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leg break but goes straight

Jammy Dodgers

Cricket Spectator
I am a legspin bowler and tried to bowl a leggie that goes on with the arm.
This is possible as shane warne has this weapon in his locker but I'm not sure how he does it. I tried varyin the amount of revs on the ball and angle of the wrist but doesn't really work. I also thought about spinning the ball but on different axis on the ball so it won't turn as much when pitching. Does anyone have any suggestions?
 

Neil Pickup

Cricket Web Moderator
The top spinner should be bowled by turning the wrist so that, on release, it's spinning towards the batsman. This is different to the stock leg break, which spins towards slip/point on the right hander's off side.

You do this by having the back of your hand pointed towards the off side, as opposed to directly back towards you (as the leg break).
 

Jammy Dodgers

Cricket Spectator
no its not a top spinner its a legbreak but just goes straight on. Warne spins the ball like a leg break the seam at about 45 degrees but as it pitches it carrys on with the arm doesn't turn at all. I read this in his autobiography that its one of his weapons n I've seen some footage of the ball but can't figure out how to do it the revs look the same as his stock leg breaks but just goes straight on
 

Goughy

Hall of Fame Member
Warne does bowl a heavily spun leg break that goes straight on, though he often had no idea himself of what the ball would do.

The ball was spun with a scrambled seam. If it hit the shiny side of the ball it went straight on, if it hit the seam it turned a mile.

Very difficult to play as the ball acted completely different when there was as little as a mm in difference how it landed.
 

Manee

Cricketer Of The Year
Furthermore, the leg break just sometimes doesn't spin. I am convinced that the Ian Bell delivery was just a normal leg break which happened to float through the air and hit the shiny side just 'ahead' of the seam. Personally, I don't think that you should worry about a ball such as this though, I feel that a conventional top spinner or merely one in which you roll your hand over the seam (something which I have developed in the nets when I bowl my leggies and I am sure it is merely a variation of the top spinner) would be far more easier to perfect. Assuming that you play anything below County level, the batsmen will not be able pick your variations unless there is a change in the gather.
 

vic_orthdox

Global Moderator
Scrambled seam, or making sure that the ball comes out only with sidespin and no overspin at all. On most pitches, unless they are soft, this will mean that the ball will not grip when it hits the pitch, generally it will skid straight on. The key to disguising this is trying to keep the same trajectory as your stock leg spinner - often the batsmen find it easier to pick because it comes out flatter and quicker.
 

bond21

Banned
No, Warney's best weapon was natural variation in the pitch.

He said its better than all the flippers and wrong uns in the world, because if you dont know what the ball will do, how can the batsman?

Natural variation in the pitch is when the ball could spin a lot more than usual or not spin at all.

I am certain this is what hes talking about, because if you bowl a leg spinner theres no way it will go straight on if done properly.

I recall him saying when he bowled really good deliveries, he said the guys came up to him after the wicket and said "oh warnie was that the wrong un or flipper" and he just went along and said "yea it was a flipper" but it was actually a leg spinner that didnt spin.

Im 100% positive, I saw him interviewed and thats exactly what he said.
 

Migara

Cricketer Of The Year
The top spinner should be bowled by turning the wrist so that, on release, it's spinning towards the batsman. This is different to the stock leg break, which spins towards slip/point on the right hander's off side.

You do this by having the back of your hand pointed towards the off side, as opposed to directly back towards you (as the leg break).
This is not a straight ball strictly speaking. This will turn a bit but will leap off the wicket.

What you are asking for the ball that slides in without gripping the surface.

One method is actually not to spin it. just roll it out of the hand with normal leg spin action. It will turn slightly if it hits the seam, but will hury through if it hits the shine. This should not be flighted. bowl as flat as you can, the realsese eill automatically throw it in to high orbit with ample flight. If you try to flight it, it will result in a"donkey-drop"

Other way is to release it in front of the hand. This will have a beautiful flight and will drop on the batsman very rapidly than the orthadox leg break. If bowled well, this also will slide on to the batsman with pace.

Third method is to turn the wrise forward, and complete the rest of the action as a seamer. when the seam is up, this will swing back through right handers gate before they bring down tha bat. Usually I get around 70mph with this ball, about 55-60mph with above two. The normal leg brak is around 45-50mph.
 

James90

Cricketer Of The Year
This is not a straight ball strictly speaking. This will turn a bit but will leap off the wicket.

What you are asking for the ball that slides in without gripping the surface.

One method is actually not to spin it. just roll it out of the hand with normal leg spin action. It will turn slightly if it hits the seam, but will hury through if it hits the shine. This should not be flighted. bowl as flat as you can, the realsese eill automatically throw it in to high orbit with ample flight. If you try to flight it, it will result in a"donkey-drop"

Other way is to release it in front of the hand. This will have a beautiful flight and will drop on the batsman very rapidly than the orthadox leg break. If bowled well, this also will slide on to the batsman with pace.

Third method is to turn the wrise forward, and complete the rest of the action as a seamer. when the seam is up, this will swing back through right handers gate before they bring down tha bat. Usually I get around 70mph with this ball, about 55-60mph with above two. The normal leg brak is around 45-50mph.
How the hell do you manage that and disguise it as a leg break? Can only fathom it with a round-arm action.
 

Jammy Dodgers

Cricket Spectator
lol another query if anyone knows the anwser. I've been taught to hold the shiny side of the ball and the rough side of the ball away from the hand to gain curve/drift my tutor said the seam is around about 45 its like swing bowling the rough slows through the air while the shiny side is faster. But I watch a programme and it said to hold the shiny side away from the hand to achieve max curve/drift. I have been gettin drift/curve though by holding the rough side away... whos right lol ?
 

bond21

Banned
the rough side drags the ball because its slower through the air.

So whichever way the rough side is, thats the way it will swing. ie if the rough side is on the left, it will be an outswinger, if its on the right, an inswinger.

A lot of people think it swings to the shiny side, I used to when I was young, but it makes no sense theoretically.

Reverse swing is the only way it will swing to the shiny side, but its rare to get the ball in good reverse swing conditions at club level because noone shines the bloody thing.

Reverse swing is in layman's terms, when the shiny side acts like the rough side usually does, so it will swing to the shiny side. Some people think its the moisture on the shiny side to make it slightly heavier, i duno but it doesnt really matter the theory of it.

Only time a ball has reverse swing for me was a ball I use in the nets, it has never done it in a match because after 30 overs the ball is not shiny at all, because the bloody batsman dont shine it.
 

vic_orthdox

Global Moderator
I am certain this is what hes talking about, because if you bowl a leg spinner theres no way it will go straight on if done properly.
But if you bowl a leg spinner with pretty much all sidespin, then on most surfaces it will not grip, because at the pace that the ball is being bowled, the seam won't catch with the surface and it will skid straight on. It takes a very giving surface for the ball to really rip.
 

bond21

Banned
yea i duno im not a spin bowler.

But if your stock leg break doesnt spin most of the time, youre not doing it right.
 

Nate

You'll Never Walk Alone
My two variations that go straight on are my top-spinner and then a ball with 100% side spin which doesn't grip, but keeps the same trajectory. It's very important to keep the same action and flight with your stock leggie and the straighter one, or else it will be way too easy to pick. :)
 

paddy11

Cricket Spectator
try just pushing the ball out of the front of your hand without using the wrist. I haven't seen your action so I don't know if its practical for you but give it a try .
 

Cameron-Moss

U19 12th Man
Are you talking about the slider, or the flipper? They're the only two I can think off. It can't be a top spinner, because the top spinner produces a little amount of legspin.
 

someblokedave

School Boy/Girl Cricketer
It sounds to me that if you're just looking to put in a straight ball but disguised as a Leg Break that's as easy as just not using your 3rd finger on the seam so that it spins and maybe be straighten your wrist earlier in the delivery so that the flick doesn't happen as well? But to be honest at club level you'd more than likely get away with bowling seam up. Other people have suggested bowling faster, that'll always descrease the amount of turn you'll get off the wicket. Another idea is to have the ball not so cupped in the hand and more higher up in the fingers. But as straight balls go you need to be thinking in the longer term of learning the Top Spinner and that's been described sufficiently elsewhere. Other than that look at the videos on-line at youtube - the Terry Jenner video and the Shane Warne one with Mark Wosshisface. (Sorry the blokes name escapes me for the minute).
 

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