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Off spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners bowl with their right-arm and a finger spin action. Their normal delivery is called an off break, [1] which spins from left to right (from the bowler's perspective) when the ball bounces on the pitch. For a right-handed batsman, the ball breaks towards them from the off side, [2] hence the name 'off break'.
Off spinners bowl mostly off breaks, varying them by adjusting the line and length of the deliveries. Off spinners also bowl other types of delivery, which spin differently. Aside from these variations in spin, varying the speed, length and flight of the ball are also important for the off spinner.
The bowler with the most wickets in the history of both Test matches and ODIs, Muttiah Muralitharan, was an off spinner. [3]
Although rare now, in the past there were bowlers who used the off-break action who deliberately did not impart any considerable spin on the ball but relied on line and length (or even speed variations) to frustrate batsmen. They endeavoured to pitch the ball in an area that the batsman was unable to play a scoring shot, even making last moment adjustments to "follow" a batsman should they move within the crease to negate the bowlers tactics. Whilst this is primarily a defensive style, wickets were achieved by forcing a batsman to make a rash stroke or even bowling at the stumps instead of the retreating batsman. Another wicket taking method was to impart more spin on the ball than usual, and surprise the batsman. An exponent of this style of bowling was "Flat" Jack Simmons who played for Lancashire and Tasmania in the 1970s and 1980s. With the advent of limited overs cricket promoting more adventurous batting styles and the use of ever heavier bats this style of bowling has declined, although some off-spinners will still use this tactic when the pitch is offering very little or no turn. It is a tactic often used by Kane Williamson when he bowls occasionally in limited overs format because his bowling style tends to be flatter and faster.
Off spin contrasts with leg spin, in which the ball spins from leg to off and which is bowled with a very different action (wrist spin). [4] Off spin is generally considered less difficult to play than leg spin, as off breaks typically spin less than leg breaks, and do not generally possess the same loopy, potentially deceptive flight. In addition, off spinners tend to have a smaller repertoire of deliveries to choose from. For a right-handed batsman, the ball moves in towards the batsman's body, meaning the batsman's legs are usually in the path of the ball if it misses the bat or takes an edge. This makes it difficult for the bowler to get the batsman out bowled or caught from an off break, but it does mean there is a chance of leg before wicket, assuming the ball has not turned enough to miss the leg stump. However, the off spinner often bowls faster and more accurately than a leg spinner, and can therefore deceive the batsman with changes in the pace of the ball. A left-handed batsman has more difficulty facing off break bowling, because the ball moves away from his body. This means that any miscalculation can more easily result in an outside edge off the bat and a catch going to the wicket-keeper or slips fielders.
A left-handed bowler who bowls with the same (finger spin) action as an off spinner is known as a left-arm orthodox spin bowler. While the orthodox spinner has the same action as an off-spinner, the ball itself spins in the opposite direction (akin to a right arm leg spinner). [5] Such a ball is not normally called an off break, but a left-arm orthodox spinner.
Off spin: Sometimes the term off spin is used to mean the off break delivery. [6] [7] [8] [9] At other times the term off spin has a wider meaning, to include all deliveries bowled by an off spinner, including non-off break deliveries. [10] [11] [12]
Off spinner: The term off spinner can be used to mean either the bowler [13] [14] or the off break delivery. [15] [16] [17] [9]
Offie: The term offie can also be used to mean either the bowler [18] [19] or the off break delivery. [20] [21]
An off break is bowled by holding the cricket ball in the palm of the hand with the seam running across under all the fingers. [2] As the ball is released, the fingers roll down the right side of the ball (for a right-handed bowler), giving the ball a clockwise spin as seen from behind.
Notable off spinners include:
and more...
Another common weapon of the off spinner is the arm ball, which does not spin but goes straight on "with the arm". [25] More skilled offspinners also have the topspinner. [26]
Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called a leg spinner. Leg spinners bowl with their right-arm and a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery is called a leg break, which spins from right to left when the ball bounces on the pitch. For a right-handed batter, the ball breaks towards them from the leg side, hence the name 'leg break'.
Left-arm orthodox spin or left-arm off spin, also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of spin bowling in cricket. Bowlers using this technique bowl with their left-arm and a finger spin action. Their normal delivery spins from right to left when it bounces on the pitch.
The flipper is a particular bowling delivery used in cricket, generally by a leg spin bowler. In essence it is a back spin ball. Squeezed out of the front of the hand with the thumb and first and second fingers, it keeps deceptively low after pitching and can accordingly be very difficult to play. The flipper is comparable to a riseball in fast-pitch softball.
Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan is a Sri Lankan cricket coach, businessman and former professional cricketer. Averaging over six wickets per Test match, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. He is the only bowler to take 800 Test wickets and more than 530 One Day International (ODI) wickets. As of 2024, he has taken more wickets in international cricket than any other bowler. Muralitharan was a part of the Sri Lankan team that won the 1996 Cricket World Cup.
A googly, also known as a wrong'un or Bosie, is a type of delivery in the game of cricket bowled by a right-arm leg spin bowler. It is different from the normal delivery for a leg-spin bowler in that it is turning the other way. The googly is not a variation of the typical off spin type of delivery, in that the cricket ball is presented from the bowler's hand in such a way that once the ball pitches; instead, it deviates in the opposite direction of a leg spinning type of delivery. It has also been colloquially referred to as the wrong'un, Bosie or Bosey, with the latter two eponyms referring to Bernard Bosanquet, the bowler who originally devised and began using the googly. He first employed it in July 1900, during the second innings of a County Championship match between Middlesex and Leicestershire at Lord's. In that game, Sam Coe became the first batter known to have been dismissed by a googly. During the Edwardian era, some considered its use to be an example of cheating.
A topspinner is a type of delivery bowled by a cricketer bowling either wrist spin or finger spin. In either case, the bowler imparts the ball with top spin by twisting it with his or her fingers prior to delivery. In both cases, the topspinner is the halfway house between the stock delivery and the wrong'un - in the wrist spinner's case his googly, and in the finger spinner's case his doosra.
Saqlain Mushtaq is a Pakistani cricket coach and former international cricketer who was the head coach of the Pakistani national cricket team between 2021 and 2022. He is best known for pioneering the "doosra", a leg break delivery bowled with an off break action. He was the fastest to reach the milestones of 200 and 250 wickets in ODIs. Mushtaq made history when he became the first Pakistani to take a hat-trick at a Cricket World Cup, which he did against Zimbabwe during the 1999 tournament.
A doosra is a particular type of delivery by an off-spin bowler in cricket. The doosra spins in the opposite direction to an off break, and aims to confuse the batter into playing an unavoidable shot.
An arm ball is a type of delivery in cricket. It is a variation delivery bowled by an off spin bowler or slow left-arm orthodox bowler. It is the finger spin equivalent of a wrist spinner's slider or zooter.
In the sport of cricket there are two broad categories of bowlers: pace and spin. Pace bowlers rely mostly on the speed of the ball to dismiss batsmen, whereas spin bowlers rely on the rotation and turn off the ball to deceive the batter.
A delivery or ball in cricket is a single action of bowling a cricket ball toward the batter. Once the ball has been delivered, batters may attempt to score runs, with the bowler and other fielders attempting to stop this by getting the batters out. When the ball becomes dead, the next delivery can begin.
Robert James Kirtley is a former English Test cricketer. He is a right arm fast medium bowler and a right hand batsman. After prep school at St. Andrews School, Eastbourne, he was educated at Clifton College.
Wrist spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket. It refers to the cricket technique and specific hand movements associated with imparting a particular direction of spin to the cricket ball. The other spinning technique, usually used to spin the ball in the opposite direction, is finger spin. Wrist spin is bowled by releasing the ball from the back of the hand, so that it passes over the little finger. Done by a right-handed bowler, this imparts an anticlockwise rotation to the ball, as seen from the bowler's perspective; a left-handed wrist spinner rotates the ball clockwise.
Finger spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket. It refers to the technique and specific hand movements associated with imparting a particular direction of spin to the cricket ball. The other spinning technique, generally used to spin the ball in the opposite direction, is wrist spin. Although there are exceptions, finger spinners generally turn the ball less than wrist spinners. However, because the technique is simpler and easier to master, finger spinners tend to be more accurate.
Throwing, commonly referred to as chucking, is an illegal bowling action in the sport of cricket. This occurs when a bowler straightens the bowling arm when delivering the ball. Throws are not allowed when a bowler bowls to a batsman. If the umpire deems that the ball has been thrown, they will call a no-ball, which means the batsman cannot be given out from that delivery.
In ball sports, topspin or overspin is a property of a ball that rotates forwards as it is moving. Topspin on a ball propelled through the air imparts a downward force that causes the ball to drop, due to its interaction with the air. Topspin is the opposite of backspin.
Sunil Philip Narine is a Trinidadian cricket player who played internationally for the West Indies. He made his One Day International (ODI) debut in December 2011 and Test match debut in June 2012. Primarily an off-spin bowler, he is also a left-handed batsman. Narine was a part of the West Indies team that won the 2012 T20 World Cup, where he took the winning wicket of Lasith Malinga in the final. In November 2023, he announced his retirement from international cricket.
Ravichandran Ashwin is an Indian international cricketer. He is a right-arm off spin bowler and a lower order batter. Widely regarded as one of the most prolific off spinners of all time, he represents the Indian cricket team and was part of the Indian team that won the 2011 Cricket World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy. He plays for Tamil Nadu and South Zone in domestic cricket and for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The teesra, also known as the jalebi, is a particular type of delivery by an off-spin bowler in the sport of cricket, which renowned off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq said he had invented. However, upon closer inspection, the ball is simply an orthodox backspinner, a very common delivery that has been bowled by finger spinners as long as cricket has been played.
Paskuwal Handi Tharindu Kaushal is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer who plays for ODIs and Tests in international level. He is a right-arm off break bowler who also bats right-handed. He is a past student of Devapathiraja College, Rathgama.
On the occasion of the legendary Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan's 48th birthday, we revisit his rise to the top of the international wicket-takers' charts through an animated graph.
Off-break/spin - A ball turning into the right hander- from off to leg (from left to right)
spin imparted to a bowled ball in cricket that tends to cause it to break from the off side to the leg side.
"A coach cannot change a bowler like Murali. If anyone tried to do that he will be lost. What made Murali so special was his off-spin. It was his main weapon. With his experience he added the doosra. But he got most of his wickets with off-spin," Fernando continued.
West Indies 'mystery spinner' Sunil Narine has been banned from bowling his off-spin delivery at the Indian Premier League... A statement from the IPL read: "...the committee has concluded that Mr. Narine's bowling action for his off-spinner, contravenes Law 24.2 (as read with Law 24.3) of the Laws of Cricket. Therefore the player is now banned from bowling the off-spinner in matches organised by the BCCI, including the IPL."
Once the basics of bowling off spin have been mastered (the mechanics of finger spin bowling) to become a complete off spin bowler one must develop and have the ability to consistently deliver a range of variations... The Arm Ball, Swinger Or Floater
When the ball spins the opposite way to how a batsman would expect, it is called a doosra (when an off-spin bowler turns it away from a right-hander)
The one you've all been asking for, here's Kieran talking us through how to bowl the different off spin variations.
Former England off-spinner Graeme Swann has rated India's Ravichandran Ashwin as the best Test spinner in the world while picking Afghanistan's Rashid Khan as the best in Twenty20s. "Ashwin is easily the best off-spinner in the world."
But there have been matches here that were not so memorable for off-spinners... Two fine English off-spinners, Fred Titmus and John Mortimore, bowled 93 overs between them in that match, yielding 222 runs without a wicket... Australia had one off-spinner, Tom Veivers
MacKay, bowling off-spinners on a perfect length
I was in the Yorkshire under 15 side and batting regularly at number seven and bowling off-spinners.
Bowling off-spinners was a peaceful occupation then.
The young offie from Afghanistan has often troubled the batsmen with his precise line and length and variations.
In Perth grade cricket I bowled offies and would keep bowling that way until inevitably the day would come when offbreaks didn't bring enough wickets... So if Laker was brought on, I would bowl offies, but if "Tich" Freeman was in action, I would bowl legspin.