SK Glossary: What is a flipper in cricket?

You would probably know something about the ‘Flipper’ if you have keenly followed any one among Anil Kumble, Shane Warne or Brad Hogg. Essentially, the second best option for a wrist spinner after his stock delivery is a ‘flipper’. The ball is bowled from out of the front of the hand, mainly using the thumb and the first two fingers. The speciality of the delivery lies in its backspin effect which kicks off once it lands on the pitch, and tends to surprise the batsmen by turning the other way.

The science behind the ‘flipper’

The backspin on the flipper delivery and its resulting trajectory can be conveniently explained using the ‘Magnus Effect’, which determines deviations in spinning objects such as balls, cylinders or missiles from their designated flight paths.

The whole point of imparting some backspin on the cricket ball using the wrist and fingers is to change the way air moves above and below it. As a result of the wrist and finger movement, the air movement below the ball acquires some turbulence whereas the air movement above is comparatively quicker.

This difference is the movement created in the air, the subtle change in the flight of the ball, and consequently slows down its descent after every successive contact with the pitch. The ball thus bounces less but tends to go farther than the ordinary leg break delivery of a leg spinner. The difference in pace and trajectory between a flipper and an ordinary leg break is often referred to as the ‘pop’.

The Masters of the Flipper

The credit for popularising the flipper, at a time when cricket was restricted to a few elite countries of the West, goes to Clarrie Grimmett from Australia. A leg spinner by trade, Grimmett was a contemporary of Don Bradman and is known to have taken off Bradman’s off stump with his Flipper delivery after which the famous batsman had made a jibe at Grimmett’s ability to distinguish between his normal delivery and the flipper. Apparently, the inventor of this delivery had at some point in time in his career been bowling too many flippers!

Anil Kumble, especially, was well known for using his flipper very effectively on subcontinental tracks, most of which are naturally assistive towards spinners.

Since the suppleness in the use of wrists is an imperative in bowling the flipper, leg spinners tend to use less of it with increasing age. Brad Hogg for example, who is currently playing in the Indian Premier League, is not seen employing as many flippers nowadays as he used to while being a part of the Australian bowling attack.

Shane Warne also had stopped using the flipper later in his career (due to his numerous shoulder injuries) which he substituted with a seam up straight delivery.

Being a leg spinner’s weapon, however, this delivery is also prone to failure due to the precision required in executing it. Thus, bowlers in the shorter formats are often advised by coaches to be extremely cautious while making use of the flipper.