Swepson is wisely keeping it simple

RICHIE Benaud spoke about it, Shane Warne put it into action and now Mitchell Swepson is riding it all the way towards a baggy green cap.

It’s a simple little formula that sounds boring but history tells us it works.

It’s the mantra which suggests leg-spinners should resist the temptation to be too funky and concentrate mainly on their stock ball – the leg-spinner – to do the damage.

It’s easier said than done because it is much like telling a magician not to worry about that magnificent trick with the disappearing elephants and concentrate on juggling those three boring tennis balls.

Swepson is the 27-year-old Queenslander who has taken 15 wickets in two games in the Sheffield Shield competition this season to be an odds-on chance of playing with Nathan Lyon the next time Australia chooses two slow bowlers, perhaps in the Sydney Test against India.

He did pick up one wicket with a flipper this season when Tasmania’s Nathan Ellis went back and edged one to slip but generally it’s been his stock ball that’s done the damage on spin-friendly Adelaide decks.

“Batters these days watch the hand very closely and are not really fooled by the stuff that comes out,’’ Swepson said.

“They see so much footage it is hard to have too many secrets. That is why I have gone to the subtle side.

“My best ball to get them out is the leg-spinner but don’t get me wrong, as soon as the tailenders come out I pull the tools out of the kit bag and have some fun.

“I have bowled a wrong’un for a long time but I have used it a lot less this year. I have backed my leg-break and variations of it and that has helped me with my accuracy.

“I have had a lot of people tell me Warnie did not use his variation balls that much.”