Learn how to play spin bowling like a pro. In the first of a two-part series, Graham Thorpe, the ECB’s lead batting coach and an expert against twirlers in his day, shares his tips on how to face the turning ball.
WINNING THE EARLY BATTLE
When I first walk out to bat I’m looking at the gaps and also looking to sniff out the danger. Those first 20 minutes against a spinner are the most crucial and you have to have confidence in your defence. One thing you don’t want to be doing is prodding on to the front foot and then getting caught by close catchers.
You have to be confident in your ability to defend either away from the ball or sometimes to the ball, but softly. The bowler is trying to land it as many times as he can on a length. As a batsman you’re trying to make sure that you end up either getting away from the ball, so you can watch it spin, or hit it on the half-volley. That is what you would call ‘picking length’, which is the key thing against the spinners.
WORKING AGAINST THE SPIN
Sometimes when I’m coaching I’ll say to a player: ‘I don’t want you to hit over the top, I don’t want you to sweep and I don’t want you to play a forward defensive’. If you take out those three shots then the player can either drive off the front foot if it’s a fuller delivery or get away from the ball and play off the back foot if it’s a bit shorter. By restricting their range of shots you’re immediately encouraging the player to think about how they’re picking length and to move their feet correctly.
TOP TIP!
Imagine a line going straight down the middle of the pitch. Anything pitching outside of that line to an off-spinner is an option to sweep but you’ve got to be able to cover your stumps; you don’t want the ball spinning back round your legs.
