I came to wrist spinning out of nowhere in my late 40's and prior to that never played cricket and then worked on everything I do and know through a process of self reflection, watching videos and reading about it. One of the things that I've struggled with during this 8 year journey is my run-up and the approach to the crease. As a consequence of those components being somewhat awkward, the action through the crease was then wrong.
From posting videos of my bowling on Youtube I've had numerous people look at it and comment about it as well as team mates... "You're too slow through the crease" and "You haven't got a bound" amongst the early observations.
With this criticism, combined with video evidence it was easy to see that they were right, but with little or no coaching it was difficult to come up with a coherent plan to get my bowling back on track. As with many leg spinners in times of disillusion, I like many others turned to looking for a template in someone else's bowling as a solution to the problem and this is discussed in the section in the sidebar with regards its merits as a process to resolve the issue.
The issue I've had is that the bowling action that I use at different stages in the season changes in response to different issues. Sometimes I've been concerned that I bowl too slow, sometimes it's been a case that I bowl too fast and the spin is reduced. Other times it's been inconsistencies with line and length and in a reaction to each of these problems I've concluded that the main culprit has been my run-up and the approach to the crease. But a couple of months ago I watched a SKY TV master class with Glenn McGrath and during it at 16 minutes and 40 seconds he talks about something that I've never heard discussed before in such a simple way and it immediately resonated with me. He talks about and explains how he developed and worked out his run-up and it is so simple.
Sorry someone obviously got the hump about this video and has deleted it. I'll write up what he says once the Eng v Pakistan test and one day series is over 4.11.15
I've now in a week worked on this and gone from being generally confused and wondering whether I should bowl like a, b or c to now bowling my way.
If you have a look at my Youtube channel here you'll see some video's where I'm working with this new action. Furthermore I've come to some additional conclusions that relate to the run-in aspect of bowling. The McGrath video here should be looked at and considered in conjunction with Stuart MacGills advice in this video below...
The MacGill video differs massively from most of the video's you'll find on the web as they focus on the micro details that should only be addressed once some of the basics have been fully learned. MacGill instead focuses on the fundamentals such as your run-in and approach to the crease. Don't dismiss this aspect and think of it as being a superficial part of the whole process, because it needs to be addressed sooner rather than later, especially if you are struggling with your bowling. Think of it this way. Your run-in and movement through the crease (Bowling action) is the rock bed or foundation of everything else that follows. If you've not got this part consistent and correct, everything else is going to suffer, it will be like building onto a sketchy foundation and having to do remedial work all the time as a result.
