. 2nd ball strayed leg side but turned big so came back enough over the stumps not to be a wide (keeper missed it for 2 byes though, scores level, 1 run required to win!). 3rd ball pitched on middle, beat the outside edge, stumped :D 4th ball did the same but the new batsman kept his foot in. 5th ball was a slider (as in dragged fingers), kept low and missed off peg by an inch. I literally could have had 4 of the required wickets in those first 5 balls, so I very nearly managed it! last ball I tried to absolutely rip, but ended up dragging it down for 3 no balls and game over.

best over I have ever bowled in my life in a match situation though. under the most pressure I've ever been under. the umpire was very complimentary and said if I did that outdoors I'd take a bagful of wickets this summer. hopefully hes right. the end of a pretty miserable winter indoors, now I can finally concentrate on the outdoor season and see if I can make a mark in the league sides.
 
I video'd a load of our bowling at the weekend (me and the kids) and guess what I bowled my older son round the back of his legs with a big turning leggie and the camera wasn't on. Gutted! The only time I've ever done it and the only period in an hour or more of videoing when the bloody camera was off!!!!!!
 
I video'd a load of our bowling at the weekend (me and the kids) and guess what I bowled my older son round the back of his legs with a big turning leggie and the camera wasn't on.

Of course, without video evidence, we don't believe a word of it :p.

Welcome futureblackcap... about time the Kiwis came on board :D.
 
we played our last game of indoor league last night. we were relegated weeks ago, but our last game was against the side 2nd from bottom, and the winner had the honour of not finishing dead last! so everything to play for, and arguably our most important game of the season.

we batted first and set 107 as their target. i played my usual cameo coming in at number 5 with hardly any overs left, and just swinging. hit a nice 6 and a no ball 4, got 11 runs off 5 balls then got run out as non-striker.

we came in to field and were pretty slack from the start. I played pretty well, no mistakes, but the same couldn't be said for the straight fielders. a couple of bad misfields, a dropped catch from the best fielder in the team, and the keeper let a couple through his gloves and I knew we weren't going to win it.

as per usual, I didn't get to bowl til right at the end. 10th over, they required 4 runs to win the match, with 4 or 5 wickets in hand. I knew the only way we were winning is if I took every wicket in my over and didn't leak any runs, and I was on a mission!! for the first time since the first game I had a new ball with a "seam" on it!!! leg spinners dream. it had been swinging huge for the fast bowlers.

first ball was a cherry, batsman tried to drive me straight, spooned it up and it fell marginally short of mid-on. 2nd ball strayed leg side but turned big so came back enough over the stumps not to be a wide (keeper missed it for 2 byes though, scores level, 1 run required to win!). 3rd ball pitched on middle, beat the outside edge, stumped :D 4th ball did the same but the new batsman kept his foot in. 5th ball was a slider (as in dragged fingers), kept low and missed off peg by an inch. I literally could have had 4 of the required wickets in those first 5 balls, so I very nearly managed it! last ball I tried to absolutely rip, but ended up dragging it down for 3 no balls and game over.

best over I have ever bowled in my life in a match situation though. under the most pressure I've ever been under. the umpire was very complimentary and said if I did that outdoors I'd take a bagful of wickets this summer. hopefully hes right. the end of a pretty miserable winter indoors, now I can finally concentrate on the outdoor season and see if I can make a mark in the league sides.

maybe you were using one of the real indoor balls with the raised seam like we use? Was it yellow? They swing and spin real good. Anyway it must have been no fun bowling with those crappy seamless balls for most of the indoor season. That coming on to bowl late in the indoor games can be good for you, I know it was for my son, you get into a pressure situation and have to try and deal with it. And coming on late in the over count is the lot of legspinners.

Sounds like you impressed the umpire, and that is usually a good indicator you are bowling well. If you can draw a line through that form and how the indoor players can have a bit of an edge in the early outdoor games you might have a good start to the season.
 
I can bowl the normal leg break quite well as well as the big spinning leg break but recently I have been practicing the topspinner. I know how to bowl the top spinner, but whenever I've attempted it. The seam has been scrambled, and the ball has turned the same way as my leg break. At times, it does bounce more than my normal leg break but it is extremely unpredictable.

Anyone got any advice?
 
maybe you were using one of the real indoor balls with the raised seam like we use? Was it yellow? They swing and spin real good. Anyway it must have been no fun bowling with those crappy seamless balls for most of the indoor season. That coming on to bowl late in the indoor games can be good for you, I know it was for my son, you get into a pressure situation and have to try and deal with it. And coming on late in the over count is the lot of legspinners.

Sounds like you impressed the umpire, and that is usually a good indicator you are bowling well. If you can draw a line through that form and how the indoor players can have a bit of an edge in the early outdoor games you might have a good start to the season.

The balls we use are red. They all start out with the sharp "seam" on them (its just moulded plastic to represent a seam) but it wears off after a couple of games of being hit into the abrasive carpet. The balls used in the indoor comps are used for EVERY game, and there are league matches being played literally every evening of the week, usually 4-6 matches a day with all kids, ladies and mens games played with the same ball. The ball doesn't get replaced until it breaks, and I only saw that happen once, and even then they usually replace it with another used ball!! I played in what I think was the first indoor game of the winter and we had a brand new ball for that and it turned around corners. After that I've never had a new ball until this week, in our last game of the season. On good days though I was still turning the smooth old ball pretty big, and a minor counties leg spinner that I've mentioned before was turning it big every delivery.

I played against another really good leggie (probably 2nd best in the comp) the other week, and went in to bat against him. First ball I came down the track and smashed him for a 6. Was great to know that even the semi-pro leggies get hit off of good deliveries and its not just me haha! Especially satisfying given that I am not a great batsman by any means. Also I've had the 2 best players in the competition (2 of the best amateur batsmen in my county!!) dropped for single figures off my bowling (after which they both went on to score loads of runs).
 
Hello everyone, it's been a while since I last popped in so with my season starting in just over a couple of weeks here's where I'm at...

I've been working very hard in our indoor nets, I've only had to miss one session and I've been bowling pretty well. I started quite rusty after about three months off but in a couple of weeks found a good consistent length and a reasonable line, much better than I was at any point last year, and plenty of our batsmen seemed to be regularly baffled by the amount of dip I was getting on my stock ball. When the outdoor nets opened a week ago I found my length temporarily deserted me, which I think is because the outdoor nets are a little smaller than the indoor ones and I lost my frame of reference somehow. Anyway after a bit of practise I'm back to a decent length.

My action has changed in some key ways since last year, and I've finally got that right leg kicking round. I didn't know about that until I saw the most recent video of my bowling, it pleased me no end! I've been working on the standing start drill and even in a short space of time it's showing some profit. I've also settled on a very simple run-up (which you won't see on the video as I hadn't settled on it then) which essentially involves three steps into the standing start drill. I'm much more stable at delivery that way, and my spin and consistency is much better as a result. I've also been improving my "exploding" and that's proving very fruitful - I'm getting some very impressive turn at times. I have work to do on controlling and varying the amount of flight I give the ball, essentially I need to learn to consistently bowl a little flatter, and that's pretty much top of my to-do list. I could also do with upping the speed a bit, but that's not a major priority.

Currently I've still got just the three variations - leg-break, top-spinner, back-spinner - at least, they're the only three I've got confidence in. My leg-break is fine, my back-spinner is outstanding, but my top-spinner is too inconsistent and needs work. I've had a go at flippers and googlies but neither were successful, particularly the flipper as I don't think my fingers are strong enough, while I simply can't get my hand around far enough to bowl anything beyond a top-spinner yet. I'm going to practise a bit of finger spin so that I have a stop-gap in the "one that goes the other way" department until I can get a googly going, although it may be that with my relatively low arm I'll never have a very good googly, and I'm also going to try to learn George Simpson-Hayward's long-lost underarm off-spinning flipper as while it's obviously no good for bowling in matches it's probably a good way to get my fingers ready for a conventional flipper. I may have mentioned a book I read about lob (i.e. underarm) bowling, and it gave me plenty of food for thought. I've messed about with a few lobbed leg-breaks and they produce massive turn with hardly any effort!

The captain seems very happy with how my bowling's progressing (and getting his wicket in the nets a few times hasn't hurt :D) so it looks like I'll get more of a bowl in matches than my 1.4 overs last year. Also he's made it plain that we need much more from our batting so hopefully if we make bigger scores he'll be more prepared to bring me on. Sadly I haven't seen much of our wicket-keeper, so I haven't been able to chat with him about how we go about things and he hasn't seen my bowling at all. Anyway, apart from that everything (including my batting) is moving in the right direction. There's plenty more detail on my blog but I think that's enough for one post!
 
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