Players who bowl with one hand and bat another

[Shounak]

There are numerous players who bowl with one hand and bat with another, is there a reason for this? A very very small proportion of the world's population are ambidextrous, although these players seem to be ubiquitous in international cricket. Just to name a few (although you'll probably think of many more), Sourav Ganguly, Graeme Smith and many players less known for their all round abilities. Both Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden bowl right handed but bat left handed. Can anyone suggest a reason why? And why there are so many of these players?
Shounak

 

[deeps]

michael clarke, irfan pathan are both another pair that do both quiet well

it's quiet common actually, there are 2 ppl on my team that are like that.... both are left arm bowlers,and right arm batsman

Sourav Ganguly is an exception though. He started batting left handed because his brother had left handed equipment and that's all ganguls had access to

 

[SJS]

There are numerous players who bowl with one hand and bat with another, is there a reason for this? A very very small proportion of the world's population are ambidextrous, although these players seem to be ubiquitous in international cricket. Just to name a few (although you'll probably think of many more), Sourav Ganguly, Graeme Smith and many players less known for their all round abilities. Both Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden bowl right handed but bat left handed. Can anyone suggest a reason why? And why there are so many of these players?
Shounak

Its not always a case of being ambidextrous. Those who bowl and throw with their right hand are generally right handers and vice versa. However when it comes to batting it could be different and could actually be an advantage.

Batting, with an orthodox grip and technique, is a top-hand dominated excercise for all except the square of the wicket shots like cuts, pulls and hooks. For all drives, the tophand is used. Its the same in golf. Thus for Ganguly and Lara you have the right hand (top hand) being used to swing the bat and thus providing the momentum. You will sometimes see these players letting go of the bottom hand completely (so loosely does it grip the bat) and the ball stil screams to the boundary.

Of course there are some dominating bottom hand players (Sachin and Bradman are the two best known examples). These players have unorthodox grips and get the power from the bottom hand (right hand for them. Thus the swing of the bat is less free and the length of the lever shorter(since for top hand players the bat swings from the shoulder with the entire arm becoming an extension of the bat). Thus you can 'feel' the power they put into the shots while the top hand players appear to (and actually do) put less power and use the 'length of the lever' to compensate for the same.

 

[marc71178]

michael clarke, irfan pathan are both another pair that do both quiet well

Apart from Clarke's bowling that is.

 

[Western Warrior]

If you watch you'll probably notice that Gilchrist throws with his right hand yet he's obviously a left handed batsman. I've also watched Ian Harvey in the practice nets and he can bowl left and right handed with no visible loss in pace or accuracy.

I've tried batting left handed (I'm right handed) and whilst it initially feels awkward you tend to get used to it quite quickly.

 

[Top_Cat]

I've also watched Ian Harvey in the practice nets and he can bowl left and right handed with no visible loss in pace or accuracy.

Really? Wow, that's awesome. Wonder why he didn't try lefties at international level?

 

[Shounak]

SJS, what you said about the top and bottom hand grip does make a lot of sense. But in terms of bowling. Bowling requires a lot of dexterity in the hands and fingers for all sorts of bowlers. Does that mean players like Michael Clarke or Inzamam Ul Haq, who bat right handed but bowl left arm orthodox are in fact left handers controlling the bat with their top (left) hand?

 

[Joao_Quinto]

I've also watched Ian Harvey in the practice nets and he can bowl left and right handed with no visible loss in pace or accuracy.

I believe that is why the call him 'Freak'.

I have a friend who can bat just fine left handed in the backyard and can get them reasonably straight when bowling left arm but is a natural right hander at both.

 

[a massive zebra]

Curtley Ambrose
Saqlain Mushtaq
James Anderson

 

[Arjun]

michael clarke, irfan pathan are both another pair that do both quiet well

Irfan Pathan bowls and bats left-handed.

 

[Jono]

I've also watched Ian Harvey in the practice nets and he can bowl left and right handed with no visible loss in pace or accuracy.

He should use that. Imagine bowling two balls with his right arm, and then from no where bowling it with his left. You'd think it'd at least put the batsman off.

 

[Langeveldt]

"Left Handed" doesnt really mean left handed, because you use both your hands when playing a cricket shot...

Grant Flower is a pretty good exponant...

 

[deeps]

He should use that. Imagine bowling two balls with his right arm, and then from no where bowling it with his left. You'd think it'd at least put the batsman off.

he'd have to tell the umpire, who in turn would transfer the message to the batsman, thus removing the surprise nature...though it would still b off puttin ghaving to adjust every delivery

 

[Jono]

Yeah I just thought about that after I posted it. I remembered that the umpire has to inform the batsman "Right arm over" or "Left arm over" etc. Still, pretty handy tool

 

[The Baconator]

don't forget ashley giles and richard hadlee of course

 

[Sanz]

Ravi Shastri and Greg Mathews

 

[Langeveldt]

Mark Butcher

 

[Neil Pickup]

Marcus Trescothick, Andy Strauss, Brian Lara

 

[superkingdave]

Me

 

[Dasa]

Shounak Ganguly?