Help Playing Spin

[JackMorris]

Hi Guys,

After several weeks of frustration I'm reaching out for some advice.
Unfortunately I am physically incapable of playing against spin, regardless of the bowlers skill (part timer or front line spinner). My main issue is simply struggling to hit, and time the ball, I go from early misses to late nicks and haven't hit a spinner for consistent boundaries for a while. I often play the shorter formats where spinners regularly take 5 to 7 wickets for 8-10 runs, ive tried playing them late, sweeping (and reverse) and even blocking out but this kills my score in t20's. My only success has come from reverse sweeping when its bowled wide of off stump but even then they aren't cleanly struck.

Any help would be hugely appreciated
Thanks

 

[Rackemup27]

I never attempt sweeps and rarely aggressive strokes against spin (in test cricket). I assume you use classic controls? If so step forward so you're on the line of the crease and play a normal stroke as the ball pitches (or a fraction later if it's back of a length) I don't often look to play good length balls square or behind the wicket as the risk of an edge is too great. If it's red or green play straight. If it's yellow then you can play it square. I would never recommend playing down to third man as this often brings the keepers gloves into play. Happy hunting.

 

[jaffar100]

My suggestion is to play straight or V if the ball is pitched on middle or off stump ,
if the ball is pitching at 4th or 5th stump play off side, if the ball pitches at leg stump or more towards leg then play towards mid wicket or square leg or fine leg depending on the pitch of the ball.
You need to decide your shot at runtime you will have sometime.
Also if you have to play long innings then below tips also will help.
1. Defend few balls if you are unsure of where to play, defend it straight.

2. Get off from strike by taking a single don’t try to play all 6 balls for a spinner.

3. If ball is pitch pitching full length then step out in line of the ball and play in V defensive shot not lofted unless set.

 

[jaffar100]

Also if there is no player at square or deep square leg and ball is pitching at your leg stump or outside leg then play lofted sweep shot very handy shot to score

 

[JackMorris]

Thanks for the replies

 

[angryangy]

Spinners can use length, loop and a quicker ball to mess with your timing. Unintuitively, "bounce" will make the ball float higher than "flight". This is because you are actually adding overspin, causing the ball to loop up then drop down, and bounce high. In theory, the bowler should also aim to bowl the ball a little fuller to disguise it, because it will drop shorter.

I think you can fall into the trap of ball-watching very easily; that is, you miss your ideal time to play because of uncertainty. You mostly have to select a shot shortly before the ball lands. If the ball is very full, you need to be earlier. If the ball is short, you need to wait. Playing back to spinners is almost entirely useless and not worthwhile. Waiting for the spinner to bowl too full also seems problematic, and you might be better off just guarding against those and trying to get after the good length ones.

Sweeps are mostly there for good length balls. Sweeping can negate turn considerably, but is a little bit sensitive to bounce. You will need to sweep earlier than drives, so you may need to be careful about picking the line. The reverse sweep can be very productive outside off stump, but it should be just as easy to square drive it. It's also bad to try to sweep short ones.

Late cuts can also be very handy as third man is under-protected. However it is also a little risky and a 'good' shot might go straight to a slip. As the name implies, this is a shot where you must let the ball come to you.

If you can't get a drive away, just play a 'precision' shot. You can almost always sneak a quick single even if you hit it straight to the man. Also if your timing is awful, it might actually result in an easy run.

You also have a lot of options if you advance down the wicket. Again, this is a shot you would select early. You can get quite good at this, but IMO there's not really any need to.

 

[Rumple43]

I'm happy to milk the spinner down the ground, especially in ODIs. If Mid Off and/or Mid On are on the rope, I usually content myself to drive the ball back down the ground and try to run 2. I find that to be pretty high percentage, and a relatively safe bet. Anything to middle/leg is worked off the pads.

My problem is that when the ball is outside the off stump, even trying to play through point with Good or better for all 3 batting ratings often still leads to a whiff. I don't know what it is, but once I get width from the spinners, my guy can only play straight. Its a bit of a head scratcher. In a test, I generally just leave all that stuff alone, but it would be nice to score more reliably off it in limited overs cricket.

 

[Deleted member 185125]

I'm happy to milk the spinner down the ground, especially in ODIs. If Mid Off and/or Mid On are on the rope, I usually content myself to drive the ball back down the ground and try to run 2. I find that to be pretty high percentage, and a relatively safe bet. Anything to middle/leg is worked off the pads.

My problem is that when the ball is outside the off stump, even trying to play through point with Good or better for all 3 batting ratings often still leads to a whiff. I don't know what it is, but once I get width from the spinners, my guy can only play straight. Its a bit of a head scratcher. In a test, I generally just leave all that stuff alone, but it would be nice to score more reliably off it in limited overs cricket.

I have problems playing deliveries wide of the off stump, even on ideal timing. Don't know if it's an issue with standard controls only. Especially for deliveries pitched up from spinners.

 

[MuchMore]

Spinners can use length, loop and a quicker ball to mess with your timing. Unintuitively, "bounce" will make the ball float higher than "flight". This is because you are actually adding overspin, causing the ball to loop up then drop down, and bounce high. In theory, the bowler should also aim to bowl the ball a little fuller to disguise it, because it will drop shorter.

I think you can fall into the trap of ball-watching very easily; that is, you miss your ideal time to play because of uncertainty. You mostly have to select a shot shortly before the ball lands. If the ball is very full, you need to be earlier. If the ball is short, you need to wait. Playing back to spinners is almost entirely useless and not worthwhile. Waiting for the spinner to bowl too full also seems problematic, and you might be better off just guarding against those and trying to get after the good length ones.

Sweeps are mostly there for good length balls. Sweeping can negate turn considerably, but is a little bit sensitive to bounce. You will need to sweep earlier than drives, so you may need to be careful about picking the line. The reverse sweep can be very productive outside off stump, but it should be just as easy to square drive it. It's also bad to try to sweep short ones.

Late cuts can also be very handy as third man is under-protected. However it is also a little risky and a 'good' shot might go straight to a slip. As the name implies, this is a shot where you must let the ball come to you.

If you can't get a drive away, just play a 'precision' shot. You can almost always sneak a quick single even if you hit it straight to the man. Also if your timing is awful, it might actually result in an easy run.

You also have a lot of options if you advance down the wicket. Again, this is a shot you would select early. You can get quite good at this, but IMO there's not really any need to.

This is the best piece of advice I've seen here wrt timing the ball, very well explained and applies to other kind of bowlers too. Thank you.

 

[angryangy]

Yeah there may be a lot of issues with "standard" controls versus classic. The game is very much designed for the classic control scheme, but the alternate control set addressed the problem of the game being not noob-friendly. If you're casual then it lowers the skill floor and allows you to compete, but once you've put a few hours into the game, you need classic for the higher skill ceiling.

 

[Nashefc]

Any tips for playing against the Googly. Been working in the nets as well as matches but anything good/full landing 4/5th stump I cannot compete with it. Playing a defensive shot and having ideal timing still I managed to be bowled. Any tips would be a big help as I am a sitting duck once the spinner comes on!

 

[Believe]

angryangry explained things very well.

I used to struggle against spinners too, but now I generally prefer facing them. Just keep trying different things until you find something that works for you. I NEVER advance down the wicket, I just can't get the timing right. However I play the reverse sweep a lot. Anything Green length and outside off.

For anything on a good length (Green) I tend to watch the line and play that. Anything straight, I block. Anything on leg, I flick (sometimes play the regular sweep), and anything wide outside off I either square drive or reverse.

Orange length I find the hardest against spin, so usually will block it unless it's really wide, in which case the square drive seems to be less edgy than cover driving, although I do play both depending on the field.

Red length I will only play if I can get it to square leg, and Blue length you can do pretty much whatever you want. (Although I have been fooled by a bit of dip a couple times and been cleaned out, so still gotta watch it.)

I definitely agree with not playing back. At all. Ever. It's pointless, as your player will play the same cut/hook shot as if the ball was 140kph.

I would suggest just keep practicing, and don't be afraid to try everything you can think of. One of my friends charges almost every single ball against spin, and it works great for him, but he can't sweep to save himself. And like I said above, I play the exact opposite of that, because I found that it works for me.

Practice, practice, practice. Experiment, experiment, experiment. You'll get there.

 

[Playuh]

This is the best piece of advice I've seen here wrt timing the ball, very well explained and applies to other kind of bowlers too. Thank you.

I play on standard control set up and can't play spin balls on the fourth stump.