http://spinbowling-legbreak.blogspot.com/
http://spinbowling-flipper.blogspot.com/
http://spinbowling-wrongun.blogspot.com/
Another net at Thurrock Cricket Club as we're now known. Again another fairly low turn out which is good as it means on occasions you're in the net with just 2 other blokes and you can get into a bit of a rythmn. My own bowling was okay and I was quite happy with it generally, the only real issue is one of fitness but as the weather gets better that'll improve no doubt and what with Easter coming up we're talking about the potential to bowl 2 or 3 maybe more hours every day for 2 weeks which'll be nice. So the fitness running up to the first matches will no doubt improve dramatically.
A couple of events tonight..... One of my early balls was hit back to me quite low but at catchable height and I just left it - I always do unless of course they're loopy and safe, but this ball was hit with a bit of sting in it's tail so I let it go to Neil Sammers saying 'Oh Dave that was terrible'! Inferring that I should taken the catch. An hour later the coach Terry Hills was in the net next to us and a new bloke hit the ball back at him and it was around the same height and probably faster, instinctively he stuck his hand out maybe just to slow it down and it did, but in doing so he dislocated his finger! Yeah - so that'll be 3 - 4 hours at Basildon hospital sitting there in pain tonight before work tomorrow, so yeah I'll stick to my policy of letting them kind of balls go by me in the nets and save that kind of heroism for the games in the summer.
Neil Sammers - he's the bloke I mention quite a lot on various forums alluding to his prowess as a bowler, he holds our all time club record as far as I know for the most wickets in a season and possibly the most wicket ever in the club and he averages around 3 runs an over so he's a pretty good bowler. Initially I thought he was a Chinaman bowler (Left arm Wrist Spinner) but as I've got to know him better I've realised that actually he's a finger spinner. Also by his own admission he'd say that he doesn't actually spin it that much and that most of his wickets come about through variations of flight, speed and differing lengths. Facing him though in the nets I can vouch for the fact that he does turn it both ways and that combined with his speed variation as a tail-ender it's difficult to play. But tonight there was an awful hullabaloo in the nets with Neil almost beside himself with excitement because he was claiming to have turned the ball big, unfortunately I didn't see it and no-one else seemed to be sharing his celebration and the stumps were all intact as well, so to be honest whether Neil can turn it big or not is still just a rumour..........
Paddock News
Walking home tonight after another very spring like day with the temperature reaching 15 degrees centigrade the wicket was very much intact and looking good. The fine weather is set to continue into the week with the next bout of rain due Thursday night or Friday which'll be good for the seed germination.
Drift
At the minute I'm looking into drift and the physics involved trying to ascertain what it is you have to do to the ball to get it drift on a consistent basis or add or exclude drift in your deliveries. The only real thing I seem to be finding is that it's elusive and that maybe there isn't an answer to the question because the physics and dynamics of drift in wrist spin bowling isn't fully understood by anyone?
