Battle of the bowling actions - Warne v Rashid

This week I would like to analyse and compare the bowling actions of Shane Warne and Adil Rashid. Warne is the undisputed best leg spinner of all time and arguably the greatest bowler of all time. Rashid is England’s best leg spinner and possibly the best leg spinner that England has ever produced. Despite Rashid’s achievements there is a big difference statistically between the two players. Warne played 145 test matches and took 708 wickets at an average of 25.71. Rashid has played just 19 test matches and has taken 60 wickets at an average of 39.83.  I am going to compare their bowling actions to see whether bowling technique has contributed to the big difference between these two very fine bowlers. Obviously there are other factors involved, such as mental strength, playing conditions and bowling variations, but I will be looking just at the action.

In order to analyse each player,  I watched videos on YouTube to assess their bowling actions. If you would like to see them, you can watch Warne here and Rashid here.

RUN UP

Usually I would start with the Run Up, but since both videos miss out the run up I am going to just give both players 10/10 for this. The Run Up needs to build momentum and allow them to get into the Gather position. Both players look like they have enough momentum built up. The run up is very individual and whatever feels natural for the player is normally best.

Warne 10 points

Rashid 10 points

Elements of the Bowling Action

The key elements I will be assessing are:

1. Gather Position

2. Delivery Stride

3. Release 

4. Follow Through

1. Gather Position

The Gather position happens in mid air just after the jump. If you want to see it, pause the videos with the player in the air, with both feet off the ground.

Shane Warne

Positives

Warne’s right foot is in front of his left and in the process of turning so that it can land square on to the target. This is good as it will allow Warne to move easily into a side on position in the delivery stride. He has cocked his wrist correctly and the wrist is positioned in front of his right shoulder. He has begun to split his arms correctly; the right arm is up before the left. His head position has remained over his left foot and he is looking at the target over his left arm. His eyes have maintained a lovely horizontal position.

Negatives

Nothing I can see.

Gather Position Marks 10/10

Adil Rashid

Positives

Rashid's right foot is in front of the left and is in the process of turning square. His wrist is cocked correctly and his body weight is forward.

Negatives

Notice how Rashid has turned his body to a side on position. His chest and hips are facing square leg. He is beginning to tilt his head and there is a slight lean of the body to the off side. He has not split his arms correctly; both arms are up above his head at the same time.  His wrist is not aligned with his shoulder but positioned slightly away from his body. He is not looking to the left of his left shoulder but rather through it or even fractionally to the right of it. As a coach I would like to see Rashid look at the target over his left arm.

Gather Position Marks 6/10

2. Delivery Stride

To analyse the delivery stride, pause the video just as the player’s left foot hits the ground.

Shane Warne

Positives

Warne has landed nicely on the ball of his left foot and it is angled correctly towards fine leg. His left leg is straight and his body weight is pushing forwards. His left arm is in the process of pulling down hard past his left hip, his bowling arm is moving slightly away from his right hip and is still below the level of his shoulders. His eyes have maintained a horizontal position and his head is positioned vertically above his left foot.

Negatives

His alignment is a little out, he has angled himself towards leg slip and this may cause problems when it comes to squaring his hips up to the release point or with his finish position in the follow through. That is something I will be looking at in the next two stages (release and follow through) and if it is a problem, my advice would be for Warne to step more towards the target and less across the stumps. His head, though vertically above his left foot, is positioned slightly left of vertical due to alignment but he is not falling away and he is balanced.

Delivery Stride Marks 8/10

Adil Rashid

Positives

His left leg is straight and braced and he has avoided landing heel first (but only just; he is very flat footed). His bowling arm is moving nicely away from his right hip.

Negatives

Rashid has landed with his left foot very square on to the target; his left foot is pointing towards wide mid on which will mean that he will find it difficult to push up and over his leg. The body is not designed to move this way so he is going to have to pivot extremely hard to get his body around that front leg. 

His alignment is way out. He is aligned more towards square leg which means he is going to find it very difficult to square his hips when moving to release.  His head is way left of vertical and his body is leaning towards the off side. Because of the lean and falling away motion of the body, his eyes are more vertical than horizontal. 

Rashid’s bowling arm is very close to the release point when his left foot hits the ground. This is a timing issue which I believe is a result of his not splitting his arms correctly. He is going to find it very difficult to square his hips up in time and bowl from right of vertical. He is likely to be too side on at the moment of release with his actual release point being left of vertical.

Delivery Stride Marks 4/10

3. Release

Pause the video just as each player releases the ball. 

Shane Warne 

Positives

At Warne’s point of release, his right hip is slightly behind his left and his right shoulder is slightly behind his left shoulder. They match perfectly. The actual release point is right of vertical (draw a line up from his left foot) and his left leg is straight, supporting his body weight. He is in the process of pivoting over his left foot. His left arm is pulling down close to his side and his body is very upright.

Negatives

Warne’s head is slightly left of vertical and his eyes are tilting slightly instead of remaining horizontal. This is a result of his original alignment problem in delivery stride. He is working harder than is necessary to square his hips and as a result his head position has tilted. I think he is doing this in an effort to pull his right hip through. He does manage to square his hips so as a coach I would just make Warne aware of this small technique flaw in his action. It will also stop him from completing his action in the danger area in front of the stumps (see follow through).

It would be easy to fix, all Warne would have to do is step straighter towards the target in delivery stride. He will then be able to keep his head above his left foot and maintain a horizontal eye position throughout the action.  

Release Mark 8/10

Adil Rashid

Annoyingly, the front on video of Rashid only shows about ¾ of his arm so slight guess work is required.

Positives

Rashid’s left leg is straight and his left arm is pulling down past his left hip.

Negatives

Rashid’s right hip and shoulder are matching but they are a few inches behind where they should be. Rashid has to work extremely hard to square his hips. This is because of the alignment issue mentioned earlier which means he is not able to do it in time. His body is leaning to the left to assist with squaring up his hips and his eyes are vertical rather than horizontal. His actual release point is left of vertical which is way too high for consistent leg spin. Draw a straight line up from Rashid’s left foot and you will see what I mean. His head is a lot further left of vertical than Shane Warne’s; in fact his head is a good 12 inches left of where I would like it to be. This comes back to alignment. If Rashid had stepped towards the target instead of across the stumps his head would be in a much better position. Like before, a lot of Rashid’s problems at release are a knock on effect from previous problems going back to Gather. 

Release Mark 3/10

4. Follow Through

Pause the video just as the players’ right foot hits the pitch.

Shane Warne 

Positives

Warne has remained upright and his head is vertically above his feet. His eyes are focused on the target and they have returned to a horizontal position. His right foot is pointing towards cover and he has pivoted a full 180 degrees from delivery stride to the follow through. Because of his alignment issue he has actually pivoted closer to 200 degrees. His bowling arm is passing his left hip and his right shoulder is facing the target.

Negatives

Warne has finished in front of the stumps at the bowler's end. This comes back to his small alignment issue in the delivery stride. He may get warned by the umpire for running on the wicket and landing in the danger zone. If he continued to do this he would have to bowl wider from the crease than he perhaps would like to. The best solution to this problem would be to fix his alignment flaw in delivery stride. Something he could do easily if he was aware that it was happening.

Follow through mark 8/10

Adil Rashid 

Positives

Rashid does an extremely good job of completing his action. He is in an upright position and his eyes are horizontal to the target. His right foot is pointing towards point and his bowling arm is passing his right hip. His body is balanced over his feet and his right shoulder is pointing at the target. Rashid has an incredible pivot and he has finished away from the danger zone. Considering all the previous flaws Rashid has, he has found a way to make his action work. He has done it the hard way but I can’t fault his follow through, other to say that it must be extremely tiring and taxing on the body to do what he does.

Interestingly, I have been watching Rashid bowl against Pakistan and Australia recently and I don’t see the same right shoulder turn and pivot as I see in this video. Those of you who know me well have heard me mention on many occasions that Rashid is not completing his action. His follow through now is more similar to an Adam Zampa or Rashid Khan. His right shoulder is finishing level with his left and his follow through position is more front on. To do what Rashid has done in the video I watched requires a lot of energy and power. Rashid is older now and maybe finding it more difficult to complete his action. Bowling leg spin at the highest level is extremely difficult; Rashid needs to expend a lot of energy and power to complete the turn in his action. As he has got older, his body may be hurting more than it used to and he has stopped doing it. I wonder if he is aware of it.

Negatives

He is exerting a lot of power and energy into squaring up his hips. 

Follow Through Mark on video 9/10

Follow through Mark in recent 20/20 and 50 over matches 6/10 (score does not count for the purpose of this)

Summary

Shane Warne 44/50

Adil Rashid 31/50

Victory in the battle of the bowling actions goes to Shane Warne!

Shane Warne has a much better leg spinner than Rashid because his action is technically better, and is better suited to that type of delivery. He remains more upright than Rashid and he releases the ball from approximately 12-16 inches further right of vertical. Warne’s action is also better as far as longevity in the game is concerned. It is smoother and more in rhythm than Rashid’s, and is far less taxing on the body. 

It is no secret that Rashid’s best delivery is his googly. He bowls it from the left of vertical and it turns sharply. It is Rashid’s action that allows him to bowl a very good googly, but in doing so he places a lot of stress on his body. I am not surprised that Rashid does not want to play test cricket anymore. He is not as young as he was and the pressure his action puts on his body is not conducive to test cricket. Rashid is looking after his body and keeping to the 50 or 20 over format is probably a wise decision on his part. I don’t think Rashid could bowl the 15 to 20 overs that are needed in Test Cricket, at least not with the energy required for him to be effective. He is a brilliant 20/20 bowler and is making a good living playing that format of the game. He only needs to bowl 24 deliveries and with his full range of variations he is very effective.

I hope you have found my analysis interesting and fair. Warne has retired and is enjoying life in the commentary box. Rashid is still playing and I hope that one day he reads this and takes notice of what I have said. You never know, he may be able to make the adjustments needed to make him even better than he is already and prolong his career.

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