Ajantha Mendis

[pcfan123]

Just out of curiousity, what's the difference between a leg break and a leg cut? I'm guessing a leg cut spin more?


Sorry if it's obvious.

It is beyond obvious.
A leg break is bowler by a leg spinner, and it moves from leg to off

A leg cutter is bowled by a seamer and does the same

one can be flighted, drift, dip and do all the things that a spinner can put on a delivery. The other is usually bowled quicker and flatter.

 

[sohum]

Just out of curiousity, what's the difference between a leg break and a leg cut? I'm guessing a leg cut spin more?

Sorry if it's obvious.

As Hmarkas said, the ball moves in the same direction for both, but the leg spin/break is bowled by a slower bowler and usually has far more flight and revolutions imparted on it. With the case of leg cutters, I'd guess you use your fingers compared to leg spinners, which are usually delivered with the wrist.

sohum added 36 Minutes and 44 Seconds later...

Mendis does not have all that. He's a very good bowler no doubt but he has not more than three variations which are the carrom ball, googly and his off spinner. That's it. The wicket he got against pakistan was a googly which the guy managed to nick to first slip.

If you read the commentary from the first and second innings in the Sri Lanka-Pakistan match, you will see that he has more than the 3 variations:

7.5 Mendis to Abdur Rauf, no run, the offcutter this time and Rauf commits forward and defends

9.2 Mendis to Abdur Rauf, no run, the big leg cutter fizzes past the edge and the off stump

31.5 Mendis to Misbah-ul-Haq, no run, the carrom ball beats the outside edge

60.6 Mendis to Mohammad Yousuf, no run, Appeal And once again the Sri Lankans look convinced, the googly lands just outside off and he defends very close to the pads, no signs of an inside edge, he was struck in the front pad but perhaps outside the line of the off stump, Gould wasn't convinced, I need to see another replay of that

79.2 Mendis to Mohammad Yousuf, no run, he picks the doosra a little late but manages to defend it away

9.1 Mendis to Salman Butt, no run, the offspinner, flighted on the off, defended to cover off the front foot

So he bowled the following variations in that game: off cutter, leg cutter, carrom ball, googly, doosra, offspinner. The one thing missing is the leg-spinner, which I think he would have by definition, since if the googly is a 'variation' the bowler must be able to bowl a leg-spinner, since a googly is simply a leg-break released out of the back of the hand.

They are obviously very subtle variations and he has at least 2 ways to make the ball move in each direction (leg to off, off to leg) which is why he's harder to pick.

 

[Insomniac]

Mendis looking very ordinary right now, Mendis is 0/63 on the same pitch Saeed Ajmal took 4/87.

I think Mendis is done - he's not very good without Murali at the other end.

Mendis bowls a couple of good balls, and then gives it away with one or two short balls per over.

 

[Howsie]

Mendis looking very ordinary right now, Mendis is 0/63 on the same pitch Saeed Ajmal took 4/87.

I think Mendis is done - he's not very good without Murali at the other end.

Mendis bowls a couple of good balls, and then gives it away with one or two short balls per over.

His only 24

It's just second year syndrome

 

[rockyrakster]

I feel just Like Bedi said He should Flight the balls more.Otherwise he is like a medium pacer with variety

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

agreed, he needs to start learning to flight.

this is how kumble became a great bowler from being a good one. the sooner he gets into the habit the better.

 

[khalek]

I think his leg breaks are more effective than his carrom balls. It looks like every team has watched videos of his variations and that is why they are playing him well now.

When he first came into the scene, I thought he would end up averaging less than 10 in test match cricket but now I highly doubt if he could average in the 20s or even in the 30s cause he's become more of a tailender bully.