Wrist spin - Is it the hardest skill in cricket?

[Glacier]

We've only seen a handful of quality leg spinners in the history of cricket, certainly if you compare them with the amount of top quality fast bowlers and batsmen that we've seen.

From what I've read the best wrist spinners have great wrists and an ability to impart lots of revolutions on the bowl.

I know this sounds simplistic but why aren't or haven't there been more Shane Warnes? Especially considering the fact that you don't need to be supremely athletic or tall to be a leg spinner. Obviously you need to have pace, maintain line and length and have variations etc. along with having supple wrists.

Its strange to me that we have loads of 90 mph bowlers and batsmen who average 50+ and yet we don't have world class wrist spinner in world cricket right now.

 

[BoyBrumby]

I think it is one of the hardest cricket skills to master. I bowl (or used to) slow-medium right-arm gash and my natural shape took the ball into the right-hander (well, into the pavilion, actually... ) so tried to incorporate a leg-cutter for variety but just could not land the fecker on the cut-strip.

Warne was a freak because he was a massive spinner of the ball and had superb control. I reckon pretty much every Aussie cricket fan between the ages of 12-25 has probably aspired to copy the great man at one stage or another (much as previous generations sought to ape Lillian Thomson), but the very fact that Oz's leg-spin self is currently empty just shows quite how difficult the art is.

 

[sanga1337]

Think the only art that would be harder to master would be to be a good left arm wrist spinner. Can't think of anyone in the history of the game that has actually been a fairly successful Chinaman bowler.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Think the only art that would be harder to master would be to be a good left arm wrist spinner. Can't think of anyone in the history of the game that has actually been a fairly successful Chinaman bowler.

Think Johnny Wardle bowled both SLA & Chinamen, so he's maybe as close as there is.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Yeah I'd say it would be the hardest to master. Reckon it's the most difficult style of bowling to try and land consistently on the pitch, let alone in good areas.

 

[Uppercut]

Landing it on the pitch is the easy part, the hard part is not having every ball become a ****ing googly.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Landing it on the pitch is the easy part, the hard part is not having every ball become a ****ing googly.

Wish I had that problem, every ball I bowl is a topspinner.

 

[Glacier]

I personally resort to bowling ridiculously flighted deliveries when I bowl my brand of wrist spin because I can't spin the bowl at all. They're actually surprisingly useful.

I've got another question actually. Warne used to spin the bowl miles on some pitches. I've not watched too much cricket but I don't remember any leggie spinning it as much as say the Strauss delivery did. Mishra and Kanera have got some success lately but I've never seen that much spin from them, unless they hit an area of rough or something.

 

[Glacier]

Think the only art that would be harder to master would be to be a good left arm wrist spinner. Can't think of anyone in the history of the game that has actually been a fairly successful Chinaman bowler.

Well, less then 10% of people are left handed. And I would imagine most lefties are taught orthodox rather then chinaman.

 

[Uppercut]

I personally resort to bowling ridiculously flighted deliveries when I bowl my brand of wrist spin because I can't spin the bowl at all. They're actually surprisingly useful.

I've got another question actually. Warne used to spin the bowl miles on some pitches. I've not watched too much cricket but I don't remember any leggie spinning it as much as say the Strauss delivery did. Mishra and Kanera have got some success lately but I've never seen that much spin from them, unless they hit an area of rough or something.

That's not a question

Mishra's a pretty big turner of the ball too, but I've never seen anyone turn it anywhere near as much as Warne. He is indeed completely on his own from what I've seen.

 

[Prince EWS]

MacGill turned his big leg break as much if not more than Warne IMO. Obviously he was an inferior bowler for many reasons but he certainly knew how to rip it.

 

[Uppercut]

Forgot about MacGill for some reason. Massive, massive turn there too. His googly turned a great deal too, so there was a seriously big range of where the ball could go between pitching and reaching the batsman. Given that he's one of the best bowlers to tail-enders I've ever seen, Australia probably miss him more than they think with the trouble they've been having dismissing lower orders of late.

 

[andyc]

Yeah, MacGill definitely turned it more than Warne. Your classic legspinner in that he'd just lumber up and simply try to rip the thing as much as he could.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Better Googly too, although Warne barely used his in all fairness.

What made Warne the better bowler was his control; with MacGill the batsmen knew they'd get a four ball eventually.

 

[Glacier]

That's not a question

Mishra's a pretty big turner of the ball too, but I've never seen anyone turn it anywhere near as much as Warne. He is indeed completely on his own from what I've seen.

I've never seen Mishra turn the bowl square like Warne and indeed MacGill used to at times.

It seems to me this kind of exaggerated spin, even on helpful tracks is genuinely rare.

 

[sanga1337]

Well, less then 10% of people are left handed. And I would imagine most lefties are taught orthodox rather then chinaman.

Still, you would've thought there would've been at least one decent Chinaman in 140 years of test cricket. I personally find it incredible that no full time chinaman has ever taken 200 wickets at an average below 30.

 

[Ikki]

MacGill turned it a bit more than Warne but Warne had much better control.

 

[aussie]

A close second to high quality wicket-keeping for me.

 

[Glacier]

A close second to high quality wicket-keeping for me.

I disagree. Most international keepers are competent behind the wicket in my opinion except for the Akmal and Prior. What else are you expecting them to do?

 

[Smudge]

Of course it's the hardest skill in cricket - that's why my leggies are so goddamn brilliant.

Well, not really, otherwise I'd be playing test cricket. It does take ages to get right - perseverance galore, hours upon hours of bowling at the nets and even then, you can get back into it after a couple of months off over the winter and you feel like you're starting all over again. I've never been a huge turner of the ball, but relied more on variation with flight and speed. Ended up with a googly, a wrong'un, a toppie and the very early makings of a flipper - and there's nothing more satisfying than setting a batsman up and taking a wicket with a variation.

The other (major) problem in NZ is that captains don't have a clue how to set fields or adopt tactics for spinners, let along leggies. They're too scared to concede a few runs for the sake of wickets or a young player's development.