vic_orthdox
Global Moderator
WRT Monty.Fair enough. An insider's view is always appreciated.
He imparts a lot of sidespin on the ball. This means that he can get a lot of turn, if the deck has a little bit in it. It means though that on a pitch with very little grass/grip for the spinners, that it'll slide straight on.
He doesn't get a lot of overspin. I think this is obviously something that he feels suits him, and fair enough too. Batsmen at the level he has to bowl to are very quick on their feet, and he may well feel that he needs to concern himself with trying to spin it as much as he can.
Still, I think this allows batsmen to read his length a lot earlier. Whenever I've watched Monty, batsmen tend to play him from the crease quite a bit because of his pace, but when they do come down the wicket they don't often run past it, because there isn't the "drop" / "dip" that other spinners get.
Also, because Monty's seam is almost perpendicular to the batsman (i.e. pointing at 9 o'clock), it means that on good pitches the ball won't grip and will skid on (as I already mentioned). If he got more overspin on the ball, and got the seam pointing more 10:30 / 11 o'clock, then the ball would spin with the momentum of the delivery, albeit not as much as what he might get it to do on a real turner with his normal style, rather than trying to spin the ball against the momentum of the delivery. It would also create more doubt in the batsmen's mind on a deck without as much turn, because at the moment the only real variable is the line due to drift. Because he is flat - so the batsman can read the length early, and because he won't be spinning it - because the ball is skidding on, it can make him at times a little too easy to play on a good pitch.