print icon
The Surfer

Warne's flipper trap

Shane Warne recounts how he mastered the flipper and picks out his favourite dismissals using the delivery

In an interview with cricket.com.au, Shane Warne talks about how he mastered the art of bowling the flipper, how he planned his variations through a spell and picks out his two most memorable dismissals using the flipper.
"I had a mixture (of people showing me how to bowl it) - Jack Potter was the first to show me it, Jim Higgs, Richie Benaud, even a gentleman by the name of Bob Paulsen. Terry Jenner. So there were these guys showing me sliders, flippers, and I remember trying to bowl (the flipper) and I kept bowling it over the net, double bounces, I couldn't get it right," Warne said. "It took me a good couple of years to perfect it.
"One of the things I learned over time was, the what, when and why: what delivery am I bowling, when am I bowling it, and why am I bowling it?" Warne said. "Rather than, 'I haven't bowled a wrong'un or a flipper for a couple of overs, I'll bowl one'. "There's a real strategy, plan and art to (getting the batsman with the flipper) - I used to love setting a batsman up for it.
"None better than Richie Richardson at the MCG in 1992, and Alec Stewart at the Gabba in 1994 - they were two of my favourite ones that I bowled; they didn't pick them and I set them up beautifully for it. Especially Alec Stewart," he said