Leg Spin Bowling

[razzleboom]

I grew up bowling leg spin, my uncle taught me the art when I was a kid and ever since I have been in love with the art of wrist spin.

I played my first full season of club cricket last season after graduating college, and wasn't used as a spinner as there were two experienced spinners in the club already.

I recently changed teams to have a better opportunity to bowl as a regular, and playing my first warm-up match of the season last Sunday, I felt really comfortable. However I have been thinking about the line that a leg spinner should be bowling, studying the art, I found that it usually depends on the field you set but the orthodox line is trying to aim for middle stump. My issue is that I can consistently bowl with a nice loop on middle and off, but people have told me to experiment with middle and leg, and that has me confused. Some folks say your a leg spinner you should be bowling leg stump line as much as you, whereas others say keep off stump in mind.

This past Sunday I bowled two overs, and had two catch opportunities, both which were dropped, but the amazing thing was that bowl was breaking a good amount, but the players were able to lift it. That might just be because both the players were well set openers.

Just wanted some thoughts on wrist spin strategies.

 

[kriskmk]

I think it depends on whether you want to attack the stumps or attempt a caught behind. In either case you should keep them varying instead of having only one strategy.
If you are attacking the stumps.. as a leg spinner obviously you should aim middle/leg.. draw the batsman to play the ball.. and the length should be close to the toes... If you are attempting caught-behind or catch.. aim for off and outside off.. match length to draw the batsman to use his footwork. In both cases flight of the ball is important to time and anticipate the pace of the Batsman's move... but then if you are bowling to an Afridi type slogger.. just bowl a full toss

 

[Fireworks11]

If you're a big turner than middle & leg line is worth experimenting with.

 

[razzleboom]

The issue with variance in line has been that once I deviate from the middle and off stump, I go too wide and considering that most batsmen here are strong leg sided players, the bowling becomes really ineffective.

On the discussion of length, seeing that most batsmen last game were able to lift the ball so easily, I think I was a touch full.

 

[sunnykhan]

It depends on spin and variety to decide the line. Leg spin require really good control. My uncle was called "JADUGAR" in Karachi. He is such an amazing leg spinner. He had everything under his armoury. Kaneria can just think of

 

[sunnykhan]

The issue with variance in line has been that once I deviate from the middle and off stump, I go too wide and considering that most batsmen here are strong leg sided players, the bowling becomes really ineffective.

On the discussion of length, seeing that most batsmen last game were able to lift the ball so easily, I think I was a touch full.

Just an advice, Don't make yourself predictable to the batsman. Keep changing the length more often. It unsettles the batsman. And he has to focus more. Catch his weakness as soon as possible.

 

[murphyslaw79]

Always start bowling on off or just outside off.

If it turning normally , then adjust to middle and off.

If it turns alot, then middle and leg.

If it is skidding, sliding, then off or just outside off.

In terms of field settings, if the ball is turning, then consider having a 6/3 off side field.

So you have slip, backward point, point, sweeper, extra cover and mid off. Then on the leg side, a 45, deep forward square leg and a wide mid on. Basically you want to invite the batsman to try and hit you on the leg side by leaving the gaps there, esp through mid wicket. If it does not work, then bring point over to mid wicket and move the sweeper squarer.

Good luck and remember to keep trying to spin the ball.

 

[Amoeba]

Murphy's Law makes sense (ah the 79 becomes clear now).

I think that the problem is people have been watching too much Shane Warne and forget that he is a unique bowler in the history of the game. To get the amount of turn he gets is incredible. However one consequence of that is that he didn't need to / could bowl the googly as you could play him by the line he bowled.

A key thing to remember is that the bat is only 4 and a half inches wide so you only need to turn the ball 2-3 inches to either get the outside edge or miss it completely. Anything else is a waste!

So concentrate on consistency and cutting out bad balls. The key difference between a good and bad legspinner especially the higher level you play is not how much you turn it but the loose stuff you bowl. A good batter will wait and take advantage. Once you have a consistent leg-break then work on variety.

In terms of lines and fields. This depends a little on the batter, the phase of the game, and the pitch. But I agree start off with an off stump line with a 6-3 field as mentioned and take it from there. The other benefit of this is that the batsman will have to fetch the ball and play against the spin to find the gaps in the legside. This has a dual benefit in keeping the runs down and help to get a wicket. This also allows you to get your rhythm and calm your nerves early in your spell.

The key is to have a captain who understands spin bowling and for you to have a plan as to how you think you can pick up wickets rather than hope. Could go into greater detail but don't want to overload you either!

Key is to enjoy it and learn something new about yourself and the game everyday, every match!

 

[Badsha]

what club is this you talk about?

 

[razzleboom]

Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated. Well, the club I have moved to is a local club in one of the leagues in NY, not the best of the bunch, but more opportunity to hone my skill.

Just trying to continue learning the art and experiment with things, so will take everyone's thoughts into consideration.

 

[SameerP]

watch shane warne bowl, best spinner ever

 

[Desi]

i don't know how it works elsewhere but in the states you're either extremely respected as a spin bowler or looked at as a nobody, despite how good you are. chances are the perception of you can switch to one extreme to the other during the middle of a match, and chances are equally high that they will switch more than once.

most batsman here cannot pick variation at all. if you have variation then it doesn't matter what line you bowl, you'll trouble batsman. i can bowl a weak leg break, a strong leg break, a week googly, googly with topspin, and a decent flipper (however my strong googly is really easy to pick) and i do really well for my club and am the first choice spinner at the moment. but the point is i'd focus more on these variations then the lines, lengths, and fields you'll be able to predict easily yourself.

as a couple people have mentioned becoming good friends with the captain is CRUCIAL. often times you'll be able to predict and read the batsman better than the captain because you're right in front of him and can sense better what field will trouble him more.

 

[ElRaja]

if you develop good control, try to land it as often as possible on off, lots of good reasons for this have already been mentioned, ill add one more that you can pick up wickets with the four major deliveries leggie, googly, top spinner and flipper landing on off stump. If your leggie is spinning big you may even get some drift which would drift it onto middle which would make you doubly dangerous.

if u consistantly bowl on middle, your googly would spin down leg, and your flipper would also be less dangerous, as its most effective when batsmen trying to cut imo. im not saying dont vary it, but your default line imo off would be best.

ps if u leggie is spinning wide off offstump line, just make your wrist face slightly straighter and you will get some nice top spin and bounce to boot.

and if all else fails, like sammer said, watch warne.

 

[razzleboom]

On the topic of being good friends with captain, I just joined this team because the captain is a good friend and respects my efforts with the ball, even when I am getting plastered around.

I have yet to really work on variations, my variations consist of speed and loop variation, I can ball a tough to pick googly with some top spin, but due to lack of control on that ball I try not to work on that. I stick to the stock leggie most of the time. Since I am just getting back into the game and hoping to bowl more this season, I will pay more attention to field setting and will keep in mind the 6-3 setting. I just think having more experience bowling in matches will definitely help improve my game.

 

[Saqs]

The key difference between a good and bad legspinner especially the higher level you play is not how much you turn it but the loose stuff you bowl. A good batter will wait and take advantage.

This is where it's at.

One thing you'd want to keep in mind also -

Any variation in release or angle of release (i.e. bowling a middle-leg line vs middle-off line) will mean the spin you're getting will also differ.

I.e. you can't bowl with the same revolution on the ball, and expect it to spin the exact same amount, if you're bowling with different angles.

I think angles is the reason Warne was so good.

It is also the reason Afridi picks up so many wickets thesedays.

My key has always been - just go in and rip it violently without knowing what the ball will do. If you don't know what it will do, how do you expect the batsman to?

 

[Fireworks11]

Afridi's in drift makes him difficult to cut. His googly is also quite sharp. The signature leg spinner needs a slow drift through the air to lure the batsman into playing before the vicious turn that leaves him bamboozled.

 

[razzleboom]

I think I go with the same mindset as Saqib and try to rip as hard as I can and keep a consistent line on middle and off. If it naturally in-drifts then it does, but I am working on becoming more consistent with the line and length before trying to complicate things, I think the simpler it is the better it is to start off, need to get the fundamentals right.

To imitate Afridi with his on point googs or in-drift or Warney's magics, is virtually impossible, those guys are truly gifted, obviously along with Qadir and rest of the old timers.

 

[Amoeba]

KISS

Keep it Simple Stupid.

Keep practising your legbreak so that you can rely on it. Bowling on a sixpence is probably too much to expect but certainly you should be confident of landing it on a 2ft square target area 7/8 times out of 10. I think you can do pretty well at decent club level without any variation or trying to rip it yards. Just bowl the right lines and most importantly to your field, and vice versa.

 

[razzleboom]

I dig that, Keep it Simple Stupid! Thanks everyone for the advice.