SK Glossary: What is a googly in cricket?

The art of leg-spin bowling is undeniably one of the most intriguing ones in cricket. For decades, countless leg-spin bowlers have enthralled us with their guile and dexterity. Of the myriad variations that a leg-spinner has, the googly is perhaps the one which fascinates us the most. This is one art form which is extremely difficult to perfect, but when it comes off, it can bamboozle the best in the world.

The googly explained

Also referred to as the “wrong’un” in Australia, the googly is a delivery which is generally bowled by a right-arm leg spinner and goes the ‘other way’. This means that the ball spins into the right-handed batsman instead of going away from him. It is the complete reverse in case of a left-hander as it turns away from him rather than coming into him. Left-arm chinaman bowlers can also bowl a googly and the angles become exactly the opposite for them compared to right-arm wrist spinners.

Because of its unanticipated change in line, batsmen often fall prey to a googly as they are mentally prepared to play it the conventional way. To maximize its effect, the googly should be bowled as a surprise delivery and not as a stock one.

How is the googly bowled?

Bowling a googly is not very easy. It requires a lot of practice and patience. To bowl a googly, a leg-spinner turns his wrist a little more than he would whilst bowling his conventional leg-break and ensures that the ball comes out from the back of his hand, which faces the fine-leg fielder. What’s important here is that the wrist position should be 180 degrees from the ground and the seam of the ball should be pointed towards the fine leg. It is the third finger of the leg-spinner which does the primary work while delivering a googly and helps in turning the ball anti-clockwise on release.

The googly can also be bowled while having a regular leg break action. To achieve that, the bowler needs to spin the ball further with the fingers just at the point of its release. Thus, the release of the ball changes here while the grip remains the very same as that of a leg-break. This makes it extremely difficult for the batsman to read the delivery and gauge where it would turn and in order to play it properly, he needs to watch the ball like a hawk when it pitches.

Another thing that the googly requires is a lot of flight - it won’t be effective if being bowled flat – and the wrist of the bowler should turn swiftly from right to left to achieve maximum results. The grip is also crucial in delivering a googly properly. The first two fingers should grip the ball while the third and fourth fingers need to rest against the side of the ball. As has been mentioned earlier, it is the third finger, which applies the most of the spin while bowling this delivery.

Despite following all the steps, one cannot just bowl a googly easily. It requires relentless practice, skill and endurance to master it.

Using the googly

One thing that is crucial to understand is that googly has to be used as a surprise weapon from the leg-spinner’s armory. Using it as a stock ball can take away its element of surprise and hence hinder its purpose. Several leg-spinners over the years have suffered as a result of focusing too much on the googly.

Ex-Australian leg-spinner Stuart MacGill is one such example. “I tried to spend a lot of time developing that (the googly). Unfortunately for me, I tried to develop it to the detriment of my legspinner. It took me six months to get my legspinner back,” MacGill was quoted as saying to ‘The Cricket Monthly’. Hence, leg-spinners need to be cautious with their googly and not overuse it.

Trivia

The googly is also known as ‘Bosie’, a name originating from the supposed inventor of this delivery Bernard James Tindal Bosanquet of England.