Wrist spin - Is it the hardest skill in cricket?

[LegionOfBrad]

A quick search on Statsguru reveals that only 14 spinners in the history of the game have taken more than 200 Test wickets.

Of those 14, only 10 of them have managed to do it with an average of under 30 (Harbhajan, Qadir, Vettori and Kaneria all have 30+ averages.)

3 of the 10 spinners who have taken 200+ Test wickets at a sub-30 average are offies (Gibbs, Bedi and Saqlain).

Underwood took more than 200 @ <30. Not a leggie but he would be in your list as spinners taking over 200.

 

[Furball]

Underwood took more than 200 @ <30. Not a leggie but he would be in your list as spinners taking over 200.

Fair enough, cricinfo has him as a medium pacer and a spinner, so presumably that's why he wasn't in my statsguru search.

 

[Migara]

I'd dispute whether MacGill could turn the ball further than Warne was turning his leg break circa 93

Believe me, Qadir and Murali at their pomp would have easily achieved that turn and bit more, and all of them off the pitch, nothing off the rough.

 

[Ikki]

I'd dispute whether MacGill could turn the ball further than Warne was turning his leg break circa 93

I would agree with that. Even after all his injuries and surgeries Warne could still rip it like old, but not consistently enough. Which, frankly, was not needed as he still turned it massively regardless.

 

[Migara]

Laker wasn't a wrist spinner though.

There is doubt whther he was a "clean" finger spinner or not. Like Erapali Prasanna must have used the wrist as well. Otherwise impossible to rip the ball as what is described in cricket history (assuming that these reports are unbiased)

 

[stumpski]

Well of course the terms 'finger spinner' and 'wrist spinner' are misleading, the distinction being the direction in which the wrist is turned at the point of delivery, although the leg-break and googly bowler requires more wrist movement than the off-spinner and orthodox left-armer. Although personally I reckon that Murali could perform effectively with the fingers on his bowling hand taped together.

 

[SJS]

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.

Warne did not bowl his googly much for two reasons he learnt to bowl it late and when he did he wasn't very good at it and it was quite easy to discern.

 

[Uppercut]

Warne's googly was about as subtle as his chat-up technique.

 

[kp4captain]

As a bowler, I bowl mostly medium fast with a good degree of out swing and seam. When I bowl spin as a bit of a gimmick, it naturally turns legspin, but I wouldn't say it is wrist spin. I struggle with anything going back into the right-hander, be it inswing, seam back or offspin

 

[Ikki]

Warne did not bowl his googly much for two reasons he learnt to bowl it late and when he did he wasn't very good at it and it was quite easy to discern.

Might have had something to do with his broken/crooked ring-finger.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Hmm, Warne had a wrong'un for a long time, but just knew that it was never that good.

 

[Migara]

Warne's action does not allow a googly IMO. If you observe Qadir, Mushtaq and Kaneria all are loose limbed with flexible wrists. But Warne is a stocky, muscular guy with very strong, but not so flexible wrists. The net effect is you could bowl a big quick leg break, but because you can't turn over the wrist when it is not loose. googly won't spin much. The description matches my style of bowling as well, and I also struggle to turn the wrist 150 degrees. What i can do is about 110 deg, and googlies tend to go straight.

 

[popepouri]

Watched Shane show his deliveries. His wrong'un can spin a bit actually.

YouTube - Shane Warne

 

[vic_orthdox]

Watched Shane show his deliveries. His wrong'un can spin a bit actually.

YouTube - Shane Warne

He could bowl it, it just was telegraphed, he had to drop his front shoulder a lot. Not many guys who bowl as round arm as Warne bowl a wrong'un subtley; MacGill's was made to look a lot better than it was because he mainly bowled it to tail-enders.

 

[Burgey]

Warne's googly was about as subtle as his chat-up technique.

Though not quite as effective.

 

[Burgey]

There is doubt whther he was a "clean" finger spinner or not. Like Erapali Prasanna must have used the wrist as well. Otherwise impossible to rip the ball as what is described in cricket history (assuming that these reports are unbiased)

Can't someone ask those who played with or agin 'im? FFS we're not asking for a description of a bloke who last played in 1880.

 

[LegionOfBrad]

Although personally I reckon that Murali could perform effectively with the fingers on his bowling hand taped together.

He can bowl massive turning leggies as well.

Sri Lanka Cricket - Murali bowls leg spin

 

[vic_orthdox]

Never heard doubts cast over Laker before; Lock's had a few aspersions thrown his way regarding the quicker ball.

 

[Craig]

Biggest gripe that I have is that guys who spin the ball are discouraged for the sake of accuracy too often. Its a lot easier to teach accuracy than how to rip the ball past the bat. Setting the right fields can give the protection required, plus still attack.

Has that happened with you?

 

[vic_orthdox]

Has that happened with you?

Nah, I was never a big spinner of the ball myself growing up, typical pace bowler learning how to bowl spin.

Coached two spinners last year in state championships, one took 8 wickets for the carnival and probably never went for more than 30 runs off his 10 overs, the other one took something like 12 but went for a few more, but never more than 40. He's bowling off-spin and ripping the ball big time, but bowls a "bad ball" more than the other guy. We had to pass on a recommendation for development squads, and they ignored it and still took the one who was economical.