The Googly in Cricket Explained
What the googly is, how it's bowled, and why it's considered one of cricket's most difficult deliveries to detect and play.
What Is the Googly?
The googly is a delivery bowled by a right-arm leg-spin bowler that turns in the opposite direction to a standard leg-break — it turns from off to leg (into the right-handed batter) rather than from leg to off. It is released with the back of the hand facing towards the batter (a twisted wrist action) instead of the normal leg-spin wrist position. The same action applied by a left-arm wrist-spinner produces a delivery called a 'wrong-un'.
How Is It Bowled?
In the standard leg-spin action, the ball is released from a position where the palm faces the batter. The googly requires the wrist to be rotated so the back of the hand faces the batter at release, with the ball spinning out of the back of the hand rather than over the wrist. This reverse wrist position creates anti-clockwise spin (from the bowler's perspective), which turns the ball into the right-hander rather than away.
Detection
The googly is difficult to detect because a skilled wrist-spinner can disguise the wrist position enough that the batter cannot identify which way the ball will turn until it pitches. Clues include a slightly different grip visible at close range, a slightly lower arm position at release, and the ball drifting slightly differently in the air. Reading the googly is a skill developed over thousands of hours of playing leg-spin bowling.
Famous Googly Bowlers
Shane Warne used the googly sparingly but effectively — his main weapons were the leg-break and flipper. Abdul Qadir (Pakistan) was renowned for an undetectable googly. Rashid Khan (Afghanistan) has arguably the most effective googly in modern T20 cricket. Anil Kumble bowled a unique faster googly that bounced through quickly off the pitch.
Frequently asked questions
Is the googly the same as the wrong-un?
The term 'wrong-un' is often used synonymously with googly in South African and Australian cricket. Technically, a 'wrong-un' refers to the equivalent delivery from a left-arm wrist-spinner — one that turns away from the right-hander instead of into them.
Why is the googly so hard to play?
The leg-break and googly can look identical until the ball pitches. The batter has milliseconds to identify which way the ball is turning and adjust their shot. A leg-break turns away from the right-hander; a googly turns in — completely different shots are required to defend both safely.
Which bowler has the best googly of all time?
Opinions vary, but Abdul Qadir, Anil Kumble, Shane Warne, and Rashid Khan are regularly cited as the most effective googly bowlers in different eras of cricket.