Animation of a typical off spin (finger spin) delivery.

Off spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket which is bowled by an off spinner, a right-handed spin bowler who uses his or her fingers and/or wrist to spin the ball from a right-handed batsman's off side to the leg side (that is, towards the right-handed batsman, or away from a left-handed batsman). This contrasts with leg spin, in which the ball spins from leg to off and which is bowled with a very different action.

A left-handed bowler who bowls with the same action as an off spinner is known as a left-arm orthodox spinner. While the orthodox spinner has the same action as an off-spinner, the ball itself spins in the opposite direction (akin to a right arm leg spinner).

Off spin is generally considered less difficult to play than leg spin, as off breaks typically spin less than leg breaks, and do not generally possess the same loopy, potentially deceptive flight. In addition, off spinners tend to have a smaller repertoire of deliveries to choose from. However, the off spinner often bowls faster and more accurately than a leg spinner, and can therefore deceive the batsman with changes in the pace of the ball.

Notable contemporary off spinners include, Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka, who has the most wickets in both ODIs and Test matches, Harbhajan Singh of India, Saqlain Mushtaq and Saeed Ajmal of Pakistan and Graeme Swann of England. Saqlain has been credited with the invention of the "doosra", which is bowled with a similar-looking action to the off break but spins the opposite way, just as the leg spinner's googly turns the opposite way from his stock ball. Another common weapon of the off spinner is the arm ball, which does not spin but goes straight on "with the arm". More skilled offspinners also have the topspinner. Aside from these variations in spin, varying the speed, length and flight of the ball are also important for the off spinner.

Although rare now, in the past there were bowlers who used the off-break action who deliberately did not impart any considerable spin on the ball but relied on line and length to frustrate batsmen. They endeavoured to pitch the ball in an area that the batsman was unable to play a scoring shot, even making last moment adjustments to "follow" a batsman should they move within the crease to negate the bowlers tactics. Whilst this is primarily a defensive style, wickets were achieved by forcing a batsman to make a rash stroke or even bowling at the stumps instead of the retreating batsman. Another wicket taking method was to impart more spin on the ball than usual, and surprise the batsman. An exponent of this style of bowling was "Flat" Jack Simmons who played for Lancashire in the 1970s and 1980s. With the advent of limited overs cricket promoting more adventurous batting styles and the use of ever heavier bats this style of bowling has declined, although some off-spinners will still use this tactic when the pitch is offering very little or no turn.

Harbhajan Singh bowling off spin.

See also[link]

• Cricket terminology

References[link]

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Look up off in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Off or OFF may refer to:

• OFF! (band), American hardcore punk band
• OFF (acronym for Organization for Fun) pseudonym for German DJ and singer Sven Väth
• Off (album), an album by Ciwan Haco
• OFF!, an insect repellent
• Off side, one half of the cricket field
• Open Font Format
• Owner free filing system, a P2P-network which breaks up files into blocks
• Oil-for-Food Programme, the United Nations arrangement with Iraq from 1995 to 2003
• Our Favorite Family, a nickname for the eponymous family in the animated television series The Simpsons

See also[link]

• Offside

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Look up spin or spinning in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Spin or spinning may refer to:

In mathematics, science and technology[link]

• Electron magnetic dipole moment, the magnetic moment of an electron caused by its intrinsic property of spin
• Rotation or spin, a movement of an object in a circular motion
• Social Phobia Inventory, abbreviated as SPIN, a psychological test of social anxiety disorder
• SPIN bibliographic database, major Physics research is the focus (a citation index)
• Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles
• Spin (flight), autorotation of an aerodynamically stalled aeroplane
• Spin group, in mathematics, a particular double cover of the special orthogonal group SO(n)
• Spinning (textiles), the process of creating yarn from various raw fibre materials
• Spinning (polymers), a process for creating polymer fibres
• Metal spinning, the process of forming metal over a mandrel while rotating on a lathe
• Fokker Spin, an aeroplane built by Anthony Fokker

In computing[link]

• Spin (programming language), a high-level programming language
• SPIN (operating system), an OS based on Mach
• SPIN (software process), a Software Process Improvement Network
• SPIN model checker, a tool for formal verification of distributed software systems
• Busy spin, a technique in which a process continually checks whether a condition is true
• Article spinning, the SEO (search engine optimization) approach of using equivalent phrases to rewrite articles

In Telecommunications[link]

• SPIN (cable system), South Pacific Island Network

In entertainment[link]

• Spin, an animated speaking globe on Really Wild Animals
• Spin (1995 film), documentary film of politicians' behind-the-scenes conversations
• Spin (2004 film), directed by James Redford
• Spin (2007 film), directed by Henry Pincus
• Spin (novel), a 2005 novel by Robert Charles Wilson
• Spin (magazine), a pop music magazine
• "Spin" (House), a 2005 episode of the television series House
• "Spin" (Charlie Jade), an episode of the television series Charlie Jade
• Spin, a short film by Max Hattler (2010)
• Spin City, an American sitcom television series

In music[link]

• Spin (radio), a single play of a song
• SPiN (American band), an American rock band
• Spin (band), a band from the Maltese Islands
• Spin (Dutch band), a Dutch jazzrock band
• Spin (Darren Hayes album), the first solo album by Darren Hayes
• Spin (Scullion album), the 1985 studio album by Irish band Scullion
• "Spin" (Lifehouse song), 2002
• "Spin" (Trey Anastasio song), 2005
• "Spin", a song by Taking Back Sunday from Louder Now
• "Spinnin'", a song by Soul Asylum from And the Horse They Rode In On
• "Spinning", a song by Christopher Cross from Christopher Cross
• "Spinning", a song by Jack's Mannequin from The Glass Passenger
• "Spinning", a song on Transatlantic's 2009 album The Whirlwind
• Spinning Around, a 2000 song by Kylie Minogue

In sports[link]

• Spin bowling, a type of bowling technique in cricket
  • Finger spin, a type of bowling in the sport of cricket
  • Left-arm orthodox spin, a type of bowling in the sport of cricket
  • Left-arm unorthodox spin, a type of bowling in the sport of cricket using the hand wrist
  • Leg spin, a type of spin bowling in the sport of cricket
  • Wrist spin, a type of bowling in the sport of cricket
• Figure-skating spin, a skating move
  • Sit spin, a basic figure skating spin
  • Upright spin,a basic figure skating spin, with an extended skating leg which is not a camel position. Two popular variations of the upright spin are:
    • Biellmann spin, an upright figure skating spin in which the skater executes a one-foot spin while holding the other foot extended over and behind the head, forming a teardrop shape with the body
    • Layback spin, an upright figure skating spin in which the head and shoulders are dropped backwards and the back arched downwards toward the ice
• Indoor cycling or spinning, a form of high-intensity exercise using a stationary exercise bicycle
• Poi spinning, a form of juggling
• Wheelspin, spinning the wheels of a vehicle in place

Other uses[link]

• Spinning (IPO), a form of financial bribery used by brokerages to gain corporate business
• Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together
• Spin (public relations), a heavily biased portrayal of an event or situation
• Spin (b-boy move), a b-boying move that involves rotation of the breaker's body about some axis in contact with the ground
• Spins, a state of dizziness and disorientation due to intoxication ("the spins")
• Sufi spinning, a twirling meditation (a religious practice in which worshippers spin in circles)
• Pen spinning, the art of spinning pens using one's fingers
• Road agent's spin or "Curly Bill spin", a gunfighting maneuver utilized as a ruse when forced to surrender a side arm to an unfriendly party

See also[link]

• Flat spin (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.