Flipper Delivery in Cricket Explained

What Is the Flipper?

The flipper is a leg-spinner's variation that is released from underneath the wrist with a squeezing motion, imparting back-spin rather than the usual leg-spin topspin. Because it has backspin the ball skids on straight after pitching rather than turning. It is bowled faster than a normal leg-break, keeps low, and arrives at the batter more quickly than they expect, often hitting them in front of the stumps.

How the Flipper Is Bowled

The bowler holds the ball between the thumb and first two fingers with the seam running across the hand. At release the fingers squeeze the ball out of the hand from underneath, rather than flicking it over the top as with a leg-break. The resulting delivery has back-spin and an unusually flat trajectory. It is notoriously hard to control and most leg-spinners take years to master it.

Why the Flipper Is Effective

Batters watching a leg-spinner expect the ball to turn and perhaps loop slightly. The flipper arrives faster, flatter, and skids on rather than turning, catching batters on the crease or pushing back. The low trajectory and skidding action means the ball regularly hits the stumps directly — LBW or bowled — when the batter plays for the leg-break and misses.

Famous Flipper Victims

Shane Warne used the flipper to dismiss Alec Stewart, Graeme Hick, and Richie Richardson at crucial moments in Ashes and World Cup contests. Clarrie Grimmett of Australia, who is credited with inventing the flipper in the 1920s, used it throughout the 1930s to bamboozle batters on the international stage. Anil Kumble also developed a version suited to his faster, flatter spin style.