Prolific Middlesex and England seam bowler Toby Roland-Jones on his wicket-taking method and how he adjusts when things don’t go to plan.
THE METHOD
There are obviously lots of different ways to go about taking wickets but for me personally, as someone who is more of a seam bowler than an out-and-out swing bowler, it’s about consistency: hitting a dangerous area, repeating my best ball as much as possible and looking to bowl in a corridor around fourth stump. I want to be regularly asking questions of the batsman and testing the outside edge.
At my best I’m bowling a ball that leaves the right-hander, with a little bit of swing, nipping away, trying to bring the slips into play as much as possible, and then occasionally using angles on the crease or a bit of natural variation to threaten the stumps as well.
If you can be in and around that corridor long enough, then you will really pose a lot of problems to batsmen.
THE CHANGE-UPS
Something that’s often not talked about much is using the angles that the crease has to offer you, particularly when conditions aren’t necessarily in your favour as a bowler.
Subtly changing your angle in and around the crease if the ball’s not doing much can give you a natural change and give the batsman something to think about. The batsman wants to try and line you up in a consistent way and if the same ball delivered from the same angle is coming down every time then that becomes easier.
You might also want to change the field to allow yourself to bowl a bit straighter by giving yourself a bit more protection on the leg-side.
And think about changing your lengths too. Effective use of the short ball stops a batsman getting too settled.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
Sometimes simplicity is the key. I’m not someone who would necessarily look to swing three away and then swing one back in. By bowling consistently in that fourth-stump channel I’m hoping to force the batsman to play the ball, because if it comes back a fraction then the off stump would be under threat.
Setting the batsman up by getting the ball to leave him and then trapping him lbw with the one that reverses back in is always a pleasing one on tracks that don’t offer you much and where it feels it’s going to be tough to bring the outside edge into play.
I don’t think you have to be particularly highly skilled to bowl reverse-swing but you definitely have to know what’s going on and to understand the art. And you need the conditions in your favour.
