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Adam Gilchrist

tooextracool

International Coach
This has been bothering me for quite a while now. Why do bowlers constantly bowl over the wicket to Adam Gilchrist in ODIs, despite the blatantly obvious fact that he likes width? After Flintoff worked Gilchrist out in the Ashes using that ploy, its been painfully obvious that you need to bowl around the wicket to him, yet its like this fact is lost upon bowlers around the world. Today's game between NZ and Australia is a case in point: Kyle Mills had to be hammered for 3 6's before going going around bowling a dot ball and going back over. Meanwhile Chris Martin dismissed Gilchrist twice in less than 2 overs by going around the wicket (by which time Gilchrist already had 50). In fact, i find it hard to understand why any right hand seamer would bowl over the wicket to any left hand batsman in ODI cricket given that almost all left handers strongly favor the ball thats angled away from them.
 

Burgey

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Can't speak for left handers in general, but th eball coming in does cause Gilly problems at times.

When he's in form though, frankly nothing does.
 

tooextracool

International Coach
The only obvious reason for bowling over the wicket to left handers is to bring lbw into the equation by getting the inswinger going. However, given that the ball rarely swings in ODIs such a ploy to me sounds like its made for disaster because anything that is a fraction too wide will be cut or driven with ease and anything thats too straight will be played onto the leg side with ease. The margin for error for any bowler bowling over the wicket to a left hander is far smaller than bowling around the wicket IMO.
 

Craig

World Traveller
Good to see your back TEC, how have you been?

I don't know the answer, maybe they are idiots?
 

tooextracool

International Coach
Hey Craig, I am doing well, its good to see that I am still remembered around these parts. How about you?

I do find it incredibly odd that so many bowlers still persist in bowling over the wicket to Gilchrist despite having limited success. The only reason i can conjure is that bowlers routinely dislike having to switch from over to around when bowling to different batsmen, but IMO it cant be much worse than having to adjust your line when bowling to right and left hand combinations.
 

Laurrz

International Debutant
tbh, i think it is a bit of a myth that he doesnt like it around the wicket

only Flintoff ive seen has really troubled him.. and Flintoff is a high class quick..who bowls over 140k with steepling bounce.. he would trouble many LHB bowling round the wicket wouldnt he? especially if he gets reverse swing going

ive seen bowlers getting some movement over the wicket and getting slaughtered by Gilly..then they go around the wicket and get smashed more.. and i wonder if they had stayed over the wicket whether they would ahve a better chance of getting a wicket..because it is slightly defensive the around the wicket move
 

Craig

World Traveller
Hey Craig, I am doing well, its good to see that I am still remembered around these parts. How about you?

I do find it incredibly odd that so many bowlers still persist in bowling over the wicket to Gilchrist despite having limited success. The only reason i can conjure is that bowlers routinely dislike having to switch from over to around when bowling to different batsmen, but IMO it cant be much worse than having to adjust your line when bowling to right and left hand combinations.
Pretty good. Went around Europe for 10 weeks earlier this year and I've seen how dire Pickup is with the bat first hand. Even though I'm crap he still couldn't score down the legside when I bowled to him :laugh:
 

tooextracool

International Coach
Nel and Kallis caused him problems from around the wicket during their last encounter. I think for the large part, anyone capable of bowling that in between length from around the wicket with a bit of pace has caused him problems. Chris Martin today produced the perfect delivery to dismiss him, albeit on a no-ball and then dismissed him an over later. I dont deny that he will have days when it wont matter where you bowl to him from, but i think his consistency is seriously lowered when bowlers have consistently bowled the right lines and lengths to him from around the wicket
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Yeah, around > over almost invariably, at Gilchrist and most left-handers.

I myself usually bowl over-the-wicket to lefthanders (on the relatively rare occasion we actually encounter one) but only with the new-ball and when I can bowl my inswinger. The moment it stops swinging I'll always go around-the-wicket and bowl leg-cutters (what would be off-cutters to the right-hander). Unless you are a good inswing bowler, around-the-wicket is always the best ploy AFAIC.

Has always baffled me that more people haven't used the around-the-wicket ploy to Gilchrist, more than most left-handers. It's not even as if it's a new thing that he has problems with it - Darren Gough was bowling around-the-wicket and having great success (along with the left-arm-over of Alan Mullally) back in 1998\99, and Gough never bowled round-the-wicket at anyone else.

I mean, sure, going around-the-wicket in itself isn't a solution - you can't just say "bowl around the wicket and you'll get him out" - because you still need the accuracy to back it up. And obviously the nature of Gilchrist is that he'll still have his good days even if you do bowl around ATT.

But as tec says - it's just inexplicable that virtually everyone hasn't tried it.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
only Flintoff ive seen has really troubled him.. and Flintoff is a high class quick..who bowls over 140k with steepling bounce.. he would trouble many LHB bowling round the wicket wouldnt he? especially if he gets reverse swing going
Flintoff has certainly troubled far more than one left-hander with his around-the-wicket ploy, as did Craig White a few years ago. If you can move the ball away from the left-hander - which both of them can and do - it's pretty well exactly the same as bowling over-the-wicket at a right-hander and bowling outswingers.

But as said - Flintoff is far from the only bowler to have success, against Gilchrist and other left-handers, with the tactic.
 

TT Boy

Hall of Fame Member
tbh, i think it is a bit of a myth that he doesnt like it around the wicket

only Flintoff ive seen has really troubled him.. and Flintoff is a high class quick..who bowls over 140k with steepling bounce.. he would trouble many LHB bowling round the wicket wouldnt he? especially if he gets reverse swing going

ive seen bowlers getting some movement over the wicket and getting slaughtered by Gilly..then they go around the wicket and get smashed more.. and i wonder if they had stayed over the wicket whether they would ahve a better chance of getting a wicket..because it is slightly defensive the around the wicket move
As TEC said, South Africa employed similarly tactics against Gilchrist circa 2005 and aside from one innings at Sydney when Andre Nel lost the plot, Gilchrist hardly scored a run in the six tests he played that summer. Even Ntini got him first baller going from around the wicket and his traditionally useless from that angle.
 

Son Of Coco

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
This has been bothering me for quite a while now. Why do bowlers constantly bowl over the wicket to Adam Gilchrist in ODIs, despite the blatantly obvious fact that he likes width? After Flintoff worked Gilchrist out in the Ashes using that ploy, its been painfully obvious that you need to bowl around the wicket to him, yet its like this fact is lost upon bowlers around the world. Today's game between NZ and Australia is a case in point: Kyle Mills had to be hammered for 3 6's before going going around bowling a dot ball and going back over. Meanwhile Chris Martin dismissed Gilchrist twice in less than 2 overs by going around the wicket (by which time Gilchrist already had 50). In fact, i find it hard to understand why any right hand seamer would bowl over the wicket to any left hand batsman in ODI cricket given that almost all left handers strongly favor the ball thats angled away from them.
I think part of the problem might be that Gilchrist also likes anything angled into him that isn't a very good delivery. Martin bowled an excellent ball to dismiss him off the no ball, and then Gilchrist threw his wicket away when he eventually got out. It's also possible that some bowlers aren't comfortable coming around the wicket.
 

bond21

Banned
only reason to go around the wicket to a left hander is to angle it in and swing it away.

If you go around the wicket and dont swing it, you negate your natural advantage of the angle across him, so you're unlikely to get an edge.

Flintoff goes around the wicket and swings it away from gilchrist, getting the edge.
 

bond21

Banned
no its not, a right handed bowler has to push the ball more than bowling outswingers to a right hander.

A right hander going around the wicket and bowling inswing will swing it less than going over the wicket, opposite with an outswinger.

If a right arm bowler goes around the wicket to a left hander and bowls inswingers(outswingers to a right hander) it will swing a lot more than if he went over the wicket, because he would have to push it more to the offside which reduces the swing.
 

Top_Cat

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It's worked fairly well against him, true (especially if you're an English fast bowler) but there have also been a bunch of times it hasn't worked and he's mercilessly used the angle coming back into him. It seems to depend on the team/bowler too; Chaminda Vaas, prima facie, would be a bowler you'd ordinarily expect to trouble him but Gilchrist generally belts the daylights out of SL. So I guess the trick is, unless you're Freddie Flintoff, to use the tactic only often enough so that he doesn't get used to it. :D
 

Salamuddin

International Debutant
I agree - I've said this before that Gilchrist has a lot of limitations as a player and if you can hit the right length coming around the wicket to him, he will fail more often than not.

I'd be suprised if Zaheer doesn't go around the wicket to Gilchrist this summer,....especially since he showed he can swing the ball away from the leftie in England from around the wicket.
 
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Migara

Cricketer Of The Year
It's worked fairly well against him, true (especially if you're an English fast bowler) but there have also been a bunch of times it hasn't worked and he's mercilessly used the angle coming back into him. It seems to depend on the team/bowler too; Chaminda Vaas, prima facie, would be a bowler you'd ordinarily expect to trouble him but Gilchrist generally belts the daylights out of SL. So I guess the trick is, unless you're Freddie Flintoff, to use the tactic only often enough so that he doesn't get used to it. :D
You need some pace behind the ball as well. Vaas' pededstrain pace is not the answer. We can see the results very well if a bowler like Shane Bond decides to use it. I am waiting to see Dale Steyn vs Gilchrist battle. Akthar has done it in the past and got Gilchrist with searing yorkers round the wicket.
 

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