Shane Watson's reverse swing, why isn't anybody else doing it?

[TumTum]

Here is the new Wasim Akram everyone jks


Watching him bowl it, it is so simple, keeps his 2 fingers on the seam and just bowls straight. Ball swings to the shiny side.

Is it because Ponting is using him to his best? Only letting him bowl when the ball reverses. Even from the 20th over?!!!

Or is it all thanks to Troy Cooley?

And why can't any other bowlers in our squad make it reverse so much?

 

[Howsie]

Reverse swing has more to do with a bowlers action more then anything. If it was as easy as putting two fingers down the seam and keeping it straight we'd see a lot more bowlers being able to do it.

Guys that have the whippy more side-arm actions are for the most part able to produce reverse swing.

 

[drainpipe32]

Practice and commitment. No one has more of the latter than Shane Watson.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

A mix of bowling action, the speed you bowl at, and practice.

Watson bowls at the right speed, and seemingly has the right action for it. I don't exactly know what the 'right' action is, but I guess it's bowling with a high arm more than a slingy action, and bowling side-on rather that chest on. Just a guess.

 

[aussie1st]

I remember hearing something about the high arm action being perfect for conventional swing while the slingy action suits reverse swing more. Its why Johnson is able to get reverse swing more than normal swing.

It takes a lot of practice, Watson had been practicing for something like 8 seasons to get it right. Bollinger is capable of getting it going, just not the same movement. The express bowlers are the ones that discover reverse swing first but you need the action and seam position to fully utilize it. Tait and Lee can get it moving late and at pace.

 

[Cricket_god]

Here is the new Wasim Akram everyone jks


Watching him bowl it, it is so simple, keeps his 2 fingers on the seam and just bowls straight. Ball swings to the shiny side.

Is it because Ponting is using him to his best? Only letting him bowl when the ball reverses. Even from the 20th over?!!!

Or is it all thanks to Troy Cooley?

And why can't any other bowlers in our squad make it reverse so much?

Siddle,hilfy all get it when they keep the seam upright except johnson who has the worst seam position of the lot,everybody should be able to reverse the ball.

 

[TumTum]

Siddle,hilfy all get it when they keep the seam upright except johnson who has the worst seam position of the lot,everybody should be able to reverse the ball.

No you are wrong. Siddle can't move a ball if his life depended on it. While Hilfy can conventional swing a new ball.

Watson on the other hand can bowl those late reversing deliveries constantly, it is just he isn't fast enough to run through batting line-ups.

 

[drainpipe32]

Siddle was moving it a mile in Hobart!

 

[TumTum]

Siddle was moving it a mile in Hobart!

Yeah the nip back. I was talking about reverse swing.

 

[drainpipe32]

Ah, you should have mentioned that

 

[TumTum]

Ah, you should have mentioned that

 

[rahuldravidfan]

Its an art. It takes time to learn. Only the Pakistani players learn it from their mother's womb. No one else does.

Pardon my Bollywoodish analogy . Focus on the bold part

 

[pcfan123]

I think its a combination of the ball being worn down a specific way, conditions, delivery speed and the bowlers action (most notably the release).

 

[sifter132]

I think Watson just looks so good at reverse swing because the other Aussie bowlers are pretty poor at it. As TumTum says, Siddle can't swing a ball at all (or until it gets PAST the batsman). He needs seam movement. Bollinger is known as a swing bowler, but he only seems to swing it for a random ball or 2 in my experience. I still can't work out Dougie, he bowls some great delieveries but most of the time he's merely a 'meh' bowler and he looks like he should get more out of pitches than he does. Mitch gets a little reverse, but he has to come around the wicket to use it well because even with the new ball his away seam makes it like he's bowling reverse swing right at the start.

Brett Lee is the man to use reverse swing well I think. Watson can get it moving but he's not quite fast enough to trouble batsmen constantly. Given Bollinger and Siddle's lack of swing with both new and old ball at present, it makes a strong case for Lee and Hilfenhaus to return when fit.

I'd like to see Watson get a few overs with the new ball too to see if he can get that moving a bit. I haven't seen the Australians swing the new ball since Hilfy opened the bowling in Brisbane.

 

[aussie1st]

Bollinger gets the job done, just have to see his stats to see that. He could do with a bit more work on both swings to take him to the next level but so far hes done his job of keeping it tight and picking up wickets.

Lee needs to prove his fitness and then show he can still get reverse swing in a Test match. Think back to India where the Indian bowlers were reverse swinging it no problem but when it came to us we got hardly anything, even from Lee. There is still question marks on Hilfy in non swinging conditions and even swinging conditions he can struggle to get that edge, he showed he has an inswinger/off cutter but hardly used it.