Wrist Spin Bowling (part Five)

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Thanks for all your thoughts guys. Next Sunday I'm up against two first grade batsmen once again, so right now here's what I'm going to look to change so this time I will hopefully be able to get them out - or at least not get hit around so easily.

I figured that in yesterdays game I was bowling 1 great ball an over, which was usually negated by footwork, 2 good balls, one alright ball, and the rest absolute pies for most batsmen. The thing that disgruntled me the most was the fact the pitch was turning miles, yet these guys were just too good for me. For instance, if I had bowled like I did yesterday against a weaker team, like the one I versed first game of the season, yes I probably would have been expensive (not quite as expensive of course) but my great balls would have picked up 2-3 wickets at least.

So I think in next weekends game I'm going to have to really start well, get going from the get go. I need my first over to be good, as that is what makes or breaks my next overs really. I am not quite sure if I should try and spin it less, as I believe if I do that then my wicket taking ability will be far lessened against these batsmen - I'll need all the revs I can get. I will position the fastest, best catchers on the boundary and close in (which I didn't really do well yesterday, had the worst fielder on square leg boundary, big pull shot straight to him, dropped, next three balls sixes). Will hide the worst fielders at short fine leg and third man probably. I will try and bowl a bit faster, and I will keep bowling with mostly overspin so that I don't bowl tons of full tosses.

Overall I reckon a lot of it will be down to luck. If I can just land one early and spin it hard, get a wicket, my bowling will be 10 times better with the added confidence back. Since there's not really anything I can do in the short term to improve my accuracy for next week (or is there?) I will just have to have a couple outfield riders and back myself to land it like I usually do when I'm bowling alright.

I'm thinking since next year I will be in adult cricket, bowling to guys like this will be the new norm, so I will have to greatly improve my bowling in the offseason. Accuracy and pace will be the focus, maybe add in a faster run up since I walk in like warne, which could be the reason for some of my inaccuracy as I need my shoulder and forearm to generate pace?
 
SomeblokecalledDave. said:
Yeah all of those. I'd also add your variation/s. I don't know about you lot, but in these situations I've tended to bowl faster, but I don't think that's the answer at all. A plan is useful, quickly assessing where they're going to hit you if you put the ball in a specific area, then knowing if you go for that approach you have the players in the field to follow through with the catching if you execute your ball correctly - so being able to bowl to your field (Accuracy). I've often got captains in my ear giving it "Make him play" e.g. bowl at the stumps, which I get, but that gives them options for hitting either side of the wicket and makes it harder to set fields to. What do you reckon to setting these points in order of importance? I reckon there's a range of opinions on this, there'll be the Peter Philpott professional school of thought which you'll hear so many pro's advocating, which assumes that it's the 1960's and everyone just plays sport in the sun 24/7 or has access to space and time to bowl every day for 4 hours, that school of thought leads with the mantra 'Spin the ball hard'. I think if you totally focus on spinning the ball hard, but don't have the time to put in the hours to practice doing that - that may be a flawed approach as without the hours practicing you're not going to be that accurate? Again that might be fine against weaker bats with good athletic fielders who can take catches, but with poor fielders against good batters I reckon you're onto taking some tap.
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That's a good point, because on the weekend we had a left arm orthodox bowler bowling to the same batsmen. This spinner doesn't get any revs on the ball, just bowls darts, and he was even bowling the odd short ball, which if I had bowled they would have pulled it for six, but instead to this bowler the same batsmen would just nudge it into the leg side for a single? I was really confused. To be fair he bowled a lot more accurately than me yesterday, but still, the batsmen didn't punish his bad balls like they did mine.
 
What makes me even more frustrated and confused is that I bowled a ball in my second over, started on the off stump, turned and bounced viciously, the batsman defended and missed. After that ball, the non striker came down to chat to him and I heard him say, "he's good, turning it alot. Watch out". After this I'm expecting to be respected, feel like finally I'm on top, then next ball is a similar ball but he dances down the wicket and smacks me over cover for a one bounce four.
 
What’s the go with using a club that I don’t play for’s turf nets.

I also don’t play for a club in the same competition.

I know syntho nets are fine and all, and I can’t find anything about not using them.

But it does feel a little weird and like it might have an unwritten rule of not using another clubs turf nets.
 
doc8176 said:
What’s the go with using a club that I don’t play for’s turf nets.

I also don’t play for a club in the same competition.

I know syntho nets are fine and all, and I can’t find anything about not using them.

But it does feel a little weird and like it might have an unwritten rule of not using another clubs turf nets.
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Yeah here in the UK that's definite no no scenario. My In-laws live up country about 200 miles away and they've got a ground just down the road and I've been over there and bowled in their synthetic nets when I've been visiting. But I've gone into the clubhouse and asked for permission and they've been OK about. They also suggested joining up for £10 as a non-player and that way I could use them when I liked and get cheap beer at the bar! I think most clubs would be a bit p****d off with anyone using their synthetic nets with out asking, but turf nets that's a whole different scenario.
 
Leggy88 said:
Thanks for all your thoughts guys. Next Sunday I'm up against two first grade batsmen once again, so right now here's what I'm going to look to change so this time I will hopefully be able to get them out - or at least not get hit around so easily.

I figured that in yesterdays game I was bowling 1 great ball an over, which was usually negated by footwork, 2 good balls, one alright ball, and the rest absolute pies for most batsmen. The thing that disgruntled me the most was the fact the pitch was turning miles, yet these guys were just too good for me. For instance, if I had bowled like I did yesterday against a weaker team, like the one I versed first game of the season, yes I probably would have been expensive (not quite as expensive of course) but my great balls would have picked up 2-3 wickets at least.

So I think in next weekends game I'm going to have to really start well, get going from the get go. I need my first over to be good, as that is what makes or breaks my next overs really. I am not quite sure if I should try and spin it less, as I believe if I do that then my wicket taking ability will be far lessened against these batsmen - I'll need all the revs I can get. I will position the fastest, best catchers on the boundary and close in (which I didn't really do well yesterday, had the worst fielder on square leg boundary, big pull shot straight to him, dropped, next three balls sixes). Will hide the worst fielders at short fine leg and third man probably. I will try and bowl a bit faster, and I will keep bowling with mostly overspin so that I don't bowl tons of full tosses.

Overall I reckon a lot of it will be down to luck. If I can just land one early and spin it hard, get a wicket, my bowling will be 10 times better with the added confidence back. Since there's not really anything I can do in the short term to improve my accuracy for next week (or is there?) I will just have to have a couple outfield riders and back myself to land it like I usually do when I'm bowling alright.

I'm thinking since next year I will be in adult cricket, bowling to guys like this will be the new norm, so I will have to greatly improve my bowling in the offseason. Accuracy and pace will be the focus, maybe add in a faster run up since I walk in like warne, which could be the reason for some of my inaccuracy as I need my shoulder and forearm to generate pace?
Click to expand...
Yeah you're going to be at a pivotal point in your game soon and this'll test your mettle. I've now bowled this stuff for 16 years I think and seen a lot of young spinners come and go, some of them as youngster between 12 and 15 have been exceptionally good, especially whilst playing cricket in their age groups and sometimes decently when they integrate into adult cricket in the 5th and 4th XI's. But as soon as they've shown some promise with either their bowling, fielding or batting they're fast tracked up to the 3rd, 2nd or 1st XI and then have to bowl against a different breed of batter. They're thrown the ball and given a go and at the higher levels and they're often smashed out of the ground. A very different game in comparison to their previous experiences and they get demoralised very quickly and thinking about it there's a 100% rate of chucking the art in at that stage. I can't think of one kid that's come through that phase and still bowls Leg-Spin. But to be fair, a lot of them just give up cricket all together.

I never see 20 year old wrist spinners in any of the game I play with the exception of one about 3 years ago who was decent, playing at 3rd XI level. Which is a pretty miserable prospect. Spinners tend to be older and possibly because of age a lot more thick skinned and resilient. We had a bloke in our 1st XI team who bowled wrist spin, but I only ever got the sense that he was expensive and seen as ineffective. I think he himself thought the same and he had a bad year, may have even got the Yips, but he now bowls medium pace and is much happier and sees himself as part of the team - he's in his 30's now.

My advice is to look around at some of these older spinners and see what they're doing - one of the best bowlers in terms of wickets at my club is an over-weight geezer who everyone says bowls absolute pies. He bowls slow, loopy right arm orthodox and gets it turn, not a lot and he takes bags full, five-fers all over the place at 2nd XI level. But he also gets smacked for 4's and 6's in between and some games he's absolutely slaughtered. But he rises above those games each week and the next weeks he's walking away with wickets galore. Probably helps that he's the captain as well.

I've personally got so much better by not being too bothered and being more relaxed about the whole thing and therefore not putting myself under so much pressure and choosing to some extent to bowl against the big hitting players looking to put me out of the park. But, I have a go to delivery that I know that most people don't see in our league and it causes problems.

There used to be a bloke on here, that a lot of people really didn't get on with "SLA" and he wasn't a purist, which I think used to get up people's noses and he'd argue with people like mad and he came from a position of being really knowledgeable, to the point of being arrogant. But he bowled both wrist spin and finger spin and if needed bowled medium pace. The point being he wanted to be in the game, win and be one of the key players in the team. He would say that if it keeps going wrong and it doesn't work - change it, otherwise you'll get dropped. Which is what happened to me and hence the fact that I now bowl flippers almost exclusively.

Your experience might be totally different, when you move up to adult cricket you might find you're in a team with blokes that run like the wind and put in diving catches and bag you wickets with your leg-breaks? I do so much better in teams where I'm playing with 'Proper' players - either exceptionally good teenagers that live and breath cricket and have the skills and commitment or a mixture of them and experienced players in their 20's and 30's with that same winning attitude and desire. In those games I bowl my Leggies and they work.

But you all might have a completely different experience in Australia - look around the teams, do you see many spinners in their 20's?
 
SomeblokecalledDave. said:
Yeah you're going to be at a pivotal point in your game soon and this'll test your mettle. I've now bowled this stuff for 16 years I think and seen a lot of young spinners come and go, some of them as youngster between 12 and 15 have been exceptionally good, especially whilst playing cricket in their age groups and sometimes decently when they integrate into adult cricket in the 5th and 4th XI's. But as soon as they've shown some promise with either their bowling, fielding or batting they're fast tracked up to the 3rd, 2nd or 1st XI and then have to bowl against a different breed of batter. They're thrown the ball and given a go and at the higher levels and they're often smashed out of the ground. A very different game in comparison to their previous experiences and they get demoralised very quickly and thinking about it there's a 100% rate of chucking the art in at that stage. I can't think of one kid that's come through that phase and still bowls Leg-Spin. But to be fair, a lot of them just give up cricket all together.

I never see 20 year old wrist spinners in any of the game I play with the exception of one about 3 years ago who was decent, playing at 3rd XI level. Which is a pretty miserable prospect. Spinners tend to be older and possibly because of age a lot more thick skinned and resilient. We had a bloke in our 1st XI team who bowled wrist spin, but I only ever got the sense that he was expensive and seen as ineffective. I think he himself thought the same and he had a bad year, may have even got the Yips, but he now bowls medium pace and is much happier and sees himself as part of the team - he's in his 30's now.

My advice is to look around at some of these older spinners and see what they're doing - one of the best bowlers in terms of wickets at my club is an over-weight geezer who everyone says bowls absolute pies. He bowls slow, loopy right arm orthodox and gets it turn, not a lot and he takes bags full, five-fers all over the place at 2nd XI level. But he also gets smacked for 4's and 6's in between and some games he's absolutely slaughtered. But he rises above those games each week and the next weeks he's walking away with wickets galore. Probably helps that he's the captain as well.

I've personally got so much better by not being too bothered and being more relaxed about the whole thing and therefore not putting myself under so much pressure and choosing to some extent to bowl against the big hitting players looking to put me out of the park. But, I have a go to delivery that I know that most people don't see in our league and it causes problems.

There used to be a bloke on here, that a lot of people really didn't get on with "SLA" and he wasn't a purist, which I think used to get up people's noses and he'd argue with people like mad and he came from a position of being really knowledgeable, to the point of being arrogant. But he bowled both wrist spin and finger spin and if needed bowled medium pace. The point being he wanted to be in the game, win and be one of the key players in the team. He would say that if it keeps going wrong and it doesn't work - change it, otherwise you'll get dropped. Which is what happened to me and hence the fact that I now bowl flippers almost exclusively.

Your experience might be totally different, when you move up to adult cricket you might find you're in a team with blokes that run like the wind and put in diving catches and bag you wickets with your leg-breaks? I do so much better in teams where I'm playing with 'Proper' players - either exceptionally good teenagers that live and breath cricket and have the skills and commitment or a mixture of them and experienced players in their 20's and 30's with that same winning attitude and desire. In those games I bowl my Leggies and they work.

But you all might have a completely different experience in Australia - look around the teams, do you see many spinners in their 20's?
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It does mostly seem to be either teenagers or 40-50 year olds that bowl spin at my club.

That being said there actually isn’t many 20 year olds at my club.
 
SomeblokecalledDave. said:
Yeah you're going to be at a pivotal point in your game soon and this'll test your mettle. I've now bowled this stuff for 16 years I think and seen a lot of young spinners come and go, some of them as youngster between 12 and 15 have been exceptionally good, especially whilst playing cricket in their age groups and sometimes decently when they integrate into adult cricket in the 5th and 4th XI's. But as soon as they've shown some promise with either their bowling, fielding or batting they're fast tracked up to the 3rd, 2nd or 1st XI and then have to bowl against a different breed of batter. They're thrown the ball and given a go and at the higher levels and they're often smashed out of the ground. A very different game in comparison to their previous experiences and they get demoralised very quickly and thinking about it there's a 100% rate of chucking the art in at that stage. I can't think of one kid that's come through that phase and still bowls Leg-Spin. But to be fair, a lot of them just give up cricket all together.

I never see 20 year old wrist spinners in any of the game I play with the exception of one about 3 years ago who was decent, playing at 3rd XI level. Which is a pretty miserable prospect. Spinners tend to be older and possibly because of age a lot more thick skinned and resilient. We had a bloke in our 1st XI team who bowled wrist spin, but I only ever got the sense that he was expensive and seen as ineffective. I think he himself thought the same and he had a bad year, may have even got the Yips, but he now bowls medium pace and is much happier and sees himself as part of the team - he's in his 30's now.

My advice is to look around at some of these older spinners and see what they're doing - one of the best bowlers in terms of wickets at my club is an over-weight geezer who everyone says bowls absolute pies. He bowls slow, loopy right arm orthodox and gets it turn, not a lot and he takes bags full, five-fers all over the place at 2nd XI level. But he also gets smacked for 4's and 6's in between and some games he's absolutely slaughtered. But he rises above those games each week and the next weeks he's walking away with wickets galore. Probably helps that he's the captain as well.

I've personally got so much better by not being too bothered and being more relaxed about the whole thing and therefore not putting myself under so much pressure and choosing to some extent to bowl against the big hitting players looking to put me out of the park. But, I have a go to delivery that I know that most people don't see in our league and it causes problems.

There used to be a bloke on here, that a lot of people really didn't get on with "SLA" and he wasn't a purist, which I think used to get up people's noses and he'd argue with people like mad and he came from a position of being really knowledgeable, to the point of being arrogant. But he bowled both wrist spin and finger spin and if needed bowled medium pace. The point being he wanted to be in the game, win and be one of the key players in the team. He would say that if it keeps going wrong and it doesn't work - change it, otherwise you'll get dropped. Which is what happened to me and hence the fact that I now bowl flippers almost exclusively.

Your experience might be totally different, when you move up to adult cricket you might find you're in a team with blokes that run like the wind and put in diving catches and bag you wickets with your leg-breaks? I do so much better in teams where I'm playing with 'Proper' players - either exceptionally good teenagers that live and breath cricket and have the skills and commitment or a mixture of them and experienced players in their 20's and 30's with that same winning attitude and desire. In those games I bowl my Leggies and they work.

But you all might have a completely different experience in Australia - look around the teams, do you see many spinners in their 20's?
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Yeah, that's all very good advice, and very true. Hardly any spinners in adult cricket teams at my club, so when I join up I reckon I will be put up the grades a bit as they need a spinner. I can't see myself giving up the art, I love it too much to be honest. I certainly agree with the point of changing what doesn't work to make it work, although I would keep the solution within the scope of leg spin - not much good at offies or fast bowling. I do believe the sort of team you are in can greatly affect the outcome, like if you are a leggy playing in a team with good fielders, or simply a team that wins most of their matches. Likewise, if you are in a team that is always losing.
 
Leggy88 said:
Yeah, that's all very good advice, and very true. Hardly any spinners in adult cricket teams at my club, so when I join up I reckon I will be put up the grades a bit as they need a spinner. I can't see myself giving up the art, I love it too much to be honest. I certainly agree with the point of changing what doesn't work to make it work, although I would keep the solution within the scope of leg spin - not much good at offies or fast bowling. I do believe the sort of team you are in can greatly affect the outcome, like if you are a leggy playing in a team with good fielders, or simply a team that wins most of their matches. Likewise, if you are in a team that is always losing.
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Yeah, I’ve found some teams just kinda… win rather than lose.

It sounds obvious, but like I don’t notice an obvious increase in performance. Maybe in fielding.

But they seem to MASSIVELY outperform the other team. I think generally a good “vibe” on the field makes everyone so much more efficient and clear headed.

Also I do tend to bowl better to better batsman, because I get punished for bad balls and they respect my good ones, so it’s easier for me to settle onto a line and length.
 
doc8176 said:
Yeah, I’ve found some teams just kinda… win rather than lose.

It sounds obvious, but like I don’t notice an obvious increase in performance. Maybe in fielding.

But they seem to MASSIVELY outperform the other team. I think generally a good “vibe” on the field makes everyone so much more efficient and clear headed.

Also I do tend to bowl better to better batsman, because I get punished for bad balls and they respect my good ones, so it’s easier for me to settle onto a line and length.
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Yeah, that's the exact vibe I'm trying to create as a captain, but it's hard to do. For example, on the weekend the other side were warming up from the get go, blasting music, laughing around etc. Then there's just us chatting in small groups until just before the toss happens we're like 'we probably should warm up, eh'. I don't exactly know how to change that without seeming like a strict teacher or something.

That's good that you bowl like that to the good batsmen, I reckon it's all in the mentality. What puts me off is when I get smacked around a bit, my confidence drops. Particularly being captain now I know I need to set a good standard, and when I don't I feel like I'm letting the team down.
 
Leggy88 said:
Yeah, that's the exact vibe I'm trying to create as a captain, but it's hard to do. For example, on the weekend the other side were warming up from the get go, blasting music, laughing around etc. Then there's just us chatting in small groups until just before the toss happens we're like 'we probably should warm up, eh'. I don't exactly know how to change that without seeming like a strict teacher or something.

That's good that you bowl like that to the good batsmen, I reckon it's all in the mentality. What puts me off is when I get smacked around a bit, my confidence drops. Particularly being captain now I know I need to set a good standard, and when I don't I feel like I'm letting the team down.
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Yeah I’ve really embraced the Nathan Lyon school of off spin.

I don’t care if I get hit for a 6 off a good ball because it gives me a very good chance of getting a mis hit to a fielder.

I’ve really put emphasis on not letting it get to my head.
 
Interesting question:

Do all of you bowl over the wicket to left handers?

I’m guessing probably because it brings more modes of dismissal in to play. But whenever I send some leggies down, I always find trying to rag one in from around the wicket is very effective.

I’m bringing this up because I’ve recently been trying my hand at bowling off spin around the wicket to right handers because the net synthetic was replaced and it gives me a little more turn with less bounce (so I can actually hit the wickets lol), also a bit more natural variation.

I’ve found the angle across with turn back in really throws them off because they can’t commit their front foot at all. Also slightly variability in bounce makes it harder for them to sit back on me and slog.

I saw a similar concept watching Australia the other night and a commentator said Mitch Starcs real danger ball is the one that starts to go outside off and swings back in, because it baits their footwork out.

Thought it was an interesting concept.
 
doc8176 said:
Interesting question:

Do all of you bowl over the wicket to left handers?

I’m guessing probably because it brings more modes of dismissal in to play. But whenever I send some leggies down, I always find trying to rag one in from around the wicket is very effective.

I’m bringing this up because I’ve recently been trying my hand at bowling off spin around the wicket to right handers because the net synthetic was replaced and it gives me a little more turn with less bounce (so I can actually hit the wickets lol), also a bit more natural variation.

I’ve found the angle across with turn back in really throws them off because they can’t commit their front foot at all. Also slightly variability in bounce makes it harder for them to sit back on me and slog.

I saw a similar concept watching Australia the other night and a commentator said Mitch Starcs real danger ball is the one that starts to go outside off and swings back in, because it baits their footwork out.

Thought it was an interesting concept.
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Hmm yes, I usually alternate a few times in a match - if i'm bowling to a leftie and I can't get him out from around the wicket, I go over the wicket. I reckon that going around the wicket is more for show, like to try and get the dream wickets, cover drive through the gate sorta thing. Overall I believe over the wicket is more effective, with the drift on the angle and then the spin back in. Although when you put the wrong un into the equation, which is my wicket ball for the lefties, I believe it can be effective from either over or around the wicket, as long as they don't know it's coming of course.
 
Leggy88 said:
Yeah, that's all very good advice, and very true. Hardly any spinners in adult cricket teams at my club, so when I join up I reckon I will be put up the grades a bit as they need a spinner. I can't see myself giving up the art, I love it too much to be honest. I certainly agree with the point of changing what doesn't work to make it work, although I would keep the solution within the scope of leg spin - not much good at offies or fast bowling. I do believe the sort of team you are in can greatly affect the outcome, like if you are a leggy playing in a team with good fielders, or simply a team that wins most of their matches. Likewise, if you are in a team that is always losing.
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I hope you do and yeah you're right they need another option, you can't have a team without a slow bowling option. For instance our clubs end of year stats... No.2 - 31 wickets Right arm orthodox: No.4 26 wickets left arm orthodox: No.5 26 Right arm orthodox: No.6 Me. No.8 24 wickets right arm slow/orthodox. Half of the top ten bowlers are spinners/slow bowlers. In the top 5 - 3 are spinners. Two of the 5 hardly move the ball off of straight, relying on accuracy, change ups in length and flight. I think there's scope to be flexible and that should be kept in mind. I seem to get wickets because they're expecting classic leg-spin and they're totally put on the back foot by the fact that they then face "at the stumps bowling" with weird characteristics. But, there is definite scope for the Terry Jenner big landing area - tons of spin approach if you're playing on big grounds with good fielders.

It's going to be interesting to see how you go. I wish you luck and I really hope you do it, cos it is tough -really tough and you need the backing of your captain and the majority of your team, if not the whole team. I also think there's a lot of value in keeping records on the batters you face, making notes on their key shots and how they play you and other spinners.

If you look at the historic stats at your club, or other clubs in your area is it the same as here, where the top ten wicket takers are spin bowlers?
 
Leggy88 Leggy88 " I certainly agree with the point of changing what doesn't work to make it work, although I would keep the solution within the scope of leg spin - not much good at offies or fast bowling". I think the notion that you're not good at some aspect of bowling and discarding it as an option is fraught with problems. I can't recall what your variations are, but I get the sense that at the moment that, against the better batters, your Leg-Breaks are not effective. Which then leads me to think that you need one of your variations to be almost as good as, if not better than your Leg-Break. What's your straight ball like. I know you've tried the Flipper, but I'm aware you have another straight delivery - what's that like?
 
doc8176 said:
Yeah, I’ve found some teams just kinda… win rather than lose.

It sounds obvious, but like I don’t notice an obvious increase in performance. Maybe in fielding.

But they seem to MASSIVELY outperform the other team. I think generally a good “vibe” on the field makes everyone so much more efficient and clear headed.

Also I do tend to bowl better to better batsman, because I get punished for bad balls and they respect my good ones, so it’s easier for me to settle onto a line and length.
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The point about the better bats I agree with totally. I tend to be brought on when the openers and 2nd change have been ineffective or around the 20th over in 40 over games, so generally I have to bowl at decent/good bats. But because of the point you've made and the fact that they value their wicket, they're respectful and higher you go up in grades, the more that's apparent initially.*Once they've had a look at what you're doing it changes. What I hate is when you're bowling against those types of players and you get the wickets of numbers 4,5 and 6 and out comes some cocky little kid making his way in the team who doesn't give a toss and he just destroys your figures batting like a psycho. Hate them types.
 
doc8176 said:
Yeah I’ve really embraced the Nathan Lyon school of off spin.

I don’t care if I get hit for a 6 off a good ball because it gives me a very good chance of getting a mis hit to a fielder.

I’ve really put emphasis on not letting it get to my head.
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Your last line is massively important. You just can't let that happen, as soon as you let it bother you - that's it - you tense up and bowl worse and it exacerbates the situation. It's massively made worse if you feel your under scrutiny from the captain/team.
 
SomeblokecalledDave. said:
How do your old blokes (40-50 year olds) do, are they valued players and do they appear in the top 10 wicket takers at your club?
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For last year

A grade: 2 out of the top 5 are spinners (both leggies)

C grade: first spinner is at 11, actually a batsman, but gets his leggie to turn a bit and has a big wrong’un.

E grade: first spinner is me bowling off spin at 7 (not older though). Then there’s a bloke at 11 that changes between leggies and pace.

We don’t really have many spinners, but the ones we do have are pretty good.

For A grade:

Terry (current B grade captain), occasionally turns the ball, but really gets it above the eyeline and uses subtle changes.

Imran, bowls massive wrong’uns and an off spinner carrom ball, but weird but very effective. 2nd highest wicket taker for A grade last year.

C Grade:

Zac, bowls a bit flatter than the other leggies, unconventional grip, scrambled seam. Can bowl a wrong’un that apparently everyone but me can pick, turn a decent amount. I actually really rate his bowling but he doesn’t seem to.

E grade:

Nik, VERY loopy, turns it. Too loopy.

The few senior spinners we have are very respected, at least by me, and they do have useful advice.

Although sometimes they do start talking out their ass a bit about something that is clearly just wrong. Like slowing my bowling down more, despite the fact that all my problems are probably caused by bowling TOO slow. Also my dad (not a spinner) trying to tell me that top spin makes it skid on and back spin makes it bounce.

And then the one time a dude said if a spinner makes the ball move it’s called drift, end of story. This is after I bowled an arm ball (seam up) that swung away from the batsman a fair bit and said “that swung”.

All in all they’re pretty good to have around, shame none of them are off spinners lol. Most of the time they have good advice but you do have to filter it out a bit.
 
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