Dr Paul Hawkins, inventor of Hawk-Eye.
Colin Miller must be feeling that if he can’t get into the Australia team on this wicket then he might never be able to. The spin bowlers have looked far more threatening on this wicket than any of the seamers. Hawk-Eye explains why.
Shane Warne’s deviation graphic on the top left shows just how much turn the Australia leg-spinner is able to get on this wicket. Warne is able to pitch two balls in the same place and there be almost 2 metres difference in where they pass the stumps!
But, of course, to be successful you need to do more than just turn the ball – and this is why Warne has been much more successful than any other spinners who have rolled their arm in this Test.
The top right graphic shows where the three balls with which Warne bowled an England batsman pitched and then turned. Warne’s objective is to pitch the ball on or only just outside leg stump (to right-handers) and enable the ball to hit off stump.
This prevents the batsmen being able pad up to the delivery as he could be out LBW. With the ball turning as much as it is at the Oval, Warne achieves this objective by bowling very wide of the wicket.
But the key to any successful spin bowler is his variation, and although Warne is unable to bowl the googly that much now, he does vary the amount it turns to leg. Marcus Trescothic was bowled because he was expecting the ball to turn more than it did.
26 Aug, 2001
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