Quote:
Originally Posted by Not Out
I am a left-arm medium-fast bowler and i usually bowl at 1st change. I just wanna know if anyone has any tips for bowling left-arm ( i bowl over the wicket) or any variations i could bowl because all i have is my normal ball and a semi-leg cutter. I have trouble bowling the correct line for a bouncer as well. Any ideas/tips?
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Bowling at first change, you are not too likely to get much swing. Therefore, I'd advise concentrating hard on an off stump line, where the ball is leaving the batsmen but it is too near to leave. This is the line which I have favoured over the past few years and it has brought some success with the old ball. The key with left arm bowling is to not worry about speed, as a relaxed approach, keeping the ball quite full with a probing line can prove much more effective. As the ball starts to get extremely old, I find that a good tactic is to look to get near to the stumps and look to get the ball hitting the top of middle stump with a cross seam grip. With the angle, batsmen are unwilling or unable to work you to the leg side and if you keep the length full enough, they will struggle to pull the ball too.
As for variations, it would be helpful to know which kind of left arm bowler that you are. The majority of left arm bowlers bowl with a lowish arm, like Mitchell Johnson, and therefore would favour an off cutter slower ball as more natural. However, some bowl with an extremely high arm and push the ball with the fingers to get it across the right hander - these bowlers prefer the leg break slower ball. With this, do not worry too much about decieving the batsman with the release, but rather executing it correctly, as the turn and drop will be enough to trouble a batsman, if you land it correctly. Of course, if you bowl with a low arm, this slower ball will be impossible to bowl, but since you say you bowl a semi-leg cutter, you may have the right positioning to pull it off.