Bowling skills in English conditions - wobble seam

[Nikhil_cric]

We have seen quite a few seamers use this wobble seam delivery this English summer to very good effect - Abbas, Hasan, faheem, Woakes,Jimmy , Barbie . When conditions don't aid swing as much and when the deck is quite placid as it was yesterday, these bowlers stick to bowling a good length and bowl with a wobbly seam which ties up the batsmen and finds both edges at times. Woakes was brilliant in the morning session and used it to remove the openers when they were looking set and broad removed a set rahane with this delivery. Why haven't the coaching staff worked on adding this to our bowlers' arsenal.

[R!TTER]

Just now, Nikhil_cric said:

We have seen quite a few seamers use this wobble seam delivery this English summer to very good effect - Abbas, Hasan, faheem, Woakes,Jimmy , Barbie . When conditions don't aid swing as much and when the deck is quite placid as it was yesterday, these bowlers stick to bowling a good length and bowl with a wobbly seam which ties up the batsmen and finds both edges at times. Woakes was brilliant in the morning session and used it to remove the openers when they were looking set and broad removed a set rahane with this delivery. Why haven't the coaching staff worked on adding this to our bowlers' arsenal.

Actually no the wobbly seam works because there's enough grass on the surface, the first instance I remember very clearly was Asif at Karachi. What I also remember with Asif is that when the seam hit right areas, the ball would jag miles after pitching, in or out. I doubt the wobbly seam works in Aus or India.

 

Now seam is virtually impossible to control, you can do something with swing but very little if anything with the seam. Of course holding the seam pointing towards slips or fine leg will make it move in that direction, but it's neither guaranteed nor a certainty. But the biggest problem is accuracy, none of our bowlers are half as accurate as Jimmy, not even Kumar, and very few will ever come close to Broad.

Edited August 19, 2018 by R!TTER

[rkt.india]

Wobbly seam works because of its uncertainty. It can go both ways, even bowler won't be sure which it will go. Woakes used it when he didn't want the ball to swing. Yesterday, ball was swinging miles for all bowlers so this delivery worked as it didn't swing. Rahul became a victim of such delivery that swing away instead went with the angle.

[vayuu1]

I have been saying this that, Jimmy picked this up from asif and zak, zak use to do it for us later in his career plus if you remember he use to bowl with cross seam later in his career in India, especially during 2008 Australia series in which he use to bowl a lot of cross seam deliveries, which would help in scuffing up the ball as early as 12-15 overs  ,sadly none of our bowlers are ready to pick his brains, otherwise they would be twice a bowler they are now. Zak picked the wobbly seam from Asif during 2006 tour. 

[vayuu1]

It's a pretty handy trick to have all the bowlers will be mighty effective in SENA countries. 

[Suhaan]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/theashes/11784347/Ashes-2015-Glenn-McGrath-explains-the-wobble-seam.html

[Nikola]

Would work mostly in england only though its good to use upright seam and bowl accurately than using many alternatives. Shami has very good seam position and ishant need to learn from him. Ishant always bowl with angled seam which is reason he don't get enough assistant from pitch at a time.

[Pak_cric]

Bowling swing can be a very elusive, will-o'-the-wisp skill, here one moment gone the next. There have been those like Richard Ellison, even Ian Botham, who've been king of the swingers one minute and then unable to bend it at all the next. When did it become apparent to you that you needed alternative ways of bowling?
I suppose it was just before the Ashes tour of 2010-11. We watched Mohammad Asif bowl here at Lord's, and the seam was just wobbling in the air a bit but it was moving either way off the seam when it pitched. So I went in the nets with David Saker and just tried to figure out with my grip how to get the ball to do what he was doing with it. So we got the video camera to focus on the seam to see what it was doing and just went from there.

 

 

Interview of James Anderson.

Edited August 19, 2018 by Pak_cric