Leg Spin Bowling by Richie Benaud

 For over-the-wrist spin, grip the ball so that the seam runs across the first joint of the index finger and the first joint of the third finger. For the leg-break, and the over spinner or top spinner, the ball is spun off the third finger. The wrist is cocked, but definitely not stiffly cocked, which would prevent flexibility.

In delivering the ball, you look at the spot on the pitch on which you wish the ball to land, your bowling hand starts level with your face and then describes what could loosely be termed an anti-clockwise circle to the point of delivery. The position of the bowling hand dictates in which direction the ball will spin. At the moment of delivery the positioning of the hand is as follows: Leg-break: in delivery, the back of the hand is facing the face. The ball will spin out with the seam rotating in an anti-clockwise direction towards slip.

Over spinner or top spinner: in delivery, the back of the hand is facing the sky and then the batsman. The ball will spin out with the seam rotating in an anti-clockwise direction and towards the batsman. Wrong’un: in delivery, the back of the hand is first facing the sky and then the ground. The ball will spin out with the seam rotating in an anti-clockwise direction towards fine leg.

You should practice the hard-spun leg-break ninety percent of the time, the variations only ten percent. You should be side-on to the batsman and looking over your front shoulder as you deliver the ball, and then your bowling hand will finish up going past your front thigh.

This means, if you have done it correctly, your body will also have rotated anti-clockwise. This ‘pivot’ is of great importance. If you bowl a ball that is too short, you can be almost certain it happened because your body was ‘chest-on’ to the batsman, rather than side-on, and you dragged the ball down into the pitch.

When you are bowling in a net, make a white shoe-cleaner mark the size of a 20-cent (50p) piece, on what seems to you to be a good length — that is, with the ball pitching where you would not like it to pitch if you were batting. Never have your bowling arm at or past the perpendicular when you deliver the ball; it should be at least a few inches lower than the perpendicular. Don’t even think about learning the ‘flipper’ before you have mastered the leg-break, top spinner, and wrong’un.

Keep it simple is the answer. Attend to the basics first; if you can’t do that, then the more complicated things will be impossible anyway. It is possible to extend some of those points, but the one thing of which you can be guaranteed is that common sense will always outweigh rhetoric and complication. And, no matter what I might say is the best way to bowl leg spin, there are many examples which show that natural ability can be more important than anything else.

Malcom Marshall - The Fearsome Bowler

 Malcolm Marshall was born on 18 April 1958 in Barbados. He died on 4 November 1999 due to cancer at the age of 41. The Barbadian cricketer was primarily a fast bowler.  Marshall is widely regarded as one of the greatest and of most accomplished fast bowlers of the modern era in Test cricket. He is often acknowledged as the greatest West Indian fast bowler of all time, and certainly one of the most complete fast bowlers the cricketing world ever saw. Batsmen agreed that Marshall was the hardest of all to face because of the way he used his ordinary height to produce telling rather than exceptional bounce. His father was killed in a road accident when he was a baby, and he learned the game from his grandfather as well as at the beach and the playground. He began as a batsman and then discovered his ability to strike back.
His Test bowling average of 20.94 is the best of anyone who has taken 200 or more wickets. He achieved his bowling success despite being, by the standards of other fast bowlers of his time, a short man – he stood at 5 ft 11 in, while most of the great quicks have been well above 6 ft and many great West Indian fast bowlers, such as Joel Garner, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, were 6 ft 6 in or above. He generated fearsome pace from his bowling action, with a dangerous bouncer. He also statistically went on to become the most successful test match bowler of the 1980s with 235 scalps with an average of 18.47 within a time period of just five years.
In the 2^nd Test against Pakistan at Lahore in 1986, Malcolm Marshall bowled a superb spell of 5for 33 in the first innings and bundle out Pakistan at Just 131 on a flat track. Mohsin Khan, Rizwan-uz-Zaman, Qasim Umar, Asif Mujtaba, and Wasim Akram were the victims of Marshall Bowling. In the 2^nd innings, he also took 1 for 14. Eventually, West Indies won the Test match by an innings of 10 runs. Let’s watch the Marshall first innings spell of 5 for 33.
Malcolm Marshall was also a very dangerous lower middle-order batsman with ten Test fifties and seven first-class centuries. He ended his career as the all-time highest wicket-taker for West Indies in test cricket with 376 wickets, a record which he held up until November 1998 before Courtney Walsh surpassed his milestone. It was his willingness to work hard at his game that made Malcolm Marshall supreme even in a great generation. He was a relentlessly probing and thoughtful opponent
In 2009, Marshall was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI. Malcolm Marshall was relentlessly professional and determined; and he was also the best batsman of the group, coming nearer than any recent West Indian to being an all-rounder of the quality of Garry Sobers. Though batsmen feared him, he was exceptionally popular among his peers: his death was mourned throughout the cricket world, but his fellow professionals, who knew him best, were most deeply affected.
  

 
 
 
 
 

Shane Bond - The Fastest Bowler ever Produced by New Zealand

Shane Bond - The Fastest Bowler ever Produced by New Zealand

 

Moin Khan - Pakistani Wicket Keeper

 Moin Khan is regarded as a better batsman than Rashid Latif. Both were often fighting for a place on the side in the 1990's.

Sarfraz Nawaz - The Pioneer of Reverse Swing Bowling

Sarfraz Nawaz is born on 1 December 1948 in Lahore. He is a former Pakistani Test cricketer and politician, who were instrumental in Pakistan's first Test series victories over India and England. He is known as one of the earliest exponents of reverse swing. 

Being 6’6'’ tall, Sarfraz was described "as strong as a cart-horse" and his powerful upper body and good action allowed him to bowl at a fast-medium pace. He could seam the ball in either direction and despite the convention, he repeatedly bounced other fast bowlers such as Jeff Thomson and Joel Garner.

The big, burly Punjabi bowler, Sarfraz formed a potent partnership with Imran Khan and was one of the pioneers of reverse swing. His most prolific spell came in the Melbourne Test of 1978-79, but he kept going admirably on some heartless Test pitches in Pakistan. 

He had all the ingredients of a potent fast bowler - a strong action, bouncers, Yorkers, and swings (both conventional and reverse). He was so effective that he generated good lift on docile sub-continental tracks too. He is more remembered for his 'spell from hell' - 9-86 against Australia at MCG in 1979.

He also served Northamptonshire with distinction in two stints. As a lower-order batsman, he often swung his bat and got quick runs and he averaged over 40 in a series on three occasions.

He attracted a few controversies as well. Sarfraz controversially dismissed Aussie batsman, Andrew Hilditch for handling the ball in the next test at Perth after his 'spell from hell'. His withdrawal from a home series against England also created quite a fit of anger.

Sarfaraz Nawaz proved himself a fast-medium bowler of class, a tough customer at most times who possessed absolute accuracy while bowling. His ability to hit the ball while batting lower down the order made him a useful mini-all-rounder and he was the third Pakistani to take 100 Test wickets and score 1000 Test runs. He possessed a good action and the ability to seam the bowl with equal effectiveness both ways.

On March 15, 1979, at Melbourne, he bowled a memorable spell to take nine wickets in an innings. He dismissed seven batsmen while conceding just one run from 33 balls. He was a highly controversial player due to his unconventional behavior and mood swings and bowled a succession of bouncers at other fast bowlers such as Jeff Thompson and Joel Garner. Once, protesting about his pay, he flew to England during a Test series between the two teams in Pakistan.

Following his retirement, SarfrazNawaz plunged into the complex world of Pakistan politics. He became an outspoken MP and cricket commentator. The flat wickets found in Pakistan were not ideal for a bowler of his pace, but could sometimes surprise batsmen with his ability to make to ball seam, swing, or bounce awkwardly. More importantly, Sikander Bakht Sarfraz developed reverse swing. 

Commentators did not realize this was a reverse swing at the time, though they realized that he had an uncanny ability to move the old ball in the air. He passed on his knowledge to Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, and Waqar Younis, who made this new type of bowling famous in the late 1980s and 1990s. As a batsman, he was a good lower-order striker of the ball, particularly when driving, and averaged over 40 in a series on three occasions.

Between 1969 till 1984, he played 55 Tests and 45 One Day Internationals for Pakistan and captured 177 Test wickets at an average of 32.75.

Javed Miandad in Cricket World Cup 1992

Just before the match Pakistan received a major blow as Imran Khan, their captain, was ruled out of the contest with a shoulder injury. Javed Miandad 57 off 61 balls with 5 fours at a Strike Rate of 93.44 vs West Indies at MCG in 1992 Cricket World Cup.

Miandad Join Ramiz Raja at 97 for 2, in 30^th over, as Pakistan was really struggling with the sluggish batting of Ramiz Raja and another batsman. Ramiz Raja scored 102Not out in 158 balls with the help of just four 4’s. But then, Javed Miandad was a special person. 

The very sight of the stand-in captain walking out with that trademark nothing-is-wrong-with-the-world smile lifted the spirit of many a Pakistan fan. It was not a match-winning score, but certainly a competitive one. Miandad's innings were indeed very special in terms to consider the long boundary of MCG. 

He played typical cheeky innings and took a few boundaries behind the wickets off Marshall and Ambrose's bowling. That was a treat to watch. Rameez and Miandad added 123 for the unbroken third wicket, taking 81 from the last 10 overs. Let's watch Miandad's innings

Iqbal Sikander, a leg-break bowler, and Wasim Haider, a fast-medium bowler, made their debuts in the match. In a month s time, they would write their names in the history of Pakistan cricket as their first world champions. 

The umpires Steve Randell and Ian Robinson were confused. Hooper and Harper had bowled their overs so quickly that despite having Marshall, Ambrose, and Benjamin in the line-up, West Indies had managed to bowl their 50 overs half an hour before the stipulated time. Of course, only 12 boundaries and 2 wickets contributed to the over rate as well. Later on, Pakistan won the World Cup, while West Indies did not make it to the semi-final.

Wasim Haider (economy rate 4.15) and Sikander (4.20) played 7 matches between them in the World Cup. They claimed only 5 wickets between them but did excellent containing jobs whenever they got opportunities. Surprisingly, despite being World Champions and doing competent jobs, neither played any more international cricket.

Brief scores:

Pakistan 220 for 2 in 50 overs (Rameez Raja 102*, Javed Miandad 57*) lost to West Indies 221 for no loss in 46.5 overs (Desmond Haynes 93*, Brian Lara 88 retired hurt) by 10 wickets with 19 balls to spare.