Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
Chris Harris, a spinner?
For me, there are three types of spinner:
Fingerspinner, orthodox-wristspinner, unorthodox-wristspinner.
Fingerspinners are bowlers who spin the ball with their fingers (whether right-arm or left-arm) and hence it is physically impossible for them to get significant turn to trouble batsmen except on extravagant pitches typical to the subcontinent and West Indies only.
You get fingerspinners like Harbhajan and Saqlain who bowl the old "doosra" which turns the other way, but it still turns no more than an off-break, so these types of bowlers aren't especially good either. (Please note: almost all fingerspinners can bowl an arm-ball; this is different to the "doosra")
Orthodox-wristspinners are the like of MacGill, Warne, Salisbury, Hogg, Mishra, Abdul Qadir and Benaud. The bowlers whose stock-ball is the leg-break-to-like-hander (ie to a right-armer bowling at a right-hander or a left-armer bowling at a left-hander). These types of bowler usually have variations googly and flipper (an off-break-to-like-hander and one that spits up without turning) but not always.
Unorthodox-wristspinners are any other bowler who spins the ball with his wrists but whose stock-ball is not the leg-break-to-like-hander. These have really only started to emerge in the last decade. Some examples: Muralitharan, Adams, Kumble.
Wristspinners, both orthodox and unorthodox, have the distinct advantage over fingerspinners that they will usually turn the ball on all surfaces. Kumble is again an exception.
Since the days of uncovered wickets, fingerspinners have become bowlers who are of no use in England. Some people, however, still live in the past. And still, no Test-class wristspinners are emerging.
Still, before Warne and Murali the last one was Benaud, so maybe we shouldn't be too depressed.
For me, there are three types of spinner:
Fingerspinner, orthodox-wristspinner, unorthodox-wristspinner.
Fingerspinners are bowlers who spin the ball with their fingers (whether right-arm or left-arm) and hence it is physically impossible for them to get significant turn to trouble batsmen except on extravagant pitches typical to the subcontinent and West Indies only.
You get fingerspinners like Harbhajan and Saqlain who bowl the old "doosra" which turns the other way, but it still turns no more than an off-break, so these types of bowlers aren't especially good either. (Please note: almost all fingerspinners can bowl an arm-ball; this is different to the "doosra")
Orthodox-wristspinners are the like of MacGill, Warne, Salisbury, Hogg, Mishra, Abdul Qadir and Benaud. The bowlers whose stock-ball is the leg-break-to-like-hander (ie to a right-armer bowling at a right-hander or a left-armer bowling at a left-hander). These types of bowler usually have variations googly and flipper (an off-break-to-like-hander and one that spits up without turning) but not always.
Unorthodox-wristspinners are any other bowler who spins the ball with his wrists but whose stock-ball is not the leg-break-to-like-hander. These have really only started to emerge in the last decade. Some examples: Muralitharan, Adams, Kumble.
Wristspinners, both orthodox and unorthodox, have the distinct advantage over fingerspinners that they will usually turn the ball on all surfaces. Kumble is again an exception.
Since the days of uncovered wickets, fingerspinners have become bowlers who are of no use in England. Some people, however, still live in the past. And still, no Test-class wristspinners are emerging.
Still, before Warne and Murali the last one was Benaud, so maybe we shouldn't be too depressed.