Streetwise Bowling: The Warne Rounder
This article is part of the "Streetwise Bowling" series from PitchVision Academy. To view the full list of tactics click here.
Bowling accurate leg spin is hard enough, but to bowl a whole over accurately and also to a plan is the skill of a master craftsman. Someone like Shane Warne.
By the end of his career, Warne had the ball on a string but had less variations. He didn't stop that from being as canny as ever though. He just changes the way he manipulated the batsman into an error. This tactic is just one that he used to great effect.
You can copy it, the main requirement is accuracy rather than a lot of variety but the more you can turn the ball the better too. You also need confidence to be able to bowl very wide on the crease from over and around the wicket. So let's take a look at the plan.
- Name: The Warne Rounder
- Bowling Type: Right Arm Leg Spin
- Difficulty Level: 9/10
- Success Level: High
The Over
Ball 1 & 2
Start simple and bowl two balls that are regular leg breaks: at the stumps but turning to hit the top of off. This will help you find your range and rhythm and see where the batsman is playing. At this point it doesn't matter much what the batsman does. Just hit your spot and make sure the batsman doesn't get off strike.
Ball 3
Next you start to set the batsman up. Bowl this ball from wider on the crease than normal, but to a good line and length again. Keep your man on strike.
Ball 4 & 5
If the over has gone well, you can go wider on the crease again and bowl the ball a little wider so it is hitting a 4th or 5th stump. There's a chance a batsman might go for this given the width. If he hits it for four, all the better because your plan is set, you have dragged him across the crease.
Ball 6
The batsman is now playing outside off and set up for the ball that angles in to him and spins away. You go around the wicket for the final ball and bowl as wide on the crease as you can. Suddenly the angle has changed dramatically and the ball is sliding across the bat. If the deception works, first slip and keeper have a field day.
The key is confusion to the batsman of the ball landing in roughly the same place but coming from a totally different place. It upsets timing.
The beuty of this tactic is that it also gives you an aura. You can bowl from any angle and you are plotting the batsman's downfall all the time, not just trying to hit a length mindlessly. Even this most confident batsman will have a moment of doubt when you go around the wicket. And doubt breeds wickets.
Download and print the pdf version to take to nets by clicking here.
Give it a try and let me know how you go!
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Comments
This tactic is extremely effective, very difficult but works wonders if you get it right. The reverse of it can also be used, and it is just as effective (if not more) against left handed batsmen. Have a a look at Warne using it against Strauss in this video (he also explains it and how to start your bowling spell) - http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/8863735/shane-warne-spin-mastercla...
This needs alot of accuracy but can we replace the last bowl with a googly or slider...........
Don't think so. The tactic works best if it's your stock ball all the time. Going over the wicket and bowling leg breaks, then suddenly going around is like putting a colossal advertising board right above your head that says "I'm going to bowl a variation now!" It could work against clueless batsmen but quality batsmen won't fall for it. The whole point of using the crease is to change the angle of delivery, not bowling another type of ball from a different position on the crease, but the exact same ball which arrives differently.
I think the googly is still an nice alternative. It's is telegraphed but the batter still has to play it. Being that wide as well means there is a fair chance it is pitching outside leg unless you really rip the wrong 'un. I agree the leg break is the better option.
If you use the reverse of this tactic the googly would be more useful. So if you go around the wickets and gradually go wider and wider bowling leg breaks, then switch to going over the wickets and bowl a googly, it could work quite nicely.
Leg breaks seem to turn more from around the wickets because of the angle, so the batsman expects a delivery from over the wickets to turn a lot once he's seen the turn from around. If you can pitch a googly just outside the off stump with that angle the batsman will misjudge it, but it still has to hit the stumps to be effective.
The more round arm you bowl, the more effective your delivery from around the wickets will be, but that is of course only a generalization. If your bowling in a test match there should be some nice rough there to aim for, if not, you shouldn't pitch the ball too far outside leg or the batsman can pad the ball away easily. In my opinion this tactic works better against left-handed batsmen, because they have to play each delivery and can't leave anything. If your bowling to a quality right handed batsman he will have enough patience and judgement to pick the line of your delivery from around the wickets and pad it away.
I toatlly agree with Jaques except with the round arm thing. Bowling round arm would actually give u less flight and even less spin. I don't know about u but I see most players have a less pivot bowling round arm. And with the googly it would be a great alternative to bamboozale the batsman on the 3rd or 4th ball of the over bowling wide of the crease. Great article David. Makes me wanna be a leggie again
Tried the tactic yesterday did well but the last ball the one meant to take wickets was dispatched for a six................
It's not guaranteed to work every time! He might have gone for that ball no matter what you did.
I know its not magic that will get us a wicket was just telling you how it worked
The difficulty is landing the ball on that perfect spot every ball. It's actually ludicrously difficult if you dip the ball a few feet shorter with top spin, and drift the ball a foot with side spin! How did Warne manage to do that? Pure genius!
We don't dip or drift the ball as much as Warne, but it' still a challenge for most spinners. Hopefully every once in a while it's an even bigger challenge for a batsman to face it!
I can see how occasionally suddenly going wider on the crease might cause the batsman problems, but surely the moment you say you're going round the wicket the batsman will just adjust his guard and any element of surprise will be lost?
Most club batsman won't change their guard for round the wicket. But maybe a googly will be effective around the wicket.
I am a 17year old legspinner i was bowling well ripping every ball and bamboozling batsmen and then i stopped playing cricket for almost a month due to exams and now i am here struggling to get a chance in my team bcz i jst cant bowl legspin well i used to do sometime ago it all jst is lost i jst lost the feel of the ball the pivot the big turn drift and dip i am even struggling to land the ball even cant release it well so wht has got wrong i just cant figure out and i always had the googly syndrome i cant bowl wth the warne grip i bowl with benaud,s grip and wth a karate chop action so u shd consider this also....
AB
If your a perfect batsman you can play a ball from wide of the crease over, and around equally effectively. But are any of us perfect batsmen? Every batsman has a certain visual weakness, some more than others. I once bowled 2 overs at a batsman from around the wickets and he handld my deliveries extremely well. When I went over the wickets he suddenly looked like a 2 year old holding a bat. Other batsmen are the opposite, but the point is that batsmen have flaws, one of these flaws is not being able to play a delivery coming from a certain angle very well. If you can find the angle the batsman dislikes the most you have the upper hand. Going from as wide as possible over the wickets is already probing to find that blind spot. By going around the wickets your probing for the blind spot again! Another reason why this tactic works much better against left handed batsmen! When you bowl to them the ball lands in the exact same spot each time, but it arrives differently. The angle changes by nearly 3 meters. Anyway, this tactic doesn't have to work for everyone, and it certainly won't work every time.
Shane Warne didn't only use this tactic and the same degree of leg spin every time, he would constantly change the amount of over spin and sidespin he applied to the ball so the ball would come onto the bat quicker or turn more than the batsman expects. You want to take a wicket with the last ball, but a wicket with the 3rd or 4th ball would be just as useful.
When bowling at right handed batsmen from over the wickets I'd bowl the first 2 deliveries with clean side spin, the first ball normal pace, second ball slightly slower. The 3d delivery would be slightly quicker, with a bit of backspin so I know if backspin causes the ball to skid on on the particular pitch. The 4th and 5th deliveries would be slower or quicker, depending apon which speed gives the most purchase (which I'll know after the first 3 deliveries) The last ball from around the wickets I'll bowl with a bit more over spin so it will land shorter and bounce higher, hopefully getting a nick to slip which is what I want to achieve.
Warne used a similar tactic, but he could even execute a very elaborate crease, change of speed and degree of spin tactic when only bowling around the wickets. It requires lots of control and practice, something Warne had in heaps.
Hi I am a leg spinner and I find a good line and length with a batsmen but I without one I can not hit targets. Any ideas?
Hi I am a leg spinner and I find a good line and length with a batsmen but I without one I can not hit targets. Any ideas?
Hi i am 17 years old i was bowling very well ripping the leggies and pitching thm in line and had all the variations and i was a little inaccurate but i was trying hard and then i stopped playing cricket for few months and now here i am i just lost my bowling the feel,the rhthym the rip and it all just feel strange now the ball is getting stuck in my hand and i keep bowling short and i could hardly land one in line so how shd i start rebuilding my bowling an article would be much appreciated...