What is a Googly in cricket and how does it work?

A googly is a type of delivery in cricket, bowled by right-arm wrist spinners, which spins in the opposite direction to outfox the batters. A standard leg-spin delivery turns from leg side to the off side for a right-handed batter, while the googly does the exact opposite, making it difficult for batters to read it.

How is Googly delivered?

It is delivered by sharply bending the wrist at the point of release compared to a standard leg-spin delivery. Although the ball leaves the hand from the same side as a conventional leg break, near the little finger, the wrist action imparts a clockwise spin from the bowler's perspective, causing it to turn in the opposite direction after pitching. 

Some bowlers also bowl the googly by delivering the ball like a normal leg break before adding extra finger rotation just before release. In modern-day cricket, it remains one of the most potent weapons in a leg-spinner's arsenal. Since its success relies heavily on deceiving the batter, it is used sparingly, making it an effective wicket-taking delivery when least expected.

Variations for left-arm spinners

Left-arm wrist-spinners can also bowl a googly using the same principle. For them, the ball turns away from a right-handed batter, behaving like a conventional leg break or a delivery from a left-arm orthodox spinner, while their stock delivery turns into a right-handed batter.

In principle, the googly is similar to the doosra, an off-spinner's variation that spins in the opposite direction to their normal delivery, also used to deceive the batter. A googly is also referred to as ‘wrong-un’.

The pioneer of Googly

Bernard Bosanquet is credited with inventing the googly and was the first bowler to use it in competitive cricket. He first used the delivery in July 1900 during the second innings of a County Championship match between Middlesex and Leicestershire at Lord's.

During the match, Sam Coe became the first known batter to be dismissed by a googly. Despite its ingenuity, the delivery was viewed with suspicion in the Edwardian era, with some critics even considering it a form of cheating. It was also called Bosie or Bosey, with the eponyms referring to Bosanquet.

In the 90s and early 2000s, the delivery was widely used by the two greatest leg spinners to have ever played the game, namely India's Anil Kumble and Australia's Shane Warne.