Mastering Spin Bowling – Techniques and Variations

Mastering Spin Bowling – Techniques and Variations Mastering Spin Bowling – Techniques and Variations

Spin bowling is considered to be an art form of cricket.

Bowlers can use spin to deceive batters through delivering balls which dip, turn, drift or bounce with a level of unpredictability.

Mastering spin bowling is no easy task.

Not everyone can be like Shane Warne, the famous Australian leg-spin bowler who took an incredible 708 Test wickets.

However, with a little know-how and lots of practice, you too could be delivering some solid spin bowling in no time.

 

Spin Bowling Techniques

There are two main types of spin bowlers – leg-spin and off-spin.

Leg-spin turns from the leg side of the batter to the off side of the batter, while off-spin turns from the off side towards the leg side.

So, just how do you achieve these different spins?

It all comes down to the right ball grip and technique.

Off-Spin

For off-spin bowling, players use their fingers to rotate the ball – primarily their index and middle fingers.

Rolling those fingers to the right will lead to the ball spinning in a clockwise direction.

You want the seam of the ball to run horizontally through your hand, with your index and middle fingers stretched out across it.

You can support the ball by resting it against your ring finger, but be sure not to let your thumb or pinkie fingers get in the way as you do not use them.

Leg-Spin

For leg-spin bowling, you want to use your wrists to cover the ball during your run-up and deceive the batter.

The grip is quite similar to off-spin, but you should have a smaller separation between your index and middle fingers.

Unlike off-spin, though, your ring finger and thumb are very important in a leg-spin bowling grip.

Bend your ring finger across by the side and hold the ball softly.

When you are delivering the ball, your wrist should be bent at your side when you release it with a straight arm.

 

For both off-spin and leg-spin bowling, a smooth action is important.

You want to generate some momentum from the run up and transfer that to your wrist or fingers at release to bring about the spin.

 

Spin Bowling Variations

Once you have got a good handle of basic spin bowling, you can start adding some variations to increase your firepower on the pitch.

Along with stock deliveries, you can generate more turn off the pitch, make the ball drift sideways through the air before bouncing or make the ball dip sharply after pitching by adding a little topspin.

More advanced spin bowling variations include:

  • The Googly – Bowled with a disguised leg-spin grip, this ball turns the opposite way to a normal leg-break.
  • The Slider – This is a leg-spin delivery that skids through to the batter at a lower trajectory and with minimum spin.
  • The Doosra – This is an off-spinner’s variation of a Googly.
  • The Flipper – Also known as the back spinner, this ball is generally delivered by a leg-spin bowler who will apply some backspin to create a slower ball with a lower bounce.

Want to advance your spin bowling?

If you want to get started with spin bowling – or take your bowling attack to a new level by adding some variations – we can help.

At Cricket For All, we have an experienced team of nationally accredited coaches at our Adelaide centre who are ready to help players of all ages master their spin bowling techniques and variations.

Contact us today to discuss your coaching options.