Your Cricket The Art of Legspin

[iridescentt]

Well I've been in the nets a lot practising my leg spin. Since the weather has been pretty hot around here I've decided to leave my pace bowling a bit. But what I've found is that I'm actually really good at bowling leg spin. I've got the stock delivery, the arm ball and the wrong'un (Actually, I found out how to bowl it today when attempting to bowl a flipper that I never really knew how to bowl in the first place). What do you guys reckon' I should be doing. Keep up with my pace bowling or make a change with spin bowling. I'm actually contemplating if I would take up both in a sort of Andrew Symond way, instead my bowling and batting is way better of course

Thoughts?

Also, is there any other deliveries I could learn as a leg spinner? ie. Flipper, etc.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Ah legspin. I spent a whole summer working on my legbreaks to master them. Got the stock ball working accurately, and the topsinner isn't too difficult, but the wrong 'un took quite some time.

However, I'm tempted to shift to offspin because, unline with my legspin, I can vary the pace off my offbreaks and the flight with ease.

So yea, I'd recommend legbreaks if you are either very accurate, or able to mix up flight and pace.


As for more deliveries, the only ones I know of are:

1) The stock legbreak - palm facing batsman, fingers across seam, wrist moves anti-clockwise (for a righty)
2) Topspinner - thumb faces batsman, fingers across seam, ball lands on seam. Same wrist movement as above.
3) Googly - Same wrist movement, but palm facing upward and back of hand facing the batsman
4) Slider - Like a legbreak, but without gripping the ball on the seam. The aim is to land it on the side of the ball.
5) Arm ball - hold like a seam up ball, and fire it in.

 

[Cricketman]

Don't see why you can't bowl both. I left medium pace last year as the team I play in has 5 Pakistani quicks who look like they bowl 200mph. I bowl part time in the middle overs while the fast guys catch a breather. Got a pretty decent leg break and an okay googly (sometimes it just goes straight on) but I mix in a few offies/seamers in too. Inspired by Tendulkar!

I picked up ~13 wickets in 12 games (about 40-50 overs total) at an average of around 32. Best figures were 6-4-14-3. Not bad I reckon. Economy was high at ~5.8-6RPO but even then I consider it decent as the par score in the 40 over matches is around 220. Most of my wickets are miscued sweeps or top edges caught in the deep so I don't know if it is my bowling or the batsman, who are double+ my age, trying to hit me out. But hey, wickets are wickets!

 

[TumTum]

I am exactly like you, my leggies are my best weapon atm.

I have 3:

Leg-break: It was very hard for me to get flight and accuracy with this delivery. But after watching some Warne videos, I have found out how to fix the problem. The trick is to slow down your arm movement and make a full arc, rather than using a fast motion.

Straight-Ball: This is where the seam is pointed towards the slips (for a lefty), and I do the normal legspinners arc movement but it comes out from the front of the hand and with a little bit more speed. I can get it to swing in to the righty (or out from the lefty). With a normal legspinner, the drift is in towards the righty, however the normal swing is also in towards the righty. This puts them off big time.

Wrong-Un: For simplicity, I bowl this like an offspinner, but I keep all my arm motions exactly the same. Trying it the proper way is very hard when accuracy is concerned.

I mix all these type of deliveries regularly and try to get the batsmen caught in two minds.

 

[stereotype]

I can control my wrong un pretty easily and sometimes it turns more than my leg break.

My topspinner is the trick ball I get most wickets with, lots of edges back to me, lbws and caught on the off side.

last season got my ripping leggy to bowl a batsman between his legs. Greatest feeling.

 

[TumTum]

The worst thing you can do is lose control of your variations.

If you bowl a wrong-un halfway, not only does the batsmen put it away, but also he picks your variation. Just the same as if you bowl your arm-ball as a full toss.

It isn't as bad if you bowl a bad leggy, because you know (and he knows) that you have variations up your sleeve.

Otherwise the batsmen will get on top of you easily, no matter how good you are.

 

[stereotype]

and bad legspinners probably get more wickets than good trick balls. and a stock leg break has enough variations in itself on a turf wicket, some spin, some don't some go around corners some stay low etc.

I had a knee high full toss leg break down leg side caught at short fine leg ffs.

The worst thing you can do is drop short. You can protect the areas down the ground for the odd full toss but you can hit a short ball anywhere.

 

[CG123]

I spent the whole winter working on my leg-spin.
In our first practice of the season, I clean bowled our Captain (bats number 3) with a wrong-un.
Got one over in our first game of the season, got hit for 14, and haven't bowled since...

You got to have guts to toss certain deliveries up there, and have a captain that won't mind you getting hit around a bit at certain times.

 

[drainpipe32]

I spent the whole winter working on my leg-spin.

Im gonna do that this year

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Leg-break: It was very hard for me to get flight and accuracy with this delivery. But after watching some Warne videos, I have found out how to fix the problem. The trick is to slow down your arm movement and make a full arc, rather than using a fast motion.

That's a nice tip. I actually do the polar opposite, bringing my arm down fast and trying to rip the ball big. Get nice bounce and spin occasionally, but I can't control my flight or speed. Maybe I'll try this next time.

I'd like to mix offbreaks and legbreaks, but really just play tape ball cricket now and can't bowl legspinners with a tape ball. Maybe I could if I practice now bringing my arm around slowly.

 

[Aoun13]

Well a Legy is always an attacking weapon he will gets wickets but at same time can hit for plenty two.
Best way to control batsman when you are hit too much is two bowl more slower, use flipper and googly.
I myself bowl both leg and off spin, I find out that best way to stop runs is keep batsman in his crease or if he is a better back foot player, try to bowl with a higher trajectory but with very low pace this is the best way to get batsman stump or even bowled.

 

[arjind]

I always use the trap, f there's a batsman demolishing, place a deep mid-wicket, deep square leg, long on, bowl round the wicket, flight, he misses - bowled, he's drawn in CAUGHT

 

[TumTum]

I'd like to mix offbreaks and legbreaks, but really just play tape ball cricket now and can't bowl legspinners with a tape ball. Maybe I could if I practice now bringing my arm around slowly.

Yep definitely. I find bowling leg-breaks with a real cricket ball much easier.

The tennis ball is so light, that you really have to be good. The fast arm motion just drags the ball down.

I also found out, if you spin the tennis ball just right, you can get good drift/curve as well. Even without the tape or seam (tennis ball doesnt have a seam :doh).

 

[ZoraxDoom]

In the tape ball cricket I play, we tape on a seam on the ball.

I have noticed much drift with my spin. Usually when it does move in the air it's thanks to the wind so I don't pay much attention to it and just bowl accounting for the wind direction.

 

[CG123]

Just bowled my leggies at practice today.
Bowled three overs, took three wickets, but went for like 25 runs.

Not sure if it's a real ball, but I got this fast yorker going well.
It's probably about 25 - 50% faster than my stock leggie, and takes everyone by surprise.

Really I just lack consistency, about one in four of my balls go down leg side, while about one ball an over seems to be perfect.