Great Waltham cc Batting wagon wheels

G.Reed RHB No.3 Great Waltham cc 3rd XI

G.Reed RH bat. Batted at No.3 in this match and hung around till the end. Looks to be a relatively cautious player, not looking to smash the ball out of the park other than loose balls - full tosses. These he tends to hook for 4 through the fine leg region, in the case of his game off of one of our junior players who I think was bowling Leggies? 

Most of the shots were straight and in the V, but none of these reached the boundary although the outfield was slow. He was dropped off of Debond's bowling (I think) at Mid-wicket when two of our fielders went for the catch without calling and put each other off.

I bowled at him (See below) all the pink entries and he only scored 5 runs off of my bowling which was a little unorthodox but effective today as I bowled Flippers for every delivery except for 2 (See the other blog for an account of the game here).

Looking at the bowling analysis, it doesn't look as though he dominated anyone with the bat. Full balls he presented a perfectly straight bat, not necessarily over-reaching and always maintained his position in the crease with a stable base and doesn't look like a candidate for a stumping. The straight bat defense might be an option to exploit when we play them again. But the most interesting aspect of his play is the lack of leg-side flicks down to the fine leg region, which might indicate a weakness. If you look at his wagon wheel here there were 3 significant shots for 4 that came about as a result of the bowler bowling full-tosses. If it wasn't for them there wouldn't have been a single run in that region. Additionally, several of my balls were close to the stumps on the leg-side and he didn't get a bat on any of them.

G.Reed RH No.3 Bat - Great Waltham cc

So, off the basis of the analysis today and what we've seen I reckon the field below might be a starting point.
The light area indicated by the B (below) is his primary scoring area. It was noted that the ball didn't bounce a great deal on this wicket and stayed low, so if you have the Flipper as one of your variations it might be the variation you can turn to or use, as I did in this game as your stock delivery? As mentioned there is a perception on first look at this bloke that there is a weakness on the leg-side, so unusually I'm going to advocate bowling around the wicket targeting his stumps, keeping in mind that the ball isn't going to bounce a great deal because of the nature of the wicket. If you've got the Flipper make sure you fire in a few from the leg-side too because he struggled as mentioned before getting the bat onto these. Bowl them on a good to full length mixed in with your Leg-breaks. 

The bowler that had the best figures who bowled at Reed was Debond who may have been bowling Leg-Breaks - from where I was fielding at Fine Leg I could see that he was varying his speed and flight at least and this seemed to do the trick. It wasn't for the full tosses his figures would have been pretty good.

There's also an obvious case for bowling good line and length Leg-Breaks on and around the off-stump with a slip and potentially a gully because of his straight bat defense and proclivity to play through the V as indicated. An over-spun ball with one that has more side-spin could do the trick or any straighter delivery (Flipper or Orthodox back-spinner) combined with your Leg-Break.

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Joel Barker RH No.2 batsman Joel scored 52 before being bowled by T.Edmunds. As you can see by his wagon wheel he's got plenty of shots and that his main area for scoring was off-side via either a lofted -on-drive or one along the ground. Strong striker of the ball and times it quite well. Anything short and he's on to and puts it away. Admittedly our bowling attack lacked the kind of pace you see at 2nd XI and 1st XI standards and it might be the case that this bloke at 17 may be on his way up to the 2nd XI and might be a different prospect with a faster bowler like my son Joe Thompson?

Joel Barker No.2 RHB- Great Waltham cc 3rd XI

That said though, if we look at his wagon-wheel we can see that, like Reed above there's little evidence that he's good at anything on the legs unless it's short - as with Reed he pulls it for 4 through square. With regards my bowling which he faced a fair bit, he struggled and admitted so once he'd score a single off me saying... "At last I've got a run off you, I can't get you off the square"! I doubt like anyone he's had a bowler bowl Flippers at him let alone consecutive Flippers over after over! A far more aggressive and positive player in comparison with Reed and possibly not so susceptible to the classic Wrist-Spinner approach seen elsewhere on the blog. If we look at the Wagon wheel there was one cover drive for 4 and 1 off-drive for 4. Most of the shots were through the region B.

Joel Barker LH Bat - Great Waltham cc 3rd XI

With the lack of shots through the cover-drive region, this has made me consider that perhaps he's avoiding that region for a specific reason? I have to admit it's not an observation I made during the game and only now looking at the diagram I made during the game and converting it to this, that this is now apparent. This coupled with lack of shots through A (Behind square) gives us options. 


With this first look at Joel, it looks as though we should deploy the Shane Warne approach to starting our spell (See here). Start over the wicket and target the stumps looking to turn the ball. Get a sense of whether it does turn or not. *Note, in this game I was bowled off a turning off-break from Joel bowling RH Orthodox finger spin, so the wicket does turn at their 3rd XI ground. If it turns try different positions on the crease with your stock delivery threatening the stumps - have a slip in and leave the gap, in this case initially a big gap,

Joel Barker, Great Waltham cc 3rd XI

Cut off his scoring shot 4's with the your fielders at 8,9 and 10, this should bring his run rate down and keep him down to singles, it may even induce a catch? Bowling over the stumps turning the ball away from the outside edge of the bat, he may still look to hit the ball either straight or through the on-side. If that's the case, the chances are he's going to edge one through to the keeper, slips or Gully or mis-hit a shot to be caught at cover or backward point. 6 is there for the late-cut or anything that evades the fielders on the off-side as he might go at it hard. 

In the first over definitely consider coming around the stumps and bowling full on the leg-side turning the ball into the stumps especially if you're getting it to turn off the wicket. As with Reed, Barker does look lacking with shots through here and many of my leg-side balls totally evaded him yet they were only just down the leg-side for most of the time. Even the wider ones that most batsmen would sweep he kept well away from. So it's worth a punt mixing your Leg-Breaks with straighter deliveries (In my case Flippers). 

16th July 2022 Update Joel Barker

Played against him at Holy Cross on a hot day just a few days before the UK record for the hottest day ever. 

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P.Rolfe LHB No.6 The last bloke we have a look at here is P.Rolfe who was a totally different prospect. The word was that some years previously he'd been a 1st XI batsman and this season was his return to cricket. He scored 16 off of 9 deliveries only dealing in 4's two of which were powerful reverse sweeps down to 3rd man. This was primarily against one of our better bowlers - Alastair Hayton who in the previous week took 3 wickets for 1 off of 4 overs 

almost. As I recall he didn't hang about either to have a look, 3rd ball and he was pulling out the reverse sweep! 

Not much to go on though if we look at this wagon wheel. I guess we have to consider that he was a 1st XI player and that he's going to come at us hard. He stayed in his ground and almost without exception every ball was bound for the next county or the North sea, no boundary was safe!

P.Rolfe LHB No.6 Great Waltham cc 3rd XI

P.Rolfe Wagon Wheel LHB Great Waltham cc

Bowling plan for P.Rolfe - Great Waltham cc

Not having seen much of P.Rolfe as he came in at the end of the game, there's not a lot to work with. The impression we have is that he's going to come hard at you if you're a slow bowler which may play into our hands? Be prepared though to change tack and adapt to the situation as it may turn out that he plays differently in accordance to the game situation.

The basic idea here is to attack the stumps. Come round the wicket bowling leg-breaks and your straight variations if you have them. Have a look at whether you're getting the ball to turn and if it is vary your deliveries and the width that you bowl. One tactic is to bowl relatively wide and full outside of his off-stump especially if he's swinging at it, looking to get a toe end mis-hit. If this looks viable you might want to get a fielder into Gully? 

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Please note - You set these fields at your own risk. The owner of the blog is in no way responsible for you getting carted around the park for 4's and 6's. Seek professional advice and guidance if in doubt.

Check out my other posts here...

Cricket scoring – Dot balls & runs

Cricket scoring – Wides and No-Balls (No runs made)

Cricket scoring – Byes and Leg-Byes

Cricket scoring – Wides with runs made

Cricket scoring – No-Balls with runs made ‘Off the bat’.

Cricket scoring – No-Ball Byes and Leg-Byes

The classic Peter Philpott field for left-handed batsmen. Wrist-spin bowling

This is the field setting that Peter Philpott recommends for wrist-spin bowlers bowling at LH batsmen from the book "The Art of Wrist-spin bowling".

He writes...

• To a left-handed batsman in normal circumstances, on a good wicket, trying to bowl well-up about a foot outside the left-hander's off-stump where there are usually some marks. The bowler must aim to keep well outside of off-stump. If his line begins to squeeze into the left-handers legs, he will be worked away easily on the on-side or even carved up.
• To the left-hander both square-legs, short and deep should be behind square, because of the direction of turn.
• For the same reason, short mid-wicket becomes as significant as short-cover would be for the right-hander.
• Slip is probably finer for the left-hander.
• Short-cover is still important, particularly if the bowler values his wrong-un.

He goes on to say at the start of the spell for the first over or two until the bowler settles, there should be one or two fielders on the leg-side boundary (10) Deep backward square and perhaps (9) Deep mid-wicket. Perhaps once the bowler has settled 9 and 10 can be brought in to a more attacking position.

A good quote from Philpott to keep in mind is...

"If you think of something which is a positive, aggressive change, don't wait, do it at once. If you think of a change that is negative and defensive, don't hurry into it, it can wait".

Introduction - SomeblokecalledDave

You've probably arrived here because of my field setting images that you've found on the internet, if you have welcome. But, before we go any further I have to make it clear I'm not an expert at this, I'm not a professional in any way, I'm just really enthusiastic.

Jan 2020 - I've just been updating the blog and having a tidy up. A lot happened last summer, the club changed leagues; I injured my knee and hardly played after June and I changed my bowling, making the Flipper my main ball. Because of the injury it meant that I watched more games (My son Joe) than I played and I adapted the way that I produce the wagon-wheels seen on the blog here. The way the blog looks at the moment is a bit all over the place, but I reckon I've settled on an effective and consistent approach that I'll stick with now going forwards. The hope is I'll play a lot more this summer which means the diagrams will be basic as I'd have collated the records whilst playing.

I'm increasingly, I'm less inclined to produce the Photoshop versions because they take far too long to produce. This year with the intention of playing every single game, so the diagrams will be drawn whilst playing... at the end of my overs when walking down to fine leg if I'm bowling. Or, if someone else is bowling in between deliveries.

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If you're looking in from another country (Most of the views are from the UK and India) the majority of the examples will be from playing teams in the south Essex region just outside London in England from either my old league SNEL or the new league TRMEL.

Currently I'm playing in the T-Rippon league in Essex, so most of the records will be from matches played at the locations below. Click on the map below to see the league website.

The intention is that this blog will be a resource for bowlers and captains in the T Rippon mid Essex cricket league. Each time I play against a side, I'll try to make notes and observations about the batsmen that I in particular have to bowl against for future reference in the same way that professional bowlers do. If I get time I may add other batsmen that I've observed in the field, generally though I'll try and get batsmen 1 - 5 recorded for each game throughout the season.
So, if you're a bowler that plays in the same league as me you might want to keep an eye on the blog and there may be some useful info and data.

It's important to have plans for batsmen that you come up against, watch the Shane Warne master-classes on Youtube, especially the SKY ones where he frequently talks about this aspect of the game. Recently, there's been a SKY master-class with Darren Gough and he too mentions the fact that he took his bowling extremely seriously, to the point where he made extensive notes on the batsmen he came up against in order that he could formulate a plan for the next confrontation. Ravi Ashwin over the summer test of 2018 with England, similarly, in a number of interviews for the BBC and SKY also mentioned that he also made extensive notes as a part of his reflective practice and planning for future confrontations.

Initially the main emphasis was to formulate plans for the batsman, but, I'm increasingly reluctant to do this as much and it takes a lot more time to draw up the plan. Initially I used to attempt to record the fields that were set on the day, but I've realised this is pretty much impossible as they're modified during the game. No doubt if I set anything different or note that my captain does anything specific for individuals I'll try and record that too.

Hopefully this year I'll stick to more manageable approach to recording the data. This here left will be the method of recording when I'm actually playing and then once I get home I'll produce a tidier version long-hand rather than using the ariel views of the grounds as I've done previously, that might allow far more time for analysis and to record batters right up to No.7?

The multi- colour versions seen towards the end of the 2019 season (see below) are only possible if I'm not playing. If I don't play rest assured this will be the approach that I'll use and I've been working incorporating more information. To be honest there's a part of me that's looking forward to the prospect of just sitting watching games, filling these in and videoing the wickets as in the example below (Double click on the image to see the video).

 
If you find the blog useful share it and keep checking back if you're a bowler in the same league.

21/1/20 

I'm still developing the On-field wagon wheel method and have been looking at Bill Frindall's technique and have adapted my method of making notes.

The key decision I've made is that I'm no longer going to record balls that don't result in runs as I have before. So, potentially that'll mean as I record the balls that do result in runs I can do as Frindall did and indicate who the bowler was and how many runs were made (B) using an initial. Along the top (A) is the legend where the initial will be recorded with the bowlers full initials or a shortened version of either of their christian or surnames. The other thing I'm interested in as a bowler are shot thats are played and missed, so (C) down the side indicated through the use of the dots P&M - play and misses. 

This'll mean that once back home I have the option to colour code the lines as Frindall did see here

When using the website always keep the following in mind...

Please note - You set these fields at your own risk. The owner of the blog is in no way responsible for you getting carted around the park for 4's and 6's. Seek professional advice and guidance if in doubt.

More content can be found at…

http://wristspinbowling.blogspot.com/

http://theoldwristspinner.blogspot.com/

This is an example of some of the bowling vids on my Youtube channel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBodRls5i80&t=21s