Spin bowling

Bowling techniques
Bowling strategy Fast bowling Seam bowling Swing bowling Medium pace bowling Spin bowling Finger spin Off spin Left-arm orthodox Wrist spin Leg spin Left-arm unorthodox Throwing
Deliveries
Full toss/Beamer Fast bowling Bouncer Inswinger Leg cutter Off cutter Outswinger Reverse swing Slower ball Yorker Spin bowling Arm ball Doosra Teesra Flipper Googly Carrom ball Leg break Off break Slider Topspinner
Historical Styles
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Spin bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as spinners or spin bowlers.

Purpose

The main aim of spin bowling is to bowl the cricket ball with rapid rotation so that when it bounces on the pitch it will deviate, thus making it difficult for the batsman to hit the ball cleanly.^[1] The speed the ball travels is not critical, and is significantly slower than for fast bowling. A typical spin delivery has a speed in the range 70–90 km/h (45–55 mph).

Techniques

An off spin delivery.

A leg spin delivery.

Spin bowling is divided into four different categories, depending on the particular physical technique used. There is virtually no overlap between the two basic biomechanical techniques of wrist spin and finger spin.

• Leg spin - Right-handed with wrist spin technique. (e.g. Shane Warne)
• Left-arm orthodox spin - Left-handed with finger spin technique. (e.g. Daniel Vettori)
• Left-arm unorthodox spin - Left-handed with wrist spin technique. (e.g. Brad Hogg)
• Off spin - Right-handed with finger spin technique. (e.g. Muttiah Muralidaran)

Depending on technique, a spin bowler uses either predominant wrist or finger motion to impart spin to the ball around a horizontal axis that is at an oblique angle to the length of the pitch. This sort of spin means it is also possible for the Magnus effect to cause the ball to deviate sideways through the air, before it bounces. Such deviation is called drift. The combination of drift and spin can make the ball's trajectory complex, with a change of direction at the bounce.

This variety of trajectories achievable by a spin bowler can bewilder inexperienced or poor batsmen.

Spin bowlers are generally given the task of bowling with an old, worn cricket ball. A new cricket ball better suits the techniques of fast bowling than spin bowling, while a worn one grips the pitch better and achieves greater spin.^[1] Spin bowlers are also more effective later in a game, as the pitch dries up and begins to crack and crumble. This again provides more purchase for the spinning ball and produces greater deviation.

Equivalencies

Both finger spin and wrist spin bowler use a range of different angles of spin to confuse the batsman and dismiss him. Many of these variations have direct equivalents in the other discipline, but the names used for the various deliveries may be different.

Analogous concepts and terminology [2]
Description	Finger spin	Wrist spin
A delivery in which the ball spins towards the batsman to produce dip and bounce.	topspinner	topspinner
A delivery in which the ball spins in the opposite direction to the stock delivery ( the "wrong 'un").	doosra	googly (aka bosey)
A delivery in which the ball spins away from the batsmen, scrambed seam.	backspinner (aka teesra)	slider (aka zooter)
A delivery in which the ball spins away from the batsmen, seam upright to produce swing.	arm ball	also the slider - rarely used
A delivery in which the ball is squeezed out of the fingers with backspin.	no real equivalent	flipper
A delivery in which the ball spins horizontally on its axis to produce drift but no turn.	undercutter	no real equivalent

Conditions

In recent times, spin bowling has been a forte of the bowlers from the Indian sub-continent. The primary reason for that is that the pitches in the sub-continent provide more help to the spin bowlers. The faster the pitch degenerates, the earlier the spinners come into the picture. Australian and South African wickets are usually very hard and bouncy, helping the fast bowlers more. They do not break very much during the entire duration of the test match. But pitches in the sub-continent are not that hard. They are not usually held together by the grass as much. They break up quicker and help spin bowlers and leg spin is considered to be one of the toughest type to have control but very effective in terms of picking off wickets. ^[3]

See also

• Cricket terminology
• Seam bowling
• Swing bowling

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Knight, pp.122–123.
2. ^ Brian Wilkins "The Bowler's Art"
3. ^ Bob Woolmer "The Art and Science of Cricket"

Bibliography

• Barclays World of Cricket, 3rd edition (ed. E W Swanton), Willow Books, 1986.
• Julian Knight, Cricket for Dummies, John Wiley and Sons, 2006

External links

• BBC Guide to Spin Bowling