Doubts on cricket terms, umpiring and other aspects of the game.

[Mariyam]

Thought we should have a thread where we can have a Q & A session with the others and can ask our doubts about the game/umpiring/ technical terms etc. I'll start with a few questions that have been bothering me since for quite some time now: 1) Why exactly is biting a cricket ball cheating?? After that incident where Afridi bit the ball, he was termed a cheater. I never understood the connect. So he bit a ball which is well, very strange and maybe belies some deeper psychological issues or just shows his frustration or whatever. But why is that cheating? What advantage does his team gain by his biting a cricket ball? Never understood that bit. 2) Ditto for ball tampering? How does the bowling side get any advantage from 'tampering' with the ball. Whats the logic behind that? (Note this is not an India vs Pakistan thing here, just my curiosity ) 3) When we say leg spinner what exactly does it mean? And whose "leg" are we talking about? Is it the batsman or the bowler? If it is the batsman, shouldn't it matter if a batsman is right handed or left handed? But we always hear that Kumble is a leg spinner. Its not that he becomes an off spinner when he bowls to left handers? Whats the disconnect here? Never understood this properly. Will ask a few more later.

[Sid]

Your 1st and 2nd doubts are intermixed,biting the ball means ball tempering and its cheating because it makes one side of the ball rough and helps in reverse swing but done with illegal means like bottle tops,teeth(:winky:) etc.Though the man who did that also has some pshycological issues :cantstop: Leg spin is called leg spin maybe becoz ball turns from leg to off :dontknow:

[Asoka]

Could someone plz plz plz xplain the mechanism of Reverse Swing:pray: and if there is any method to bowl it. And why can't most bowlers reverse the ball if it is just involves a method. I used to play club cricket but no one was skilled enough to reverse the ball. Moreover I used to read the ball off the pitch and not off the bowler's hand. So never really bothered.

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[ganeshran]

Swing in a cricket ball is because of differential air movement over the two sides of the cricket ball. Thats why bowlers keep one side shining and the other side just as it is. Since air moves differently over the both sides, the ball moves from one to other in the air. When one side is damaged more by biting or using a finger nail, or the other is made more shiny using saliva sweetened by sucking mints, the difference in condition of the two sides increases and so does the swing. Thats why its illegal

[ganeshran]

I think the terminology for leg spinners should be wrist spinner and offspinners should be finger spinners

[Sid]

I think the terminology for leg spinners should be wrist spinner and offspinners should be finger spinners

What about Murali who is a wrist spinner and bowls offies :hmmm:

[ganeshran]

What about Murali who is a wrist spinner and bowls offies :hmmm:

ya Murali uses his wrist to spin it :hmmmm2:, but most offspinners use their fingers.

[Khalpat]

Question 1 and 2 : Its against the laws of cricket to deliberately alter a cricket ball in any way. The only legal thing you can do is to shine the ball. A legspinner is a Right hand spin bowler who turns the ball from his right to left. He is called a "Leg" spinner because such a ball is usually turning from a right handed batsman's leg-stump to his off stump. But he will still be a legspinner if he is bowling to a left handed batsman in which case the bowl is going from the batsmans offstump to legstump. Most of these terminologies assume a right handed batsman. Also a legspinner uses a lot of his wrists where as a offspinner relies mainly on fingers. BTW a left handed leg spinner is called a chinamen and not a leg-spinner. Its just one of those things and there are plenty of such idiosyncrasies in cricket.

Just to add what Bossbhai has said: All assuming the batsman is right handed Leg spinner eg: Kumble, Warne 1. Leg Spin: If a bowler turns the ball from leg stump to offstump. 2. Googly: If a leg spin bowler bowls offspin ie when his ball turns from off to leg. Offspinner eg: Bhajji, Saqlain, Murli 3. Offspin: If a bowler turns the ball from off stump to leg. 4. Doosra: If an offspinner bowls the ball legspin ie when his ball turns from leg to off. Googly is used as surprise ball from a leg spinner and Doosra is used as a surprise ball from a offspinner. BTW does any body know the meaning of Chinaman in spin bowling

[Sid]

Just to add what Bossbhai has said: All assuming the batsman is right handed Leg spinner eg: Kumble, Warne 1. Leg Spin: If a bowler turns the ball from leg stump to offstump. 2. Googly: If a leg spin bowler bowls offspin ie when his ball turns from off to leg. Offspinner eg: Bhajji, Saqlain, Murli 3. Offspin: If a bowler turns the ball from off stump to leg. 4. Doosra: If an offspinner bowls the ball legspin ie when his ball turns from leg to off. Googly is used as surprise ball from a leg spinner and Doosra is used as a surprise ball from a offspinner. BTW does any body know the meaning of Chinaman in spin bowling

Chinaman means left arm wrist spin.

[Late Cut]

Could someone plz plz plz xplain the mechanism of Reverse Swing:pray: and if there is any method to bowl it. And why can't most bowlers reverse the ball if it is just involves a method. I used to play club cricket but no one was skilled enough to reverse the ball. Moreover I used to read the ball off the pitch and not off the bowler's hand. So never really bothered.

I am sure some folks reverse the ball without even knowing. Usually when you hold the ball seam up, the ball swings "towards" the rough side; in reverse swing,it swings "away" from the rough side. This has to do with air pockets and airodynamics which i wont get into here. Reverse swing happens when the ball gets much older and the seam plays a less prominent role in swinging. Needless to say, the polish you apply on the smooth side also plays as role as it is absorbed into he ball; vasaline, for example creates airpockets on the smooth side causing it to reverse. Needless to say, not everyone can swing the ball, since there are a lot of other factors like seam position and arm angle, but you need to have a certain level of pace for the ball to reverse swing. Reverse is more dangerous because you cant read it out of hand since the ball is swinging in the opposite direction that you expect it to, and often theball will drift in one direction before late swingi away in the other.

[Alchemist]

I am sure some folks reverse the ball without even knowing. Usually when you hold the ball seam up' date=' the ball swings "towards" the rough side; in reverse swing,it swings "away" from the rough side. This has to do with air pockets and airodynamics which i wont get into here. Reverse swing happens when the ball gets much older and the seam plays a less prominent role in swinging. Needless to say, the polish you apply on the smooth side also plays as role as it is absorbed into he ball; vasaline, for example creates airpockets on the smooth side causing it to reverse. Needless to say, not everyone can swing the ball, since there are a lot of other factors like seam position and arm angle, but you need to have a certain level of pace for the ball to reverse swing.[b'] Reverse is more dangerous because you cant read it out of hand since the ball is swinging in the opposite direction that you expect it to, and often theball will drift in one direction before late swingi away in the other.

So no Effect on Sehwag :haha: - Either he wont last till the ball gets old. - Or even if he lasts, I dont think he gives attention to such things.

[Mariyam]

Thanks for the detailed replies guys. Really helped me understand a lot. Cricket is not that simple a game :(( @Ganesh, I don't quite follow what you mean by differential air movement, but I think I get the gist.

[Sooda]

My turn.. Whats the difference between- a)Swing and Seam b)Break and spin (i.e leg break or leg spin) ..If any difference at all...

[Holysmoke]

Conventional swing. Ball swings towards the shiny side because there is less drag. Ball swings at slower speeds as well. Reverse swing. Ball swings towards the rough side as once the ball is rough, bowlers apply spit and sweat on the ball to make that side heavier. Therefore ball swings towards the rougher side. The ball needs to be going faster for reverse swing. Also, the ball swings late when it is dipping.

[Holysmoke]

My turn.. Whats the difference between- a)Swing and Seam b)Break and spin (i.e leg break or leg spin) ..If any difference at all...

Swing is when the ball changes direction in the air. Seam is when the ball changes direction off the pitch(but there are no revolutions on the ball) Spin is when the ball changes direction off the pitch (because of the revolutions of the ball) Seam mainly happens because the ball is not a perfect round. There is a small matter of the seam jutting out.

[Sid]

My turn.. Whats the difference between- a)Swing and Seam b)Break and spin (i.e leg break or leg spin) ..If any difference at all...

Swing is in the air and seam is off the pitch. I think both leg spin and leg break mean the same :hmmmm2:

[Holysmoke]

i am not sure about this spin is when the ball turns lesser, ie the ball is delivered straight from over the wicket and turns right (offspin) Or if the ball is deliverd from round the wicket .. comes in from an angle.. pitches.. and goes straight. break is when the ball changes direction even more. so if the right arm offspinner is bowling from round the wicket and the ball is coming in an angle(travelling northwest), the ball pitches and goes northeast... (as compared to going north when it is spin. )

[The Outsider]

My turn.. Whats the difference between- a)Swing and Seam b)Break and spin (i.e leg break or leg spin) ..If any difference at all...

Break and spin are used pretty much interchangeably these days, so for all practical aspects there is no difference. However, historically 'spin' has been used for the more conventional spin bowling that we see these days - both leg and off spin. 'Break' was usually used for the faster, flatter spinners who specialized on uncovered wickets. Due to the sometimes excessive turn available on such tracks, bowlers preferred bowling faster and flatter instead of trying to deceive the batsmen in the air too much. The last great practitioners of the type of bowling were Underwood and Chandra. On modern pitches, the bowling would not really be effective because with the faster pace you won't get any turn on the truer pitches. However, a recent example would be the way Karthik and Kumble bowled in the Bombay test of '04 - though Underwood and Chandra were even quicker through the air.

Seam mainly happens because the ball is not a perfect round. There is a small matter of the seam jutting out.

That and help from cracks and uneven grass covering to make the ball move off the seam.

[fineleg]

M'yam, Once you start keenly following Test matches - you will appreciate the game so much more. You'll enjoy the details discussed in this thread too. The instant circus T20 won't illustrate the game.