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Batting against Legspin

Langeveldt

Soutie
Hi all

Need some advice, im quite strong while batting against fingerspinners, but I seem to have no clue against the leggies... i need to be able to play them even though we dont have loads around....

I tend to go to hard at the ball because they put me under pressure, then the mistakes come by the truckload and i lose all the composure i work so hard on...

I should be better at playing it since i bowl the bloody stuff.. Any key bits of advice???
 

Neil Pickup

Cricket Web Moderator
Basics - concentrate and focus - try picking it out the ground and watch it all the way.

Try and keep light on your feet for late and frequent adjustments if you misread it - you're not a power player - and try working it around you, dabbing and deflecting - a la Thorpey.
 

Tim

Cricketer Of The Year
if you're right handed, you should be looking to keep bat & pad close together..don't try & reach for it or then you'll get into some serious trouble.
 

Tim

Cricketer Of The Year
I would recommend watching it out of the hand though...the better you can become at doing that, the better you'll be able to play most types of spin.
 

Neil Pickup

Cricket Web Moderator
Tim said:
I would recommend watching it out of the hand though...the better you can become at doing that, the better you'll be able to play most types of spin.
I meant to say that, but it came out as "picking it out of the ground" for some reason...
 

Rich2001

International Captain
If your bowling Leggies you can learn alot by watching the batsman trying to play you.

Obviously learning to pick the ball etc you will have to practice and learn, but watching what the batsman do to you will help.
 

age_master

Hall of Fame Member
use your feet and get to the pitch of the ball alot


if the ball is short just rock back and smash it into the gap


i wrote stuff like that in the "i suck" thread in off topic, right near the end


doing some wicket keeping against spin helps your ability to read it out of the hand
 

SpaceMonkey

International Debutant
like age_master said use your feet alot to get to the pitch. I doubt the leggies you play can spin the ball enough to trouble you if you do fail to get to the pitch.
 

V Reddy

International Debutant
Try to play off the backfoot as much as you can. With that you can even cut a length ball. Try to come down the pitch only after you have practised it much or good at it. My advise is try to play on the backfoot unless it is drivable. Also practise the sweep shot. It certainly works for me.
 

Vroomfondel

U19 12th Man
vishnureddy said:
Try to play off the backfoot as much as you can. With that you can even cut a length ball. Try to come down the pitch only after you have practised it much or good at it. My advise is try to play on the backfoot unless it is drivable. Also practise the sweep shot. It certainly works for me.
Excellent advice Vishnu. I'm not the best player of spin and I usually get myself in trouble going down the pitch, especially against spin bowlers that have good variations in pace.

I think there's a lot more to "using one's feet" than just the occasional trot down the pitch. For leggies bowling a leg-middle line, I make sure I don't plant my front foot down too early or too much across the line.

I also like staying back to pull and cut against the spin, sometimes even off a length.

Extending the question a little, any advice on left-arm offies ? It's strange how some batsmen have huge issues playing slow-left-orthodox but can manage leg-spin very well -- I wonder why that is. I haven't faced too many and I'm not sure how to approach them. Should they be treated like a leg-spinner coming from a funny angle? Or is there another way to play them.
 

iamdavid

International Debutant
When I play against them I generally get an initial movement going back & across , you can defend them comfortably & anything not quite up there is fodder for the pull shot.
If you are gonna run down the track at them (which everyone is tempted to do eventually ;) ) , then remember the basics , keeping your head very still & watching the ball all the way.

Ive found that the key is patience , all wrist spinners at the lower levels of the game will bowl plenty of bad balls , its just a matter of waiting for those balls & dispatching them when they arrive.

Another thing .... avoid those spur of the moment decisions to use the sweep shot , I used to get out alot to it , only start using it out in the middle when you've really spent alot of time in the nets getting it figured out , try not to premeditate it either.
 
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AUST_HiTMaN

International Debutant
As one of my previous topic states im not having a good run with the bat, however i agree wholeheartedly with iamdavid's advice. We have a couple of genuinly good leg spinners in our team, and at training, the initial movement back and across is the best way to combat them.

Top advice iamdavid.

Patients is the key... something which i lack of :P
 

tooextracool

International Coach
legspin

watch it out of the hand and play it late so that u can read the turn. when u play forward make sure u get to the pitch of the ball so u can cut down the spin
 

Swervy

International Captain
i am certainly not the greatest player of spin, but i find that if i do try and play off the back foot, I get into alsorts of bother, but this maybe because I am a whacker of the ball as opposed to a touch player. A lot of the trouble I get into is from a flipper type ball, or just one that keeps low..if i play back, i normally see my off peg go, or I am LBW

I find that if I can really push my self early in the innings (alot to do with confidence) or if i have got a few on the board, I will play off the front foot (and hopefully start coming down the pitch, even for defensive shots, which I rarely play if i am going to be perfectly honest) , to negate as much of the spin as possible, and to start controlling the situation more in that I start to dictate the bowlers length, which does throw the half decent club spinners a bit
 

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