5th Test Border Gavaskar Trophy January 3-7 1000hrs @ the SCG

[Lunchtime]

No one had a clue about his doosra and they genuinely went the other way.

 

[The hands of stone]

The Flipper is a very difficult ball to bowl. I was a wrist spinner and I couldn't bowl it consistently. It puts pressure on the fingers and shoulder and upon release it has to be squeezed out like a pip, like clicking your fingers.

But it's a very effective ball. Batters will go back to the ball but the ball skids through low thus creating opportunities for bowled or LBW.

Shane Warne used to bowl the Flipper well before he had shoulder surgery. He still used to bowl in occasions but not as much. He did though bowl a "slider"....a ball out of the front of the hand.

Brad Hogg also used to bowl thr traditional Flipper (like Warne) as well. In the 2003 World Cup he bowled Andy Flower with a great Flipper....great ball. He also bowled Surav Ganguly in a Test match too.

But yeah the Flipper is a difficult ball to bowl. Clarrie Grimmett has been credited with creating the Flipper. It took him several years to master it before he bowled it in games.

Clarrie Grimmett | Sport Australia Hall of Fame

Clarrie Grimmett remains one of the most remarkable men ever to play cricket for Australia as one of the great spin bowlers of the 1920s and 30s. He was born in Dunedin on the South Island of New Zealand, he practiced tirelessly at the Basin Reserve and first attracted attention at 15 when he took…

sahof.org.au

You need incredible strong fingers , wrists and shoulders to bowl it .
Then being able to control is another matter .

After Warnie did his shoulder he lost some of the power and range to consistently land it , so started going out the front of the hand more . Which was clever and skilful enough .

You do get the odd grade/premier leggie who bowls them they just dont have the consistentcy .
Flippers are pretty easy to pick if you know what to look for

 

[nobbyiscool]

You need incredible strong fingers , wrists and shoulders to bowl it .
Then being able to control is another matter .

That's the point I was trying to make last night. By 19, physically I could bowl a flipper. But it was absolute physical torture on my shoulder to do it, cos you're "dropping" it whenever you bowl a flipper... and like, I strongly suspect, at least 90% of 18-19yos who figure out how to physically do it, there's no benefit whatsoever to that physical torture cos you're only landing maybe 10% of them on a good day.

 

[Borisdog]

I’ve mentioned a few times that at this level the “faces have to fit” and in particular with this bloke he just didn’t on a number of levels.

The Australian Cricket Team is almost like a real life MAFS. You can identify plenty of players that “should have” made it but ultimately didn’t because of this.

Yes indeed.

The converse to this, both in sport AND a work environment, is never underestimate the damage 1 dickhead can do to a good team.

I am a very big subscriber to that.

 

[Lunchtime]

You need incredible strong fingers , wrists and shoulders to bowl it .
Then being able to control is another matter .

After Warnie did his shoulder he lost some of the power and range to consistently land it , so started going out the front of the hand more . Which was clever and skilful enough .

You do get the odd grade/premier leggie who bowls them they just dont have the consistentcy .
Flippers are pretty easy to pick if you know what to look for

You can spot it in the grip. Thats one element of watching for it.

 

[Richard Pryor]

Ashley Mallett averaged under 30 but had a SR of 75, not sure if that qualifies. Tim May was a good bowler but averaging 34 not sure if that qualifies as "genuinely good". Lyon has a shitload of wickets, I'm sure he does, not sure who else there is?

Think Hugh Trumble is our only offie to have a rep as a genuine match winner in his own right pre Lyon.