Peter Trego’s guide to T20 bowling variations

The Somerset allrounder knows a thing or two about short-form bowling, and he shares some of his top tips with The Cricketer…

This article first appeared in The Cricketer's Club Cricket Guide - you can read the guide in full HERE!

It is crucial now to have multiple deliveries, different speeds and a gameplan of what you are trying to do to counteract the attacking nature of a batsman in a powerplay.

T20 batsmen are always looking to get on top of the bowler, and if you do not know what you are looking to do, and do not have the variations to keep them guessing, then you are going to struggle.

The strategy

It is important to stand at the top of your mark and know what you are going to bowl and have belief that you are going to execute that skill.

Running up and bowling and being unsure of what you are going to deliver will generally land you in a bit of hot water in modern-day T20 cricket. 

Executing your skill and what you are trying to bowl is all part of the thought process, and something you probably should decide before you start your run-up.

Ultimately as a bowler, it is very tough in the Powerplay and death scenarios of modern one-day games, and belief is a huge thing.

Stand at the top of your run, believe in what you are going to do, and execute it to the best of your ability.

The execution is in practice, and your belief is in good experiences you have had executing those in practice and in matches.

The importance of variations

You know that when you bowl your first delivery the chances are that the batsman is trying to hit you for four or six, so it is quite an intimidating thing for a bowler to face up with. You have to arm yourself with deliveries that can get you out of jail.

If you are playing on a flat pitch, which most of them are now in one-day cricket, you then have to rely on multiple different deliveries.

My go-tos are generally my stock delivery, a back-of-the-hand slower ball, a leg-cutter, and an off-cutter. I can also bowl a slower bouncer.

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My stock delivery is probably my quickest, the off-cutter would be 10mph slower, the leg-cutter about 15mph less, and the back-of-the-hand would be closer to 20mph slower.

You need different degrees of speed because batsmen can either analyse you pre-match now or can suss you out during the game. One type of slower ball is not enough anymore.

Stock delivery

My stock delivery is the same in all forms of cricket. I will be pointing the seam to first slip, with the shine on the outside of the ball to try and create a bit of away swing. 

My thumb will not be applying too much pressure on the back of the ball, just to give me the opportunity to flick my wrist at the point of delivery.

In one-day cricket with the Kookaburra ball, I think cross-seam and the wobble-seam delivery might get you a little bit of nip back towards the batsman, which obviously means they are more likely to get out lbw or be bowled.

Off- and leg-cutter

When gripping the ball for my off-cutter, I will turn the ball and have my middle finger across the seam to create an off-spinning motion. At the point of delivery everything looks the same, but then I will rip down the inside of the ball to create off-spin.

My grip for the leg-cutter will be the opposite. One thing I probably would do is drop my fourth finger out the way so I can get the ball out the side of my hand. This time I would rip down the offside of the ball to create leg-spin.

The best way of concealing a cutter is to make your alterations as last minute as possible. 

My Somerset team-mate Marcus Trescothick says he always knows what I’m going to bowl because he can see the ball in my hand halfway through my run-up. I find it phenomenal because I look to stay as correct as I can for as long as possible and make my alterations in the very last split seconds of my delivery motion.

With a left-hander I would go for an off-cutter, and for a right-hander I would go for a leg-cutter. Whatever creates an away motion is generally better.

Most batsmen are looking to hit into cow corner, which is across the line. If you can hold anything up away from that, then that is when you are going to get your top-edges.

Back of the hand 

The back-of-the-hand slower ball is probably one of the hardest to get the feel for. It has the same grip as my stock ball in the load because you’re trying to not give any tells to the batsman.

You want to hide it for as long as possible and keep it as traditional as possible right until the very end of your action where you bring your hand round as your arm comes over, and try to get some flick on the ball so you get over-spin dip. Jade Dernbach is very good at creating that over-spin to get dip on the ball.

Slower bouncer

If the batsman is really starting to get going on a docile pitch you’ve got to rely on change of length and pace – slower bouncers are becoming particularly effective.

The slower bouncer is by
definition some sort of cutter. You bowl it shorter than your normal bouncer because obviously it has less speed. 

I would normally bowl it as an off-cutter, but I’m trying to really wrap my hand over the ball to get a bit of over-spin so it will bounce and dip on the batsman.

In terms of gripping the ball, I would be holding it across the seam with my middle finger on the outside to create some purchase on the ball to get an off-spin action going. 

Ideally, you want it coming down by the time it gets to the batsman so he’s got no pace to work with and to improve your chances of deceiving him.

READ MORE: The Cricketer's Club Cricket Guide