Fields for Spinners

Spin bowlers, as someone who's understanding of spin is limited, but keenly learning, I'm interested to know what fields you would use. Clearly this can't be simply answered as ii would depend so much on all the variations that can influence a game, but just a rough idea of what you'd consider to be your basic field to start with and how you might change it with the developmenat of the match. Also, I would appreciate you explaining WHY you use certain fields or plans rather than just running through

Heres my ideal field when I start off.

1. Silly mid off
2. 1st Slip
3. Backward Point
4. Deep extra cover
5. Back ward square leg
6. Square leg
7. Short Midwicket
8. Long on
9. Mid off

Mine is in a 3 day match,

1. Slip
2. Short mid wicket
3. Silly point/ Short leg
4. Short sqaure leg (45º position for the sweep)
5. Deep sqaure leg
6. Mid on
7. Mid off
8. Extra cover / Cover
9. Point

Slip - for the arm ball of mine and to catch top edged during sweeps

Short mid wicket - must, in sub continent when bowling to fleet footed wristy batsman, who flick it through mid wicket. The flick has to be perfect.

Sliiy point/ Short leg - reason is obvious

Short square leg - to catch mis hot sweeps and to stop paddle sweeps

Deep sqaure leg - co catch the break away slog sweep if executed wronglym and to stop proper sweep if timed well.

Mid on, Mid off - c'mon, hit me in the air!!

Extra cover - I am goint to pitch the ball to hit the off. So the majority of shots will be on the off side and to stop well hit straigtish cover drive. Challenge is to sqaure drive me through the cover point, and then the gap opens between bat and pad

Point / Backward point - To stop ferocious square cuts and back cuts the sub continet players play

Leg Spinner field to a right handed batsmen:

Edited by Smack - 03 February 2007 at 5:18pm

To a lefty in ODI: this and the previous post is as if I am bowling over the wicket.

slips - for the straigher ones.
Long off - 'cause of the way I bowl - a good way outside off to them - they could easily launch me over the top.
Covers - like the long off one.
Point - for the bad one outside the off stump
Mid on - cause of the amount of turn I get, a miscued shot is on the cards.

Originally posted by Smack ...Yours sincerely   Duncan Fletcher

After the Monty debarkle this winter there's no way I'm ever listening to Fletcher's advice on spin-related matters!

This is interesting though, seems like a fairly classic legspinner's field.

You can always bring long on and deep cover up if you are going well. For a non-sweping batsman, short square leg can be broght to short-wide midwicket as a catching fielder.

Originally posted by spin wizard For off spinners, I think it best for a long off and not mid off. Flight up the juicy stuff with no long off and you will see what I'm talking about.

That's why the line matters. If you flight one up to pitch 1 foot wide of off you are asking
for trouble. If it piches 3 inches ouside off and turns in to hit leg then there is too much risk in that shot. Batsman have to come down the track diagonally (front and to the leg side) to hit that. Those shots are rare in middle overs. If the ball happens to be the drifter then it is either bowled or a stumpint too because the batsman is going against the turn and playing little inside to close the gap between bat and pad.

On the other hand, one of the key issues of attacking spin is to encourage the batsman to play shots isn't it? If you're looking to contain then leave the player back, but if it's wickets you're after you want him to be tempted to try and clear him. Also, against two decent well-set batsmen, having mid-off is an almost guarnateed 5 or 6 an over, so it becomes neither attacking nor containing.

I've got to agree that in ODI's a spinners primary job is to dry up the boundaries and bowl as many dots as possible, picking up the odd wicket or so. Only exceptional spinners are used as a wicket taking option.

If you're bowling darts, then mid off might by of use. If you're flighting them and aren't getting turn, put the long off; especially on a big outfield.

^ if he keeps hitting you over the top for 4 then it is a bad thing lol

Originally posted by Smack   Chin Music if a batsmen good enough to take 6 singles an over to long off then he's more than likely good enough to hit over the top of mid off and take 3/4 boundaries an over. The spinners change of pace, flight and turn could produce dot balls which could result in 3/4 singles and over instead of 6.

I suppose you're right, but even so unless you're in the last 10 overs or so most batsmen would take 4 risk-free runs an over. And that's assuming you can guarantee you're not gonig to bowl a 2- or 4-ball as well