Cricket coaching, fitness and tips - Spin Bowling

How to Practice Indoors to be Ready for for Outdoor Cricket (It's Easier Than You Think)

David Hinchliffe — Wed, 28 Mar 2018 08:49:00 +0000

One of the biggest problems in cricket practice is moving from indoor surfaces in winter to spring and summer outdoor pitches.

It's such a huge difference in conditions that I know of many players who hate to have any kind of indoor net. They would rather do nothing. Why is this?

I think it's mainly about adaptation. If you spend - as many UK clubs and schools do - seven months with indoor nets alone you get used to it. Your style of play changes. Then you start the season on a totally different surface and your game is off kilter. It may take you a whole month to adapt back again.

Here are the differences:

Run ups are shorter, meaning less pace from the seamers Indoor length is shorter than outdoor. This is because of extra pace and bounce and batsmen who hit out forcing your length back.
The ball swings more indoors, meaning bowlers adjust line.
The ball turns less, meaning spinners adjust pace and line.
You tend not to bowl in spells, but in turns, making finding rhythm harder.
Batsman attack more, making finding a realistic line and length more difficult.
Impact is greater on knees and ankles, meaning you can bowl less and need more time to recover. The risk of injury is higher.

So, for example, if you bowl outswing, your indoor back of a length ball pitching on middle and leg and hitting off stump becomes an outdoor slow short ball down the leg side.

It's similar for batsmen,

Timing is upset by the ball coming on faster And bowlers bowling from a yard over the crease line. If you ever had an early season leading edge after spending the winter knocking the ball through square leg, you know what I mean.
Bowlers don't bowl the same lines and lengths as they would outdoors.
You don't bat for very long, and when you do it's against variable ability bowlers bowling in turns.

Fixing indoor net practice

That's a lot of problems. Can we fix them?

Yes, we can!

Firstly, it's about attitude. The problems of indoor nets must be seen as a challenge to overcome, rather than an impossible barrier. If we give up and don't go to nets, we better be gun players to justify no practice! And when we do turn up, we need to embrace the challenge with new ways of training.

Putting aside the issues with the basic structure of net practice (one batter, many bowlers, take turns) here are some simple tweaks to our cricket practice we can easily make to manage the transitions from inside to outside.

Play like outdoors

The easiest change to make to bowl and bat like you are playing an actual cricket game.

This might be as simple as setting your target length in PitchVision and bowling it no matter how the batsman plays. Or using cones in a low tech version.

When batting, you play like you would in a game. Imagine a score and a field and think how you are going to make runs in this situation. There are a load of games you can play to help with this like the 10 point net and the 421 runs net.

For even more realistic a feel, bat in pairs and bowl in overs.

Separate skills

A more dramatic way to make nets feel more outdoorsy is to separate the bowling and batting: Bowlers bowl at a target, batsmen work with throwdowns, Sidearm or bowling machine.

While this isn't always practical or desired, it does serve as a way to freshen up the practice. It allows people to work on things without worrying about anyone else. You can do technical work, or work on tactics without the wrong kind of feedback from the other end.

So, if you are a bowler who wants to bowl faster, you can do technical walk-throughs to lock in a better action without having to concern yourself over giving a batsman a hit. As a batsman, you can work on strike rotation of length bowling by having someone give throw downs in the area you want. Try asking a group of six bowlers to hit length on off stump every ball and see how it goes!

Slow down

One of the biggest challenges is to make the ball behave as it would in the middle: Pace, bounce, swing and spin are all different. How do we slow it all down?

Before I tell you how to sort it out I want you to consider one thing; how different is it really? Pitches and weather conditions vary a lot even outdoors. There are days when playing outside is not that different to inside.

Even when the difference is larger than usual, isn't adaptation one of the keys to good cricket?

For many, the answer to indoor net problems is simple; get on with it. Learn to be adaptable, build a technique that allows you to be in control whatever the conditions and then hone it to excellence.

That said, there are things you can do to help further,

Bowl a fuller outdoor length.
Bat with two mats instead of one laid down to dull the pace and bounce.
Turn a mat upside down to make it spin.
Use the bowling machine at a reduced pace to make you wait for the ball longer when batting.
Ask bowlers to bowl within themselves (it's easy with short run ups) for less pace and more waiting on the ball.

Finally, I would argue that once you get outdoors, the ideal is not not go back inside again. I know that is not always practical and sometimes - in rainy conditions - to get anything done at all you need to use an indoor net. My view is that as long as you try to get and stay outside you will be fine, even if weather drive you back in again.

Summary

Moving from indoors to outdoors is a challenge, if you let it be one.

There are many ways to manage it, but they key is to be adaptable. Use the resources you have to make the most of things. It won't hurt your game if you practice with match intensity and slow your roll.

The biggest mistake is thinking indoor practice is harmful To your form. If you manage it right it will always help you.

How do you manage it?

Which is Best: Nets or One to One Training?

David Hinchliffe — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 06:55:00 +0000

If you have cricket training options, which is best?

Most cricket training happens with groups or teams. We get together with our teammates and have a session. There is also the classic "one to one" training, where a coach and player get together for an hour or so to work on something specific. Finally there is the middle ground of small group sessions with two to five players.

With so much flexibility, it's important to know the up and down side of each way of training so you can focus on what is best for you. Let's go through them.

Squad nets

In a group, there is a lot you can get done in a short time with a lot of people. It's no wonder this is the most popular way of training. It's convenient.

It's suitable for very young players learning techniques and older players who want to bat and bowl against each other. I have had sessions with more than 30 players in attendance and been at sessions with only five (less than five and it becomes a small group). With larger numbers of players getting together it's excellent.

It's the only format you can realistically do middle practice. And team fielding practice is a good way to bond players together.

Traditionally, it's also good fun to get together with all your cricket mates for a bit of banter.

Aside from these benefits, there are some down sides.

It's hard to manage well. Players tend to bat for too short a time and bowl for too long. Perhaps the team leg spinner who bats 11 is happy with a few minutes batting and 90 minutes bowling, but the opening batsman who doesn't bowl will feel frustrated. At middle practice, not everyone gets to bat.

It's also difficult to do deliberate practice. Different people have different goals at practice and it's hard to match them up. You can't work on specific techniques or tactics if you are going against the wrong type of player.

One to one nets

The obvious answer to the issues of team practice is a one to one session.

Here you can focus 100% on your aim: Find the right person to train with and you are golden. A good coach can feed balls to you in the right areas, you can bowl at a cone or on PitchVision, or throw at a stump and get instant feedback. You can take your time to discuss things and try things in a safe environment.

In other words, you get a lot more done in a hour one to one than you would in three hours in a squad session.

That's not to say it's all roses.

Apart from the lack of team bonding and banter, your training is detached from the reality of the match. You don't have other people around to put the same pressure on you. The chaotic nature of a cricket game where anything could happen is removed as you hone in on specifics.

If you struggle with decision making and playing under pressure, one to one sessions have limited use to you (unless your coach is very creative and experienced).

Finally, it's a lot harder to set these sessions up. If your team has a coach he will be limited to how many one to one sessions he can run in a week. If demand is high you could miss out. It doesn't scale well.

And just to go back to the point about banter: It is important to train as a team if you want to play as a team. So, one to one training is never the ultimate answer for cricketers.

Small group nets

The middle ground is a small group of between two and five players. Here you get a lot of the benefits of both other types of training without losing much.

At my club, we run five small group sessions. They last an hour and are broken into batsmen and bowlers. The batsmen can work on batting skills against the bowling machine, sidearm, and bowlers (when they are available). The bowlers can do target practice and if the get fed up bowling can have a bat against their mate. I find a bowling batting against a bowler is more likely to "bat properly" (that is to say, play like a match situation rather than trying to smash everything).

This way, you get some of the team bonding of a squad net, but almost as much focus on specifics as a one to one session. The also coach needs to commit far less time (in my case, five hours instead of 20) meanings they are more realistic to put on.

Naturally, this compromise is not perfect. If you want a fully focused session, one to one is the way to go. If you like to interact with the whole team then you need squad nets. For everything else, small groups are a wonderful choice.

Summary

If you have a choice of the way you train, there are lot of options. Often the coach defines exactly what you do, but if you can you will benefit from all the different methods:

Squad nets ideal are for team building, role setting, larger groups, fielding practice and middle practice.
One to one practice is perfect for working on specific skills with less pressure.
Small group nets allow greater focus than squad nets and allow some team building and role defining elements.

For me, the "best" solution is a combination of all three, balancing out things depending on what you need to do to improve. Work with your coach or captain to work this out on both an individual and team level.

Crash Mat Spin Bowling

Millfield — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 08:38:30 +0000

As you may be aware, I love working with Spinners, especially leg-spinners. I’m lucky to be able to work with a few Leggie’s which includes 14 year old Michael.

I think that the shift from U13 Cricket into U14 Cricket is one of the most difficult transitions that a spinner can face. They move from 21 yard pitches to 22 yards and have to do this when using a ball which is bigger and heavier than the one that they used the previous season.

No wonder the ECB and Cricket Australia are adapting their practice to incorporate shorter pitches to enhance skill development in younger players.

I see many leg spinners at this age muscling the ball down the other end of the extended pitch which takes most if not all of the previously acquired skill out of the young bowler.

As a result of this, I have challenged myself to help young spinners to develop stronger actions which then give their fingers and wrists the opportunity to do the job that is intended (spinning the ball) rather than adding more “ooommmpppphhhh” to help the ball get down the other end.

The best way that I have found to achieve this is by asking the bowlers to run up and bowl on soft crash mats. Despite looking a bit odd, the drill really works a treat.

In this case, I decided to create instability under Mike’s feet on deep crash mat which overloads his technique and encourages adaptation by increasing stress and physical challenge.

The increased level of stress encourages the body and the brain to facilitate change, encouraging accelerated skill adaptation and progression.

The video demonstrates the process that we went through the other day. Mike was a little labored in his early deliveries, he was finding it difficult to generate sufficient energy and momentum towards his target.

Whilst we were focusing on the process (with him bowling into the net) rather than the outcome of the ball landing and reacting off of a surface), Mike reported back to me that he didn’t feel as if he was creating a huge number of revolutions on the ball.

So after showing him the first couple of Slo-motion videos, I dragged a couple of crash mats over to the net and asked him to repeat his process bowling drill into the net on the crash mats.

This implicit drill worked wonders for Mikes energy through the crease. The way he used his legs, torso and shoulders to “bowl” rather than “muscle” the ball was pleasing to see.

England Lead Fast Bowling Coach Kevin Shine is a big fan of this way of coaching his fast bowler. Kev looks to create problems to develop the need for the bowler to solve the problem. This is exactly what we are doing here with Michael and his leg spin.

The video shows excerpts from Just 20 minutes of one session. We will be continuing with crash mat bowling as part of Michaels drill routine tomorrow morning. The the intention is to monitor how Mike uses his action to support his wrist and fingers as he rotated them around the ball into release when bowling on the crash mats. We will then compare the action on the mat to his one when he is bowling on the gym floor.

Finally, once we are happy with his action we will put a mat on the floor and check out how Mikes action, flight and spin loom over the 22 yard pitch.

I’m hoping that his action will be strong and his wrist can concentrate on making the ball spin rather than helping the ball make the “adult” distance!

I shall keep you posted with Mike’s progress in the coming weeks.

Playing as a Unit: How to Use a Cricket Cliche to Improve your Cricket Team

David Hinchliffe — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 06:02:00 +0000

International players and coached these days are always going on about how they “performed as a unit” – fielded, batted, bowled.

Lurking in the depths of this moribund press talk is a grain of truth we can use at any level.

You see, whatever level you play, from first-class to under-11, we all have something in common.

We are all human beings.

And human beings all share the need to feel part of a group, to belong to something greater than their individual selves.

Even the most selfish people crave that feeling.

That’s where we can use the idea of a ‘unit’ to make us play the game as a team, rather than a group of individuals (which is always the danger in cricket where the focus is bowler vs. batsman).

Knowing your unit

If you don’t know what your job is, how are you supposed to know if you did it or not?

With that in mind, a ‘unit’ is just an extension of individual roles: It packages up a bunch of roles and puts them into a team within the team.

So the batsmen become a unit, with jobs to do and ways to do it. As do the bowlers and of course there is a fielding unit.

Players love this idea. If you are a bowler and that batsmen collapse, it’s up to you and your unit to clean up the mess. You still have that belonging without taking the blame.

But enough theory, let’s look at how to make these units work in practice.

The batting unit

Although there are different tactics and styles within the batting unit, the aim is to score runs.

So to be a unit, the top batsmen should assume the bowlers are not going to score any runs at all.

It’s all about taking responsibility as a group (and that group could be anything between 2 and 8 decent batsmen).

It’s in the nature of all of us to try less hard the bigger the group. Psychologists call it ‘social loafing’ – assuming someone else will make up the slack.

Having a clear batting unit with a clear run goal is a simple way to overcome this proven act of laziness.

Want an example?

Say you are batting first in a one day game. In the conditions you think on a good day your side is capable of 200 in your 40 overs. You have 5 top line batsmen in the side (lucky you if so, many club and school sides have just 1 really good batter and a few reasonable ones).

The top 5 have to take the responsibility for scoring every one of those runs. You could break it down any way you like:

Every player is looking to score 50-100 when they go out to bat
When someone fails, it’s up to whoever is left to take up the slack
Every player is looking to be there at the end. Be a ‘finisher’ from your first ball
Every pair considers the scoreboard to be ‘reset’ at zero when they come in and a partnership needs to be built from nothing

The bowling unit

We have all heard the line that bowlers hunt in pairs, or even packs. That’s the root of a good bowling unit.

A bowling unit is looking to either take wickets or keep the run rate down (or both). That’s done by applying pressure from both ends without letting up.

Of course there are different ways to do this. A combination of a wild strike bowler and a miserly medium pacer offer different challenges to the batsman but end up with the result you want even if the figures are 4-40 and 1-17 respectively.

To be a good unit you need 5 bowlers capable of doing to job of keeping the pressure on the batsman (through wickets or maidens). You might get away with 3-4, but any less will mean a gap that can only be made up by some exceptional bowling.

Bowling units also trust each other even when things go wrong. Anyone can have a bad game but a good unit doesn’t blame, it makes sure everyone else takes greater responsibility. You can read more about how to do it in this article.

The fielding unit

As an identity, fielders are the least likely to feel part of a unit.

Fielding is what you do when you are not performing your main skill (strike specialist wicket-keepers from that statement) and so we feel it’s a chore, a lonely one at that.

But when fielders do work together it’s an intimidating moment for batsmen who feel surrounded by 11 people all against them. And we all know how pressure makes wickets fall.

So make sure you are in a unit when you are fielding too:

Talk to fielders around you about the batsman and decide what fielding tactics would work best.
Keep encouraging the bowler and other fielders, especially when things are not going as planned. Remember it only takes one ball to take a wicket and change the game.
· Relax between balls and overs but keep talking to fielders around you to keep the overall feeling of a buzz about you.
Think of yourself as part of a team with the bowler, squeezing batsmen into mistakes.
Think of the wicket-keeper as the focus of the fielding unit. Get the ball to him or her frequently to keep up the impression of being the fielding leader. A good ‘keeper with a lively personality makes a huge difference to the atmosphere.

Overall, a unit is not something you need to think long and hard about with endless planning. It’s a loose knit group of people with a common goal (be it to score runs or take wickets).

If you think your team doesn’t have clear units, then it probably doesn’t. You need to work a little harder to get people thinking as one. It’s just a matter of introducing the idea of a unit and sitting back to let human nature take over.

And if you do that the overall team performance will improve too.

How to Get More Spin with Inhibitors and Enablers

SamLavery — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 10:20:19 +0000

Want to get more spin?

While a high number of revolutions is great to have, learning to direct those revolutions is a skill overlooked. In fact, to many, the direction they spin the ball is simply the direction they spin the ball. Either you've got it or you haven't.

Rubbish.

Spin can be learnt. Much in the way that speed can be taught. You can make people bowl faster and you can also help them to spin the ball more and in almost all conditions. Yes, some may have a predisposed advantage. But, everyone can improve. The ceiling is a long way from the elite, never mind the masses.

The toughest conditions for a finger spinner are often found when bowling on the brand new, hard, flat pitch. While such conditions may offer light relief of some bounce, without the ability to generate turn, it can force many a spinner in a defensive mode. Not because it won't spin, but because they can't spin it. Generating turn on a quality batting surface requires top spin combined with side spin to get and real traction with the surface and the faster you bowl, the more of this top spin you'll need.

So how do we achieve this top spinning off break?

Simple.

Bowl from a front on position. That may have many "side on" classicists spitting out their drink. It doesn't mean we should be front on throughout the action. It simply means that if we can get our hips and shoulders to, or beyond a square on position by the point of release, then we've got a good chance of spinning the ball forwards and subsequently gaining grip with the surface.

Just try it for yourself. Imagine you're trying to spin a ball forwards standing in a side on position and again from a squad / chest on position. It's so much easier.

But how can a spinner achieve this front on release position?

From a technical perspective, to give ourselves the best chance of rotating our body into or past this square on position, we have to understand "inhibitors" and "enablers".

What are we doing to reduce the amount of rotation we get, which is subsequently limiting our ability to get to, or beyond square on?

These things are inhibitors.

Additionally, what do we do that helps stimulate or create rotation, encouraging our body to rotate more towards, or potentially beyond that square on angle?

These are enablers.

Some of the inhibitors you should look out for:

Landing in a closed off angle during your delivery stride. This makes it much harder for your back leg to drive forwards and rotate your hips. Aim to keep them landing in a straight line towards where the ball is going.
A long delivery stride. While often useful for fast bowlers, a longer stride acts as a larger, slower, turning circle for a spinner. While also creating a lower position with flexion at the hips. Both things restrict rotation movement.
Falling away throughout the delivery. Good vertical alignment will always create more efficient rotation as it requires less force, so think tall and balanced with your head above your feet.
A bent front leg won't rotate as efficiently as a straight one, in the same way that a flexed body or trunk would be less efficient than a vertical one. So aim for a braced front leg to maximise your rotation.

A selection of enablers you should consider developing are:

Momentum moving forwards into the jump and delivery stride will initialise the rotation. Having your body weight forwards will also transition you onto your front foot more quickly, again aiding with rotation. So try to attack the crease with plenty of energy.
A powerful pulling motion with your non bowling arm. Pulling backwards drives the bowling shoulder forwards stimulating the rotation, while pulling downwards slightly can enable a shoulder angle that further enhances top spin on the ball. Consider what arm angle may help develop more rotation or a steeper shoulder angle. It's a trade off of the two combined to make you're own personalised pulling motion. Remember that a full extension of this front arm creates more potential energy on the way back, so stretch out then pull if you can.
Driving the bowling side knee through your delivery stimulates rotation from the hips.
landing with a back foot in a front on position (pointing towards the target), will encourage an opening of the hips through the delivery stride, developing rotation from the ground up. This works in a similar way to the pre turn a fast bowler should be striving to develop.

Developing a combination of these enablers, while limiting the inhibitors, can allow the hips and shoulders to achieve the square on position at the point of release we're after and from that position any finger spinner should be well set to get the ball spinning forwards. Offering them the chance to turn the ball on almost any surface.

So how should you apply all this information to your bowling?

The first thing I'd do is assess what you can achieve already.

If you can already spin the ball on every surface you play on, don't go looking for big changes. However, if you're looking for more consistent turn, a simple assessment of what you can make the ball do is easy. Get yourself a half and half, red and white ball and film yourself bowling. You should be able to see fairly quickly which direction you're spinning the ball in. You probably won't even need a camera.

If you're not managing to get the ball spinning forwards as much as you'd like, then start to assess your body position at the point of release. The best way to do this is to film yourself from side on. Think straight extra cover, level with the stumps. From here you'll be able to see how much rotation your gaining by the point of release, towards that square on position you're hoping for.

If you're not getting the ball spinning forwards and you're not getting square on, or beyond; it's time start to working through those checklists of inhibits and enablers to buy yourself some more rotation.

No longer should the finger spinner be confined to a defensive role on a flat deck, just because they're a finger spinner.

Strive to be better. Do something tomorrow you couldn't do today.

Spin can be learnt.

To many, spin bowling will always be an art rather than a science, but that doesn't mean you can't learn more about it and improve the way the ball leaves your hand.

Sam Lavery is Head of Cricket Performance at Portsmouth Grammar School

How to Maintain Pressure on Batsmen in Limited Overs Cricket

David Hinchliffe — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 06:15:00 +0000

It's common to say an inexperienced bowling attack can't "maintain pressure".

Is this double-speak for bad bowling, or is there something more to the idea that experience improves your ability to tie batsmen down in the middle overs of a limited overs game?

Many say experience makes no difference. If you have a repeatable action, you can bowl good line and length and yorkers at the death, you have all the skill you need.

Personally, I think experience has a huge influence, but it is not obvious at first glance.

The key to the power of experience in bowling is linked to a skill that batsmen are desperate to develop: picking line and length.

Picking line and length: Not just for batsmen

One of the most important differences between elite batsmen and lesser players is their ability to pick line and length. It's a topic that we have discussed often on PitchVision Academy.

With much practice, the batter learns to subconsciously read the signals from the bowler and respond to the bowler, rather than wait to pick up the ball from the hand.

But experienced bowlers also have a version of this ability.

If you talk to a bowler who has played from many years, they will confidently speak about a sixth sense: The ability to know what a batsman is about to do based on some kind of a hunch. They just feel something is about to happen.

Except, it's not really a hunch at all. It's the result of years of experience of bowling to batsmen and learning how they react in any situation.

Sure, there are variations of reaction, like there are variations in bowling cues and clues, but the more you bowl, the better you get at reading the reaction before it even happens.

Use experience to maintain the stranglehold

The experienced bowler senses this, knows what to bowl next and how to change the field accordingly.

The wild swing to leg countered by fifth stump away swinger, the sweep countered by a fuller, quicker ball that slides straight on, or the batsman with fast footwork set up for a leg side stumping by bowling wide down the leg side.

These tactics are all logical and simple and a bowler of any experience can come up with the idea.

The difference is the experienced bowler knows exactly when to bowl the right ball based on the batsman's reactions.

When you are skilful at this, you are much more able to tie down good batsmen in limited over cricket based on your hunches.

Sometimes, simple is effective too

All that said, experience is just one factor. The better the player you are bowling at, the more you need experience to counter his skills.

However, sometimes you will be in a situation where you don't need to be clever at all. You can bowl an over at the top of off stump and walk away with a maiden no matter who is at the other end.

You can bowl an over of yorkers and go for five runs or fewer at the death.

So there is no need to try and get too cute with experience. Simply try to bowl well, work on your accuracy with deliberate practice and develop a useful variation. This will see you well.

But also bowl a lot in matches, and mindfully try to learn how batsmen handle the pressure you build.

As you move up in experience - you get the "aha" moments of your career - you will find that your ability to tie batsmen down improves.

Adaptability is the Key to Modern Off-Spin

David Hinchliffe — Wed, 17 Jan 2018 09:21:19 +0000

Finger spinners still have a vital role in modern cricket.

Of course, we all know cricket is a batsman's game and it's becoming more so every year. More and more cricket is played on bat-friendly pitches. Free hits, field restrictions and tight wides make life tough for the spinner.

How can you bowl well in these conditions?

Variations.

If you adapt your deliveries, a batsman will find it very hard to predict and so can't line you up to hit into the spin. Arm ball, doosra, teesra and plain old pace variations are all tools in your spinners toolbox.

One thing remains constant with these variations: Accuracy. Having variations works better if you can put most balls on a difficult length for the batsman. This is the strange paradox of modern spin. You need to be accurate while never being predictable.

Game sense

Random variations are not good enough alone. You need a cricket brain to adapt. For example, to a turning pitch.

Know when to adjusting line to bowl outside off stump, turning in. This is the classic off spin delivery. Even if you do not rip it square, a turning pitch should be enough to get the ball through the gate.

This line is essentially another variation.

What does all this mean for you?

It's important to decide what variety you will use. There are a lot of options for a spinner and many of them depend on the wickets and format you play. Then work towards mastering the methods that work best for you.

It will take a lot of bowling of course, and a lot of failure as you adapt and learn your style. This is all part of the process of becoming confident in your own method.

Deploy Your Doosra Like A World-Class Spinner

David Hinchliffe — Mon, 15 Jan 2018 08:43:54 +0000

Slip this variation into your off spin toolkit.

Let’s talk about the problem of the doosra. It’s controversial. Some people think you can’t bowl it without chucking. It’s never been mastered by more than a handful of players. It’s very, very hard to turn it accurately. Why would any mere mortal cricketer try it?

Because it’s mysterious and powerful.

Because you love a challenge.

And if you spend time on getting it right, you will gain the edge as a spinner for you and your cricket team. All by making the ball spin the other way.

The value of doosra

Is it worth learning a doosra?

It makes sense that finger spinners would hunt for a ball that turns the other way. Leg spinners have been able to turn the ball both ways as standard for decades. It give you more ability to deceive batsman and take wickets.

(For that is what a doosra is, a ball from a finger spinner that turns in the opposite direction. For example away from the right handed batsman.)

Leg spinners have also found it easier to learn a googly than off spinners have to learn a doosra. It’s never become a standard variation despite being around for many years.

Why do most spinners leave the doosra alone?

I think for most, the effort is not worth the reward.

It takes a lot of practice to get it to turn and land in the right place.

There’s no standard advice on how to bowl a doosra. There are a dozen methods online and probably more happening in various Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan street and fields that we don’t know about.

And even if you do master it, you might find you throw it. So you have wasted your time.

No wonder, with so few seriously bowling the ball at every level, the doosra remains a marvellously challenging mystery ball.

How to bowl a doosra

Let’s say you still want to give it a go.

Let’s say you still like your lips at the prospect of fooling a batsman with the other one.

Awesome!

Step zero is simple: get ready for a lot of practice.

Get yourself on PitchVision and start bowling. Use target bowling in nets, bowl at batsmen in games, bowl at willing passers-by in the street.

To give yourself a ball-park figure for starting success:

Turn the ball at least 1 degree.
Land the ball on target at least 30% of the time.

At this point, you might be asking “but, how do I bowl it?”

While there is plenty of doosra advice, the real answer is just keep trying. The ball has very little history of success so the page in the coaching book is unwritten.

You have a chance to find your way.

You can start by flicking it out of your hand, then progress to overarm throws and finally bowling. You might find you don’t even need those stages and you can get the ball out all right at the first go. Whatever it takes, it’s going to take plenty of deliveries to get good at it.

Also remember that, while important, the technique is nothing without being able to use it against a batsman in a game. This is especially true when it’s a crunch moment. Your ultimate aim to to be confident to turn to a doosra even when the opposition need two from the last ball in the Grand Final.

That’s cricket mastery.

Left Arm Bowling is Magic Skill: Make the Most of the Cricket Southpaw

David Hinchliffe — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 08:04:41 +0000

Left arm bowlers are special. Here's how to make the most of your southpaw cricket style.

The lefty is rare. Batsmen are more common, but bowlers are in shorter supply. There are unique challenges that put up barriers to success if you bowl with your left. Understand these and use your unique advantages to become a success instead.

Bowling angles

The obvious advantage is your change of angle. You create angles no one else can, like sliding the ball across the right hander.

Most batsmen rarely practice facing left arm bowling, especially over the wicket. The change might seem minor, but with such a narrow bat, a minor change is all you need to induce an error.

Set your field right and enjoy the cricket boost you get purely from bowling with a different hand.

Of course, you can add to the fun if you build skill in swing, seam or spin. The left arm legend who can swing it back into the right handed batter has huge advantages. The same applies for the finger spinner who moves it away from the bat.

In T20, you have more death options. You can bowl left arm over full and wide to make it extremely tricky to hit the ball to leg. Add that to your inswinging yorker from over and round, and you don't even need a bouncer.

Technique, speed and turn

If you are a seamer, your left hand might also be a barrier to speed. If you bowl spin, it might make it harder to rip it.

It comes back to angles. When you are learning to bowl you probably do it mostly to the righties. This encourages you to bowl with a slightly closed off action. While this is not an exclusive issue for the left, it does happen more often.

Whether you want speed, accuracy, dip or turn; closing off prevents it because you lose hip drive. The hips are the powerhouse of the action for spin or pace.

So, build your action carefully and keep open. It will give you more of what you want. Although you will need to stay constantly aware of the inclination to close off.

The left brain

The third difference most lefties have is the brain.

Left arm spinners have a reputation for being almost as crazy as wicketkeepers. Left handed bowlers (and golfers, interestingly) are much more likely to get the yips. While we cant say with any confidence every left handed person is in the same mental boat, we can be aware of some of the trends and work to manage them.

Chances are you are the only left bowler in your cricket team. If you are a spinner the chances are even higher. So, you need a determined mindset in the knowledge that no one else really understands your struggle. It gets lonely, even in a team sport.

You also probably need to do more work on visualisation, goal setting and confidence building than most. Of course, we all need mental strength in cricket. If you are left handed, you can boldly proclaim you need it more and work on it overtly. No one will disagree because everyone thinks you are a bit bonkers anyway. You can find solace in this quest with your team wicketkeeper. They are most likely even more in need of this stuff than you.

Summary: Ride the Difference

Understand the power of angles for tactics.
Watch the technical pitfalls.
Work hard on your mental strength

Get the Best from Yourself as an All Round Cricketer

David Hinchliffe — Tue, 12 Dec 2017 08:47:47 +0000

It’s hard being an all-rounder.

You’re expected to be a cricket legend: bat long, take wickets, keep the opposition total down and probably be one of the best fielders too. The physical burden is matched and exceed by the mental one.

Even the roughest, toughest, most proud and determined of cricketers need to prevent themselves from burning out. Whether you are a batsman who bowls, a bowler who bats or someone who is equally talented in every skill set, it’s time to get focused.

Genuine all rounder

If you can score hundred and take five-fers you are undoubtedly a star in your team. That said, it’s also very difficult to be consistent with bat and ball for long periods.

It can be as frustrating as filled with glory.

To be more consistent, be more self-aware than your team mates. You have to have a feeling for when you are locked into a long innings and take advantage. On those days when you bat long you will be more useful as a holding bowler rather than the match winner.

On the other hand, you have to know when you are fired up to run through the opposition with the ball. Perhaps your batting will be equally thunderous that day so you are happy to hit out earlier.

Either way, don’t try to do it all.

The best all rounder I ever saw in club cricket is a good example. Despite being easily the best batsman, he didn’t want to bat above four. Despite being easily the best fast bowler in the league, let alone the team, he only opened the bowling in one game, preferring first or second drop.

He knew his role. He could adapt to the situation but he never strayed far from keeping enough in the tank to make a difference. If that meant batting a little slower to be sure the team passed 200 before hitting out, he did it. If it meant taking the ball to get the last wicket, he did it.

Know your limits, even if you are the star.

Batting all rounder

If you are mainly a batsman but can give your captain a few overs you are in a strong position. The days you fail with bat give you a second bite with ball, without any weight of expectation.

Nevertheless, get into your bowling. Work out your best tactical approach. Get enough control that you can put it into action. Use net time to work with your top order pals as peers rather than thinking of yourself as a net bowler who might as well turn an arm over.

Like the genuine all rounder, it’s easy to slip into apathy. You think you will make up a batting failure with the ball and end up doing neither well. That’s an error. You are a batsman first.

Still consider batting your only role. Practice with purpose and focus.

Just sneak in some bowling in the non-batting moments, knowing your limits and building a strength or two.

Bowling all rounder

The bowler who bats is similar to the batter who bowls. There is less expectation on your minor skill. You are batting at seven or eight. Six if you’re lucky, nine if you’re unlucky.

You’re limited in your batting. The trick is to know your limits. Maybe your big hitting makes you ideal for the death but weak in the early overs with all that extra time. Perhaps you have a solid technique and some reliable shots but have never played a long innings because you bat nine behind other equally talented bowling all rounders.

Knowing this, you can find your niche with the bat and spend your time building it up.

Let’s face it, you can’t bowl for two hours at nets, so make some downtime as a way to get that batting game sorted. You don’t need every shot, just a reliable game plan and a role the captain trusts you doing.

Focus is the key

Whatever your balance of skills, the overall message is to focus.

Develop your strengths so you can fill your role in the team.
Don’t worry about your weaker areas, try to avoid needing to use them.
Be mindful of your limits, push against them to improve but be realistic about what you can achieve.
Have fun, all-rounder is a great position!