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India Thread

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
Well, yes, but evidence suggests that said catches are going to come pretty irregularly.
Which evidence would that be?

If a batsman does not get the pitch of the ball - which is commonly caused by the flight of a spinner - he is likely to produce a false shot. This false shot could quite possibly find it's way to the hands of a fielder.

Good flight bowling gives you more chance of taking wickets, whether you turn the ball or not. Obviously turn is desirable, but to say that you can't get wickets with flight alone isn't correct IMO.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
The fact that false-shot-into-hands-of-fielder-due-to-being-deceived-in-flight is incredibly rare is what I was thinking of.
 

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
The fact that false-shot-into-hands-of-fielder-due-to-being-deceived-in-flight is incredibly rare is what I was thinking of.
And where is the said evidence of such? I'd like to see it really as I wouldn't think it to be that rare, other than the fact that many bowlers simply don't attempt to do it.
 

Goughy

Hall of Fame Member
Wilf Rhodes did play in a day when turning pitches were just a tad more commonplace, though.

Sure, loop and drift are essentials of spin-bowling but without turn neither is going to be a wicket-taking weapon in itself.
You picked on the least important part of the post. What I consider the meat is above the bit you mention. The addition of Rhodes was just to add some colour to what was effectively a description of basic spin bowling skills.

And yes, loop and drift can get wickets with no turn. Especially caught cover, mid wick etc when the batsman misjudges the pitch of the ball.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
And where is the said evidence of such? I'd like to see it really as I wouldn't think it to be that rare, other than the fact that many bowlers simply don't attempt to do it.
Well if it was such a good idea you'd imagine more people'd attempt it, I'd say.

So, then - how often do you see these spinners who get a bucketload of wickets because batsmen play false strokes and get caught in the infield?

'Cos I only see it very, very rarely.
 

C_C

International Captain
Really? Where's that, then?
You obviously have never seen Bedi bowl.
And your idea on what happens when you pack the side with economical bowlers at the expense of wicket-taking expensive ones is misplaced and if you can't see this simple line of logic, you perhaps need to re-evaluate your understanding of cricket.
It is quite easy to see that if the batsmen know they are facing containing line and length from bowlers rather than aggressive ones, they can bide their time and then go nuts after having wickets on hand. E/R is not the end-all-be-all in ODIs. 22 ave. and 4.2 econ vs a 25 ave and 4.0 econ are very much even stevens IMO.
 
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Swervy

International Captain
You picked on the least important part of the post. What I consider the meat is above the bit you mention. The addition of Rhodes was just to add some colour to what was effectively a description of basic spin bowling skills.

And yes, loop and drift can get wickets with no turn. Especially caught cover, mid wick etc when the batsman misjudges the pitch of the ball.
yes, and it is also harder to judge the speed of the ball the higher the ball is when coming towards you. Once above eye level it becomes almost impossible to judge for a split second, but enough time in a batsmens brain to create doubt

(The analogy is is standing on a road and judging the speed on an oncoming car is harder to do if you are at road level as opposed to standing on a bridge above the road)
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
You obviously have never seen Bedi bowl.
A bit. Not a massive amount, but a bit.

And if he was so good at getting wickets without turn, why is it that his record in India is so massively superior to everywhere else?
And your idea on what happens when you pack the side with economical bowlers at the expense of wicket-taking expensive ones is misplaced and if you can't see this simple line of logic, you perhaps need to re-evaluate your understanding of cricket.
It is quite easy to see that if the batsmen know they are facing containing line and length from bowlers rather than aggressive ones, they can bide their time and then go nuts after having wickets on hand.
Not if the bowling doesn't allow them to. That's the whole point. Good bowling-attacks can bowl line-and-length for 40 overs (and if the batsmen don't go for it and gift wickets away that'll probably mean a score of 140-150 off 40 overs) then revert to Yorkers, which doesn't allow the going-hell-for-leather, no matter how many wickets are in hand. And, obviously, by then there's no choice, you've got to try, and sooner or later if you try hitting Yorkers you're going to get bowled.
E/R is not the end-all-be-all in ODIs.
Prey, where did I say it was the be-all-and-end-all? Obviously bowling wicket-taking deliveries is helpful, especially in the early overs, but it's still very much a 2nd to a good economy-rate.
22 ave. and 4.2 econ vs a 25 ave and 4.0 econ are very much even stevens IMO.
Err, obviously, because both are excellent in both terms.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
yes, and it is also harder to judge the speed of the ball the higher the ball is when coming towards you. Once above eye level it becomes almost impossible to judge for a split second, but enough time in a batsmens brain to create doubt
But you see said doubt all the time and mostly it just results in a slightly false stroke - not a lob to the infield.
 

C_C

International Captain
And if he was so good at getting wickets without turn, why is it that his record in India is so massively superior to everywhere else?

Because nomatter how good a spinner you are, if you got a grassy pitch and Hansie Cronje as your opening bowler, you will end up getting hit for 50 runs before the ball does anything at all.
But Bedi was by far, the best bowler to've come across who didnt rely on turning the ball - along with Kumble and Grimmett.

Not if the bowling doesn't allow them to. That's the whole point. Good bowling-attacks can bowl line-and-length for 40 overs (and if the batsmen don't go for it and gift wickets away that'll probably mean a score of 140-150 off 40 overs) then revert to Yorkers, which doesn't allow the going-hell-for-leather, no matter how many wickets are in hand. And, obviously, by then there's no choice, you've got to try, and sooner or later if you try hitting Yorkers you're going to get bowled.
Your operative word is 'good bowling attacks', that are composed of containing as well as expensive-but-wicket-taking bowlers.
If Pollock didn't have Ntini/Nel/Hall/Kallis etc. around him in ODIs, all of whom bleed runs more often than not, then Pollock too would get smashed. And incase you didn't know, Yorkers are the toughest delivery for a fast bowler to bowl well consistently. Even a metronome like McGrath, if he resorted to bowling more yorkers, will get 1 outta 3 intended yorkers smashed to the boundary rope.
Waqar was the best bowler of yorkers in the last 20 years and one of the main reason he got smashed around as well as took wickets by the boatloads is because of his propensity to bowl yorkers.

Prey, where did I say it was the be-all-and-end-all? Obviously bowling wicket-taking deliveries is helpful, especially in the early overs, but it's still very much a 2nd to a good economy-rate.
You've commentated on several discussions by going 'his e/r is better, so he is it for me', implying that you pretty much judge an ODI bowler almost entirely based on E/r
I could be mistaken though.
 
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Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Because nomatter how good a spinner you are, if you got a grassy pitch and Hansie Cronje as your opening bowler, you will end up getting hit for 50 runs before the ball does anything at all.
But Bedi was by far, the best bowler to've come across who didnt rely on turning the ball - along with Kumble and Grimmett.
I thought Grimmett was one of those useless oldies who only profited from the unprofessionalism of most of his peers...

If Bedi, with a wholly moderate record on unhelpful pitches (a la Kumble, incidentally), was the best example of someone who didn't rely on turning pitches it just goes to show that you're not going to get far as a non-big-spinner without them.
Your operative word is 'good bowling attacks', that are composed of containing as well as expensive-but-wicket-taking bowlers.
If Pollock didn't have Ntini/Nel/Hall/Kallis etc. around him in ODIs, all of whom bleed runs more often than not, then Pollock too would get smashed.
Err, not neccessarily. Ntini and Nel certainly don't "bleed runs more often than not", it's near enough 50\50 in the last 3 years. I've seen plenty of occasions where all 3 have bowled economically, and Hall as well occasionally. Of course, none of them are that good at the death so whoever bowls there often ends-up having his figures ruined. Smith, though, is smart enough to realise that Pollock has the most to gain from not bowling at the death.
And incase you didn't know, Yorkers are the toughest delivery for a fast bowler to bowl well consistently. Even a metronome like McGrath, if he resorted to bowling more yorkers, will get 1 outta 3 intended yorkers smashed to the boundary rope.
Waqar was the best bowler of yorkers in the last 20 years and one of the main reason he got smashed around as well as took wickets by the boatloads is because of his propensity to bowl yorkers.
And yet the likes of Wasim, de Villiers, Donald, Fleming, hell even Gough, were all much more effective death-bowlers than him.

Simply put - Waqar had the best Yorker of the lot when it went right, but he certainly didn't have the consistency of bowling it right when he tried to. But he tried to bowl more Yorkers than most people even think of bowling, so he had one hell of a lot of success with it.

All were more than capable of restricting batsmen in the slog overs. Yes, it's tough, but if you've got a good crop of bowlers like we had in the 1990s, there are going to be a fair few who can do it with the requistite consistency.
You've commentated on several discussions by going 'his e/r is better, so he is it for me', implying that you pretty much judge an ODI bowler almost entirely based on E/r
I could be mistaken though.
Nope, not almost entirely. Probably about 75\25, but it's not even quite as simple as that. There are bowlers who have had long careers of getting wickets, but many of those wickets have not been through good bowling, they've been throwaways. This, IMO, does not make someone a good bowler.
 

C_C

International Captain
I thought Grimmett was one of those useless oldies who only profited from the unprofessionalism of most of his peers...
Sort of. Don't see how that changes the fact that Grimmett took wickets without relying on spin much at all. I am talking about the method of his operation here, not how high quality it was.

If Bedi, with a wholly moderate record on unhelpful pitches (a la Kumble, incidentally), was the best example of someone who didn't rely on turning pitches it just goes to show that you're not going to get far as a non-big-spinner without them.
No, it goes to show that when you got Gavaskar for an opening bowler, you are fooked.
Turn, loop etc. are irrelevant without good opening bowlers and spinners without good opening bowlers are toast.
Murali is so far the only exception to this.

And yet the likes of Wasim, de Villiers, Donald, Fleming, hell even Gough, were all much more effective death-bowlers than him.
Disagree. Wasim, sure - he was by far and away the best death bowler ever but Waqar was as good as anyone else- he bled runs, took crucial wickets and deflated the opposition.

Simply put - Waqar had the best Yorker of the lot when it went right, but he certainly didn't have the consistency of bowling it right when he tried to. But he tried to bowl more Yorkers than most people even think of bowling, so he had one hell of a lot of success with it.
Such is the nature of yorkers. No other delivery has such a small margin of error for going into 'freebie' as the yorker is when it goes wrong. Which is one reason why most great bowlers arnt yorker specialists either..

Nope, not almost entirely. Probably about 75\25,
okay fair enough. To me its 60-40
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Sort of. Don't see how that changes the fact that Grimmett took wickets without relying on spin much at all. I am talking about the method of his operation here, not how high quality it was.
And the same argument's been meted-out a thousand times to you about Bradman and God-knows-who-else... their method was superior, if it was so easy because of the lack of professionalism, why didn't 50 or 60 people do it?
No, it goes to show that when you got Gavaskar for an opening bowler, you are fooked.
Abid Ali and Solkar weren't the worst.
Turn, loop etc. are irrelevant without good opening bowlers and spinners without good opening bowlers are toast.
Murali is so far the only exception to this.
And who on Earth suggested you need good seamers if you're a good spinner on a turning pitch? Whoever they were, they were insane.

Good spinners (remembering that a fingerspinner's goodness depends on the pitch) will get wickets regardless of his seamers' prowess.
Disagree. Wasim, sure - he was by far and away the best death bowler ever but Waqar was as good as anyone else- he bled runs, took crucial wickets and deflated the opposition.
Donald, Gough, Fleming and especially de Villiers stopped runs at the death, too. Not as effectively as Wasim, but effectively nonetheless.
Such is the nature of yorkers. No other delivery has such a small margin of error for going into 'freebie' as the yorker is when it goes wrong. Which is one reason why most great bowlers arnt yorker specialists either..
But the best ODI death-bowlers are... and only a tiny number have ever been capable of being good at other stages, too. But there have been one or two: Wasim, Donald, de Villiers, Gough, Fleming. And, to an extent, Waqar. Waqar was certainly not the worst ODI bowler either.
 

C_C

International Captain
And the same argument's been meted-out a thousand times to you about Bradman and God-knows-who-else... their method was superior, if it was so easy because of the lack of professionalism, why didn't 50 or 60 people do it?
Lets not get into that debate again. I do consider Bradman as the best. However, i don't consider Hobbs, Hutton,Headley, etc. to be a patch on Tendulkar, Richards, Lara etc.
Lack of professionalism overall means few who approach it professionally get bloated records.

Abid Ali and Solkar weren't the worst.
I am sure they compare favourably with the average opening bowlers.
8-)

And who on Earth suggested you need good seamers if you're a good spinner on a turning pitch? Whoever they were, they were insane.
Well you just called Prasanna insane.
Turning wicket or not, no opening bowlers = fooked. And since the Indian four-prong were all spinners, foreign teams presented them with super-green pitches where if you didn't have opening bowlers, you'd be fooked for by the time the ball starts to loop or spin ( all requires that the ball is no longer new), its 100/1 already.

Donald, Gough, Fleming and especially de Villiers stopped runs at the death, too. Not as effectively as Wasim, but effectively nonetheless.
Yes. But i'd put Waqar in the same bracket and Gough has no business being there.
Fleming is marginal.

Good spinners (remembering that a fingerspinner's goodness depends on the pitch) will get wickets regardless of his seamers' prowess.
Yes they will. But the difference would be 5-100 and 3-50 between not having good seamers and having good seamers.

Waqar was certainly not the worst ODI bowler either.
lol.
I'd pick Waqar for my alltime ODI XI.
And the only yorker specialists i can think of are Wasim, Waqar and Garner - all three who got hit more often than not when trying to york people. Donald bowled the occasional yorkers but not as frequently as the two Ws.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Lets not get into that debate again. I do consider Bradman as the best. However, i don't consider Hobbs, Hutton,Headley, etc. to be a patch on Tendulkar, Richards, Lara etc.
Lack of professionalism overall means few who approach it professionally get bloated records.
And therefore it means that the way Grimmett gets his wickets is pretty immaterial - none of it matters because he's a pro in a World of amateurs.
I am sure they compare favourably with the average opening bowlers.
8-)
They certainly compare favourably with the Gavaskars, Jaisimhas and others who just bowl an over or two to get the shine off.
Well you just called Prasanna insane.
Turning wicket or not, no opening bowlers = fooked. And since the Indian four-prong were all spinners, foreign teams presented them with super-green pitches where if you didn't have opening bowlers, you'd be fooked for by the time the ball starts to loop or spin ( all requires that the ball is no longer new), its 100/1 already.
Exactly. When foreign teams presented them with such wickets. But at home, when the Indian groundsmen could choose, turning pitches resulted and such bowlers could still take bags of wickets cheaply even if the ball didn't loop and dip (certainly doesn't require any condition to impart spin on the ball - sure it's slightly easier to spin a rougher ball than a shiny one but no way is it impossible to spin a shiny one).
Yes. But i'd put Waqar in the same bracket and Gough has no business being there.
Fleming is marginal.
Gough in the end mastered Yorkers even better than his old mentor. He didn't become anywhere near as devestating with them, of course, because he didn't bowl them as often, but there were countless games between 1994 and 2000 where Gough bowled 4 or even 5 death overs for little more than 4-an-over, which is an exceptional effort.
Yes they will. But the difference would be 5-100 and 3-50 between not having good seamers and having good seamers.
Not neccessarily. I've seen pitches where spinners have shot teams out for low totals with barely an over bowled by a seamer.
lol.
I'd pick Waqar for my alltime ODI XI.
And the only yorker specialists i can think of are Wasim, Waqar and Garner - all three who got hit more often than not when trying to york people. Donald bowled the occasional yorkers but not as frequently as the two Ws.
Apart from the fact Garner was from a different ODI era, his Yorker had the added bonus of coming from an obscene height. Nor was a he a massive inswing-style bowler. Garner wasn't exactly a Yorker-only bowler, either, his Yorker was just the most memorable part of his bowling. Like Richards and his stroke through midwicket.

Fanie de Villiers was certainly about as good an exponent of using Yorkers to stop the runs at the end of a ODI as anyone bar Wasim. His Yorker wasn't his specialist ball, but that only made him an even better ODI bowler, because he could bowl in both death and non-death situations.
 

C_C

International Captain
But at home, when the Indian groundsmen could choose, turning pitches resulted and such bowlers could still take bags of wickets cheaply even if the ball didn't loop and dip (certainly doesn't require any condition to impart spin on the ball - sure it's slightly easier to spin a rougher ball than a shiny one but no way is it impossible to spin a shiny one).
Well then you know nothing about spin bowling. It is a zillion times harder to spin a new ball compared to an old one - which is why you don't see Kumble, Murali, Warney, etc. opening the bowling in front of far crappier pacers. It is also zillion times harder to loop a ball that isnt worn out. Your argument would be valid if cricket had the option to begin the innings with an old ball - which it doesnt. Therefore, spinning pitches or not, spinners are at an inherent disadvantage if they don't have good pacers to back them up because they invariably face a scenario of 30-40 extra runs and 1-2 less wickets taken on a consistent basis.

Not neccessarily. I've seen pitches where spinners have shot teams out for low totals with barely an over bowled by a seamer.
Such pitches are extremely rare.

his Yorker had the added bonus of coming from an obscene height.
So what ? Yes, Garner had the plate made for him given his gigantic stature but that is a part and parcel of who he was as a bowler. Doesnt diminish his accomplishments one bit.
 

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
This is the difference between 'look good on paper' and 'reality'.
Reality is, you will rarely,if ever, have the opposition end their 50 overs with the score 210/2.
Nope not gonna happen.
If you are the 'ideal economic bowler', you will end up getting smashed after the 25 over point if the batting side has lost only 1 or 2 wkt by that time.
Batsmen know that the more runs the team score, the better. So having just containing bowlers would make it a 20-20 game after 30 overs for the batsmen and you'd see them leap from 120/1 after 30 to 270+ for 7-8 after 50 if you packed the side with super-stingy but not attacking bowlers.

In reality, a bowler who takes 4-5 wickets every 10 match more than you, but goes for 10-15 runs more every game than you, is just as valuable.
Ie, in reality, you need a Waqar Younis with the ball just as badly as you need Shaun Pollock. You also forget, that best way to slow down the scoring rate is to take wickets.
So therefore, while i agree that economy rate is more important, it is certainly not an end-all-be-all in ODI bowling and someone with a slightly better economy rate but massively inferior average will not make my team compared to his competition.
but that depends, CC. Once Nehra got a 6 fer but got his last 4 wickets in his last couple of overs, (ie) after the damage had already been done. Needless to say, India lost said match and Nehra got away with a below par bowling performance.
 

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