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For a cricket fan, there are very few things that bring more joy than seeing a wonderfully executed delivery that completely bamboozles the batsman and goes past his defences. Whether it is the ball which starts on off stump and ends up as a toe-crushing yorker, or the ball which pitches on leg stump and turns past the outside edge to hit the top of off-stump, the art of bowling is a joy to behold.While the game of cricket has seen many bowlers come and go, precious few could make the ball talk in the air or off the pitch. As modern bowlers look to sacrifice swing for pace, swing bowling seems to be a dying art. The bug seems to have affected the spinners as well, as most look to add variations to their bowling instead of trying to spin the ball a long way.As the game has evolved, the batsmen are now more wary of playing swing and spin. Bowlers often have to wait for batsmen to make mistakes by themselves instead of inducing them to play a loose shot. The only chance a bowler has of getting a batsman out is to bowl an unplayable delivery.Let’s take a look at some such deliveries that left the batsmen in a knot because the ball swung or spun too much:
#10 Steve Harmison
Steve Harmison was a man somewhere in between a swing bowler and a pace bowler. He rarely did both. But when he did, he was irresistible to watch. One such example would be in
All this changed in the 2005 Ashes. He bowled beautifully throughout the summer, proving instrumental in Englands series win. His slower delivery to dismiss Michael Clarke is the stuff of legend, as England wrested away the Ashes from Australia by destroying their spirit in the 2 run victory at Edgbaston, with Harmison taking the final wicket of Kasprowicz. In 2006, he took 6/19 against Pakistan and followed it up with 5/57 in the second innings.
It was now Englands turn to tour Australia, and great things were expected from Harmison. The crowd waited with bated breath as Harmison geared up to bowl the first ball of the Ashes. But his excitement proved too much for him as he pitched it miles outside the off stump and it swung straight to Flintoff at second slip.
That explained Englands mindset at the moment, and they would go on to lose the series 5-0.
#9 Yasir Shah
Since the retirement of yesteryear greats Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed, good spin bowlers in Pakistan were something of a rarity. As always, Pakistan produced quality fast-bowlers, but the spinners quota was found lacking. Then, with the emergence of Saeed Ajmal, a world-class spin bowler had been unearthed. Unfortunately, Ajmal was reported for a suspect action, and Pakistans hopes crumbled. But now, after the inclusion of Yasir Shah, Pakistans spin-trouble looks to be fading away.
Often called Lionel Messis doppelganger, Yasir Shah is one of the rare leg-spinners in the modern game. Unlike most spinners, he prefers to flight the ball and tempt the batsmen into going for the lofty drives. He isnt afraid to pitch the ball up to the batsman and risk getting hit. He also has a terrific googly which he wisely uses as a variation, instead of mixing it up every other ball.
He took nine wickets in Galle, troubling the Sri Lankans in their own backyard. He is also the fastest Pakistan bowler to take 50 Test wickets, and his bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed believes he can go to even greater heights.
Watch as Shah outfoxes Chris Rogers with a vicious leg-spinner that pitches well outside off and turns back to completely miss the stumps, almost evading the keeper as well:
#8 Simon Jones
Simon Jones will forever be Englands biggest what-if. England already had Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard for the 2005 Ashes, but they wanted somebody who could bowl good pace and swing the ball around. That was when Jones stepped up, and he was the man for the job. Jones had earlier impressed in West Indies, taking 3 crucial wickets, including that of Brian Lara and then dismissing Shivnarine Chanderpaul in the next match, finishing it off with a five-for in the second innings. Jones further proved his case in the tour to Zimbabwe and South Africa, and later in the home series against Bangladesh in the lead up to the Ashes. His place in the first team was confirmed.
After the crushing defeat in the first match, Jones had to prove his class if England had any notion of winning the Ashes at home. Jones then made the ball talk in the second Test as he dismissed Justin Langer in the first innings and then Matthew Hayden in the second, showing excellent control of swing, helping England to a one-run victory. The third Test proved to be his zenith, as Jones ran through the Australians, taking 7-110 in the match. Jones then took 5-44 in the fourth Test, setting up yet another England win before leaving the field with a horrible ankle injury.
Simon Jones never truly recovered from that injury. He tried his best to return to international cricket, but successive injuries and relapses led to his career being cut short. Finally, after 8 long years of hardships, Jones announced his retirement in 2013. If not for that ankle injury, Jones would definitely have been one of Englands best bowlers, and he would have troubled many a batsman with his reverse swinging deliveries.
A perfect example would be Michael Clarke, who found himself completely misreading the swing on Jones delivery, leading to his stumps being knocked out of the ground. The ball was so good that it stunned the usually articulate Mark Nicholas to sputter the classic line That...Is...Very...Good!
#7 Ravichandran Ashwin
Contrary to Pakistan where spinners were a rarity, India has consistently produced spinners of high calibre. There has never been a drought of spinners in Indias recent cricket history, due to the presence of Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Amit Mishra and now Ravichandran Ashwin. Tall and lanky, Ashwin was introduced by the IPL team Chennai Super Kings during the second edition of the tournament.
He impressed with his ability to get drift off the ball and he could even bowl a useful carrom ball. He was used extensively in the powerplay overs by captain MS Dhoni, and batsmen found it difficult to negotiate Ashwin.
Ashwin rose to fame in the home series against New Zealand where he finished as the leading wicket taker. He was later picked for the 2011 World Cup where he only played two matches, but took four crucial wickets. He picked up 9 wickets in his debut Test match and won the man of the match. A century in the third Test of the series also showed that he could bat a bit.
While he lost his form in the away tours to Australia and Sri Lanka, he became the fastest Indian to 50 wickets in Test matches. Ashwin then became the fastest Indian bowler to 100 Test wickets, underlining his successful return after a loss of form. Ashwin is now one of the best spinners in the modern game as he has looked comfortable in any sort of conditions.
Watch as Ashwin completely bamboozles South African batsman Hashim Amla with a ripper of a carrom ball, which pitched outside the leg stump and turned past the bat to hit off stump. Adam Gilchrist quickly dubbed it the T20 Delivery of the Century.
#6 Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram isarguably Pakistans best bowler of all time. Dubbed The King of Swing, Akram was one of the early exponents of the reverse swing, mastering it over the course of his career and causing the destruction of manystumps. A quick left arm fast bowler with a whippy action, Akram often moved the ball both ways in a single delivery. He showed complete mastery of swing and seam, and could bowl well in the harshest of bowling conditions.
Left arm fast bowlers were often played cautiously by most batsmen, and Akram made full use of it as he annihilated any batting line-up he faced. It was his remarkable consistency and pin-point accuracy which put him head-and-shoulders above his peers which included Ambrose, McGrath, Donald and teammate Waqar Younis. Akram won 17 man of the match awards and 7 man of the series awards, which is one of the best in history. Akram is also the only bowler to take two hattricks in both Tests and ODIs.
Watch as Akram traps Darren Lehmann in front with a vicious reverse swinging yorker that starts outside off stump and ends up on Lehmanns toes:
#5 Nathan Lyon
Nathan Lyon was one of Australias surprise picks who turned out be a good find. After Shane Warnes retirement, Australia had used 13 spinners in seven years, and only two of them had played more than five Tests Lyon and Nathan Hauritz. Hauritzs form was dipping, and he was concentrating more on his batting anyway. So Lyon originally a curator was picked in 2011, and he impressed in the fastest way possible with a wicket off his very first ball in Test cricket. He finished with five wickets in his debut innings. From that point, there was no looking back.
Lyon later took 7 wickets in a match against New Zealand and then 4 wickets against England in the Ashes. In 2013, Lyon became just the sixth Australian spinner to take 100 Test wickets. Lyon then achieved his personal best in a match, with twelve wickets against India at Adelaide. Lyon later became the Australian off-spinner with most Test wickets, passing Hugh Trumbles record of 141 wickets.
Watch as Lyon delivers a ripper at the WACA in Perth, as the ball pitches on leg, slips down leg stump and settles in the hand of leg slip:
#4 Ryan Harris
One of Australias best fast bowlers, Ryan Harris could have achieved so much if not for his persistent knee injuries. Harris would pick up the new ball, shine it, run up and deliver an away swinger. Then he would walk back to the mark, shine it some more, and deliver an inswinger. Rinse and repeat. Harris would bowl until his knees gave out, or until he got the batsman he wanted.
With nine wickets in his debut series and then nine wickets in a Perth match, Harris underlined his worth as Australia finally found a good swing bowler. He later took 11 wickets against Sri Lanka and then 6 wickets in a match against India as Australia became a super-power in Tests. Harris later picked up a five-fer at Lords and then a further seven wickets at Durham. He became the fastest bowler of 30 years of age or more to pick up 100 Test wickets.
But luck soon ran out for Harris as his knee problems caught up to him and he was forced to retire before the 2015 Ashes. He would always be Australias biggest what-if.
Watch Ryan Harris ball to Ben Stokes which pitched in the middle and completely beat the batsman all ends up, almost ending up at first slip:
#3 Shane Warne (again)
No list consisting of balls that spin too much can be complete without the spin king, Shane Warne himself. In a career that can be summed up by spin and more spin, Shane Warne turned out to be Australias best ever spinner, second in statistics only to Muralitharan himself. Though he found himself in the news for all the wrong reasons, Warne always brought the focus back to what was important pure, quality leg-spin.
If Warne was good at spinning the ball a long way, he was better at the mind-games. Stories of his sledges are now legends, and his talks of inventing new variations made opponents scratch their heads and wonder if their plans were ever enough. He made batsmen sweat by giving different names to his deliveries, which included the flipper and the mysterious zooter. In between them were the flighted legspinner, the flat legspinner and the googly, which made life as a batsmen hell.
Warne reinvented the dying art of leg-spin and made it his own. He was leg-spin reborn as he made his way past the oppositions batting order by slipping balls past the outside edge, the inside edge and even around the batsmans legs. Warne always saved his best for the big occasions, which was the Ashes.
Watch as Warne bowls Mike Gatting with the Ball of the Century, which propelled him to fame, as the ball pitched outside leg-stump, turned miraculously past Gattings bat and according to some, Gatting himself (which was considered an extraordinary feat) and hit off-stump, sparking mad celebrations:
#2 Waqar Younis
It is an accepted notion that fast bowlers hunt in packs, and it was in no different in the case of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. If Akram exploited angles and caused the batsmen to nick behind to the keeper, Younis believed only in knocking stumps over. Combined with Akrams unplayable angle and Younis frightening accuracy, Pakistans bowlers were feared worldwide.
Waqar created the perfect blend of pace and swing which made him one of the deadliest fast bowlers in the world, and tormented all batsmen alike. His swinging delivery to Brian Lara, which was termed unplayable, was one of the defining moments of his career. Younis late swing was often called banana swing, for the curve on the swing and it suddenly zoning in on the stumps.
Watch as Waqar dismantles Australias tail with a series of banana swings, accounting for Greg Blewett, Paul Reiffel and Craig McDermott, proving his nickname The Sultan of Swing:
#1 Shane Warne
Once again, it is up to Shane Warne to round off the list with one of the most memorable deliveries in cricket history.
It was a gloomy morning at Edgbaston, and Australia and England were playing what would later be one of the best Ashes Test matches in history. Andrew Strauss was batting in the second innings, with England leading by 99 runs. If they wanted to win the match and square the series, they needed a good start to make a big score. Lee and Kasprowicz had bowled 3 overs each, and the English openers had seen them off comfortably.
Shane Warne was then introduced in the seventh over. Strauss had already been dismissed by Warne in the second innings by a ripper the ball had pitched outside off, turned in and beaten Strauss cut to hit the middle stump. Strauss was wary of Warnes ability to bowl into the rough and extract considerable turn. Like how Strauss thought, Warnes first delivery turned a long way, but it slipped down the leg-side. Strauss narrowed his eyes in concentration.
Ponting brought in a silly point and a leg gully. Warne moved from over the wicket to around the wicket. Tension was high, everybody held their breath. Warne delivered the ball. It was a poor delivery, pitching way outside off-stump. Strauss breathed a sigh of relief and offered a pad, looking to tap it away on the off-stump. He also covered the off-stump with his back leg, just in case.
What happened next? Watch for yourself:
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