English Leg Spin - The Rise, the fall and, perhaps, the recovery

[fredfertang]

English Leg Spin - The Rise, the fall and, perhaps, the recovery

Once upon a time, many years ago, leg spinners were an integral part of English cricket. In this feature we examine what went wrong, when and why.

 

[zaremba]

Terrific piece, fred. Loved the reference to Andy Clarke - now there's a name from the past.

 

[aussie]

Lovely read. 100% on point historical review of the regression of English leg-spin.

 

[weldone]

Good read.

 

[stumpski]

A name which I often recall when thinking of English leg-spinners is Warwick Tidy, the splendidly named Warwickshire bowler who took a few good wickets in 1970, aged just 17, and seemed to have a bright future ahead of him. But whether he got the yips, was messed about by coaches, or just lost confidence, it all fell apart after that. It didn't help that he wasn't much of a batsman, or that the county signed Lance Gibbs for 1971. In 1974 his three wickets for the second eleven cost over 100 apiece, and that was his lot. I wonder what became of him.

 

[zaremba]

A name which I often recall when thinking of English leg-spinners is Warwick Tidy, the splendidly named Warwickshire bowler who took a few good wickets in 1970, aged just 17, and seemed to have a bright future ahead of him. But whether he got the yips, was messed about by coaches, or just lost confidence, it all fell apart after that. It didn't help that he wasn't much of a batsman, or that the county signed Lance Gibbs for 1971. In 1974 his three wickets for the second eleven cost over 100 apiece, and that was his lot. I wonder what became of him.

There can't be many Warwick Tidy's in the country and if he's the only one, this must be him - advising people on mortgages. Warwick Tidy Independent Mortgage Services

 

[stumpski]

He's been in the business for 'over 30 years' which would tie in with his release from Warwickshire I suppose.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Typically excellent article. I genuinely had no idea the googly was bowled before Bosenquet; the legend I'd heard was he devised it whilst playing a ball game called twisty-twosty or somesuch.

Only noteable post-war leggie not to get a mention was dear old Kenny Barrington. Hardly a specialist and I must confess to never having seen him bowl a ball but his FC figures of 250+ wickets at a tick over 32.5 suggest a useful part-timer.

 

[fredfertang]

Candidates for the first bloke to have actually bowled a googly are a bunch of 1880's Australians Tom Horan, Joey Palmer and Jim Phillips - there's no doubt that Bosanquet perfected it playing "twisti twosti", which is what made him think about it - the Aussies probably didn't twig that the ball going the other way was because they turned their wrists round further - I expect they thought the ball had hit a stone instead

Anyway as virtually all the early cricket historians were English its hardly surprising that we've taken the credit for inventing it

 

[zaremba]

Anyway as virtually all the early cricket historians were English its hardly surprising that we've taken the credit for inventing it

Except that Bosanquet sounds about as English as Benaud sounds Australian. These damn cunning googly-purveying Frogs.

 

[aussie]

He's been in the business for 'over 30 years' which would tie in with his release from Warwickshire I suppose.

Ha interesting that.

 

[Top_Cat]

Except that Bosanquet sounds about as English as Benaud sounds Australian. These damn cunning googly-purveying Frogs.

TBH, that's actually very interesting. Have always whether people good at petanque would be good leggies. The way you slightly adjust grip and release to shoot, for example, feels similar to bowling a flipper.

 

[zaremba]

He's been in the business for 'over 30 years' which would tie in with his release from Warwickshire I suppose.

It is him, ftr. I emailed him and got a really lovely reply. He's still a massive cricket nut, about leg spin in particular. I've encouraged him to drop by CW and we'll see if he does.

 

[BoyBrumby]

TBH, that's actually very interesting. Have always whether people good at petanque would be good leggies. The way you slightly adjust grip and release to shoot, for example, feels similar to bowling a flipper.

Lol.

Mind you, if there is some atavisitc trait amongst those with French ancestry that gives a propensity for legspin I'm asking for my money back from the genetic lottery. Was traumatic enough finding I was from Norman rather than Saxon stock, but the fact I can't land my leg cutter on the cut strip is a blow too far.

 

[fredfertang]

It is him, ftr. I emailed him and got a really lovely reply. He's still a massive cricket nut, about leg spin in particular. I've encouraged him to drop by CW and we'll see if he does.

I'll have to think of some sort of grovelling apology for not mentioning him now you've done that

btw if you've nothing better to do and want to add to my discomfiture you could try and track down Alan Castell, Nasir Zaidi or Andrew Roberts - Kim Barnett doesn't count though

 

[aussie]

It is him, ftr. I emailed him and got a really lovely reply. He's still a massive cricket nut, about leg spin in particular. I've encouraged him to drop by CW and we'll see if he does.

Now that would be lovely if he did drop by here for sure.

 

[Top_Cat]

Oh hell, I'll say it; Twisty-Twosti sounds like a dressing room game I'd rather not be involved in.

 

[chris.hinton]

I dont like the way the ECB and England Management have treated Adil Rashid, The kid has talent and needs confidence.

As for leg spin in England, its better then it was 12-15 years ago, so thats is a plus

 

[zaremba]

Not sure I agree, Chris. I think they are being very very careful with Rashid and trying desperately to avoid bringing him in too early a la Chris Schofield. I expect (well, I feverishly hope) that the decision not to include him in a squad was thoroughly discussed with him, or at least thoroughly explained to him, and that it was made clear to him that they have confidence in him and regard him as having a massive future. However sometimes these things do get royally ****ed up.

 

[aussie]

Yea. Saw far more potential in Salisbury than i see in Rashid today & well we all know how useless he turned out to be in tests.