cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

, a slider is a type of delivery bowled by a

wrist spin Wrist spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket. It refers to the cricket technique and specific hand movements associated with imparting a particular direction of spin to the cricket ball. The other spinning technique, usually used to ...

bowler. While a

topspinner A topspinner is a type of delivery bowled by a cricketer bowling either wrist spin or finger spin. In either case, the bowler imparts the ball with top spin by twisting it with their fingers prior to delivery. In both cases, the topspinner is th ...

is released with the thumb facing the batter, a slider is bowled in a similar manner to a legbreak, but instead of imparting sidespin with the third finger, the bowler allows his fingers to roll down the back of the ball, providing a mixture of sidespin and backspin. Whereas a topspinner tends to dip more quickly and bounce higher than a normal delivery, a slider does the opposite: it carries to a fuller length and bounces less than the batter might expect. The sliders will typically head towards the batter with a scrambled seam (with the ball not spinning in the direction of the seam, so the seam direction is not constant, unlike in conventional spin bowling). This has less effect on the flight and bounce but absence of

leg spin Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called a leg spinner. Leg spinners bowl with their right-arm and a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery is called a leg break, which spins fr ...

may deceive the batter. Frequently the slider is bowled with a mixture of side spin and backspin. This has the effect of making the ball harder to differentiate from the leg break for the batters without reducing the mechanical effects caused by the backspin. This delivery may skid straight on or it may turn a small amount. It is claimed that

Shane Warne Shane Keith Warne (13 September 1969 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian international cricketer whose career ran from 1992 to 2007. Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a lower-order right-handed batter for Victoria, Hampshire ...

invented this type of delivery. However, this is inaccurate. The Australian spinner Peter Philpott used the technique in the 1960s, calling it simply an orthodox backspinner, while Australian all-rounder and captain

Richie Benaud Richard Benaud (; 6 October 1930 – 10 April 2015) was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales cricket team, New South Wales and Australia national cricket team, Australia. Following his retirement from international cricket in ...

used what he called his 'sliding topspinner' which appears again to have been similar. Since he was taught the technique by

Doug Ring Douglas Thomas Ring (14 October 1918 – 23 June 2003) was an Australian cricketer who played for Victoria and for Australia in 13 Test matches between 1948 and 1953. In 129 first-class cricket matches, he took 426 wickets bowling leg spin, a ...

, it may be more accurate to suggest that Ring is the originator. Either that, or the ball is one of those deliveries with no easily identifiable point of origin. However Shane Warne's use of the delivery in the 2005 Ashes brought the variation once more into the public consciousness. His dismissal of

Ian Bell Ian Ronald Bell (born 11 April 1982) is an English former cricketer who played international cricket in all formats for the England cricket team and county cricket for Warwickshire County Cricket Club. A right-handed higher/middle order batsm ...

lbw with the delivery was a classic piece of spin bowling; Bell played for the turn of a normal leg break, but the delivery skidded straight into his front pad without turning. Although there is often a good deal of confusion on the subject, the slider is thought to be more or less an identical delivery to the "zooter".

Finger spin Finger spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket. It refers to the technique and specific hand movements associated with imparting a particular direction of spin to the cricket ball. The other spinning technique, generally used to spin ...

bowlers, like

Ravindra Jadeja Ravindrasinh Anirudhsinh Jadeja (born 6 December 1988) is an Indian cricketer who represents the national team currently in ODI and Test formats. He is an all-rounder, who bats left-handed and bowls left-arm orthodox spin. Widely hailed as one ...

, commonly bowl an exactly equivalent ball, which comes out of the front of the hand with backspin present. However the name slider has not passed over into common parlance for its offspin cousin, and the terms

arm ball An arm ball is a type of delivery in cricket. It is a variation delivery bowled by an off spin bowler or slow left-arm orthodox bowler. It is the finger spin equivalent of a wrist spinner's ''slider'' or ''zooter''. In contrast to the sto ...

, backspinner or, more recently, teesra are used instead.

References

{{reflist Bowling (cricket) Cricket terminology

See also

References