How to Bowl the Leg Spinner's Variations

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posted on 16 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Leg spin is considered to be one of most dangerous types of bowling to face particularly when the bowler has mastered the deliveries and can make plans to deceive the batsmen![1]
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The stock ball for most leg spinners is the leg break which when bowled by a right arm bowler to a right hand batter will spin from leg to off! Although the leg break can be varied with side-spin or a bit more over-spin to confuse the batsmen there are still more to contended with!

The Googly is designed to trick the batsmen by making him believe it is a leg break and will spin from outside off-stump and hit off-stump!

The Top spinner or over spinner lands earlier than expect and bounces higher hitting the batsmen in the gloves or helmet!

The Slider or backspinner is the opposite to the top spinner and skids and slides

The Flipper has a different grip and skids getting lbw!

The Zooter is an easier version of the flipper although less effective

Steps

To bowl a googly, you grip the ball the same as you would for a leg break but hold it so your palm faces away from you. As you bowl, you bring your elbow close to your head and cock your wrist so that back of your hand faces the batsman. You spin the ball by rotating the fingers. If done properly, the ball should turn from off to leg for right handers. If the batsman comes out of his crease and misses the googly, he can be stumped.

To bowl a topspinner, grip the ball as you would a leg break. Bowl it as you would a googly, but don't cock you wrist during the action. This should impart forward spin that will cause the ball to dip later and bounce higher.

To bowl a slider, grip the ball as you would a leg break, but hold it so that your palm faces yourself. Bowl normally. This should impart backwards spin and should feel like a failed leg break. If bowled properly, however, the ball will dip earlier and keep lower to the ground.

To bowl a flipper, you must hold the ball as you would normally, but you must also have your thumb on the side. Instead of rotating your fingers and wrist to give it spin, you pinch it out between your index finger, middle finger, and thumb, kind of like trying to squeeze it. The flipper will come out faster than a leg break, won't spin, and will keep close to the ground.