Leg-spin bowling - more dangerous to right hand batsmen

by A.C. de Silva

Leg-spin bowling would be more dangerous to the right hand batsman because the balls leaving the bat. Unfortunately there aren't two many `leggies' around these days. One-day cricket hasn't exactly helped them - it's true they are expensive than other brands - of spinners because the very nature of their delivery means there's more risk of looseness.

One of the important things when batting against leg-break bowlers is to know where your stumps are if the ball's turning, you shouldn't be playing deliveries that are wide and getting wider with the leg-spin if you're taking middle stumps guard on a turning wicket, you should be telling yourself that a ball which you're a few inches over to should be ignored because it's going wide of the stumps.

Get your pad outside the line as a second means of defence when the ball is turning away from you on the off-sump, because you can't be lbw to a ball that's pitched outside the off-stump provided you are trying to play a shot - even if the ball would have turned in and hit the wicket if your pad had not been in the way.

The same principles for playing `leggies' apply for the right-handed batsmen against slow left-arm spin. Don't commit yourself too early, don't lunge forward automatically even though you're looking to play off the front foot on a good wicket. Discipline yourself to hit with the spin - in this case on the off-side rather than playing across the line to the leg-side (the reverse applies to the off-spinners).

It's always easier to hit or stroke the ball with the spin because if the ball turns more than you expected, there's a chance the edge won't go in the air if your left hand is doing its proper work at the top of the handle and keeping down the stroke. Steal yourself to ignore the left-arm spin outside the off-sump; he'll get tired before you do and the full tosses and long hops will come.

Whatever the style of spin, footwork is a vital part of the technique of batting against it. It's an exhilarating feeling to get your movements right to execute the shot perfectly and for the spectator it's nice to see a bottle of wits going on with the keeper hoping to benefit with a smart stumping.

A word on the position of the feet when facing up to the, it is preferred to have one foot on either side of the crease while my back foot would be on the line if batting against a pace bowler. Some batsmen don't move their position, irrespective of the bowler's speed, but most people prefer to have the back foot inside the crease stops the bothering about being stumped when playing forward defensively.

Some tips on certain shots to play against the spinners - the late cut and the square cut are productive shots against the ball that's turning away from the bat, one must be careful - avoid cutting off - spinners on a turning wicket because the ball could turn back into the stumps and there's a risk of dragging the ball on. It is always better playing the pull-shot unless the ball is very short and is not one of those deceptively quick ones that hustle through.

There are some batsmen to prefer not playing the lap or the sweep - to play the former you should put the left pad outside the line of the off-stump and play the ball round to leg.

That's a safe shot on a turning wicket because the left pad outside the line of the off-stump will prevent an lbw decision.

It is always better to play the sweep to a ball just outside the leg-sump.