Rediscovery & Regrets; A Cricketing Legacy

I owe my love for cricket and whatever meagre talents I possess to both my Uncle, who played for Worcestershire, and my Grandfather, who never played professionally but was an accomplished cricketer nonetheless. All three of us share the same name, Robert Lanchbury, though we do not share exactly the same talents. Robert John Lanchbury (my Uncle) was a batsman and Robert Stanley Lanchbury (my Grandfather) was a wicket keeper so its apt that I, Robert William Lanchbury, complete the trio by being a bowler. Unfortunately my Grandfather passed away last year after a long battle with Alzheimer's. I greatly regret the fact that he was not able to watch me playing as a grown man. Obviously as a young boy he watched me often but between the ages of 15 and 23 I completely fell out of the game, persuing different ahem 'pastimes' such as girls, booze, music and just about everything I probably should not have been doing. 

I did not pick up the game again until I went to university and the cricket bug really bit me hard. I owed this new found passion almost purely to leg spinning, I was fascinated by the spinning ball and all the permutations thereof. As a young cricketer I had bowled medium pace swingers to some great effect (my best figures in this first phase were something like 8-30) but even though I could still swing a ball the pace was, shall we say, not great, and it now lacked that element which had previously held my attention. Cue endless watching of Terry Jenner and Shane Warne videos combined with a feverish flipping of the ball. I drove my housemates insane with my constant practice. Suffice to say I have never looked back. 

Four years later I found myself searching through the books my Grandfather had tucked away and discovered an absolute gem in the form of an MCC coaching manual from 1952. I was given a copy of the 1994 version by my Grandfather which I spent hours poring over as a child, unsurprisingly it was Richie Benauds leg spin section which I thumbed through the most even if I could not bowl it at that age. But what I now notice is just how poor it is in comparison with the 1952 version, especially the spin section. Benaud tends to just skip over vital points and barely explains the variations at all. I believe it is essential to the proliferation of this wonderful game that skills are passed along by generous souls, be it through a family, by coaches or by the more modern method of the internet. So in the spirit of a continuing cricket legacy through a shared knowledge I have scanned in the Leg Spin section just for now but if I get enough requests I will gladly do the off spin section.

You can find it here.

Enjoy!