Mark Watt: The non-spinning strong, western, spoiler left-arm finger spin yorker bowler
Looking at Scotland's successful finger spinner who most people just don't look at.
The Scotland bowlers got hammered by Afghanistan. Scotland then collapsed in the chase through Mujeeb's bowling and the outside portion of the leg stump. But I want to focus on one Scottish bowler who did not get hammered.
I am going to assume you are not as obsessed with Mark Watt as I am. But if you've paid any attention to this tournament so far, you'll know that he is not getting hit, even when Scotland are.
But I think he's worth going deep on. Because what he does is so different to many other T20 bowlers. Scotland fans have been pleased with him for a long time, and associate hipsters are more than aware of what he can do. But outside of this small group, he's not exactly well known.
I didn't know much about Watt before first being hired by Edinburgh Rocks. Which was a cricket team, not an enthusiastic high school musical. And I learned more when I worked with Scotland.
Watt made his name in the most famous game in Scottish history when they beat England at the Grange. In a high-scoring match, Watt's ten overs went for 55 runs while picking up three wickets. Straight away, he was picked up by Lancashire, but he only played a few games. The following season, Derbyshire gave him a few more. But they didn't re-sign him either. English counties aren't exactly rushing to fill positions with young finger spinners from Scotland. So that two of them did, is something on its own.
Mark Watt: the non-spinning strong, western , spoiler left-arm finger spin bowler | #T20WorldCup
But in 2019, Scotland had a twice discarded 24-year-old left-arm finger spinner who is much with the bat. And doesn't really spin it. Yes, I said it. I don't say this as a hit job on Mark Watt; he just doesn't turn it much at all. And for him, he's turned that into a superpower.
Mark Watt is so much more than a spinner who doesn't tweak. He's one of the smartest cricketers around, and he's also a throwback to a couple of other really successful T20 spinners. Guys like Michael Beer and Mike Yardy. Neither of these guys were sexy bowlers, but they were a particular kind of spinner that seems to work quite well in T20.
And this isn't just a T20 thing. Ashley Giles, Paul Harris, these are not the finger spinners you see come from Asia.
They are strong left-arm spinners. Another name could be western left-arm spinners. Because you simply don't get bowlers like Yardy, Beer or Watt from Asia. Even Imad Wasim, who is at least stylistically the most similar to them, isn't really that strong. He's got his own thing going on, almost a swing bowler.
Left-arm finger spinners from Asia are usually slighter and craftier. They bowl fuller lengths and rely on things spinners usually do to be successful. These bigger - and often broader - left-arm finger spinners from the west do something completely different.
Watt and his type are really strong, and they hit a hard length where you can't really pull them. There is no room to cut either, and they're too fast to dance down to.
They're spoiler bowlers. Their wickets aren't through great deliveries but through a brilliant plan. A system that is right there just to stop you from being able to put them away easily.
They almost combine the skills of left-arm spin, the angle, occasional turn, with a fast bowling plan. Hitting hard lengths, aim to hurry or cramp you. They seem to deliver a weighted ball at times. And because they don't spin the ball that much back into the bat they can hold their own against lefties.
You can't do what he does without being an incredibly smart cricketer. Watt has worked out a great spoiling bowling plan, and when it goes wrong he will try his Plan B or C. Like against lefties, he's been known to bowl wrist spin on occasion to turn the ball away from them. It often looks like nothing is going on with Watt other than very accurate straight spin, but what he does with those skills is truly remarkable.
One is his angle, he really uses the crease. His front foot is often outside the return crease, which is not a no-ball. This gives him the angle that others don't have.
Not only does he use the crease for angles and advantages. He sometimes bowls from way back - near the umpire - meaning that he can beat people in flight and make them hit through the ball while their body is out of shape.
For a spinner he has an exceptional Yorker. He has a fast arm, and he drops it perfectly; that allows him to get out of some overs that other tweakers can't.
He knows the exact right fields for his type of bowling, and it's something he bowls too a lot. His length makes him a tricky bowler to sweep, so many seasoned sweepers often don't try.
He can bowl at the top - a bit like Michael Beer - and has a really good econ while also taking wickets. The strength of his delivery means the ball sometimes holds and another times skids. He's good at taking wickets in the middle overs, he's actually more suited to the power play, but when he's the only spinner he can still dominate the middle. And Scotland use him as a backup death bowler. He's not particularly good at it, but as an emergency option, he's far better than most.
Mark Watt is actually better against left-handers than right-handers so far in his career, in average and econ. He hasn't bowled that much just yet, and so maybe that might regress. But he's bowled enough that his econ seems earned, but his average is insane.
And part of that is because he doesn't spin it back into them. He's a deadly accurate slow left-arm seamer with a few spin tricks mixed in.
Think about how many left-arm finger spinners who bowl all the way through an innings who are better against left-handers than righties that you know?
Last four years I could only find a handful of other SLA who are better against lefties. And this is just the guys who bowl a lot to left-handers. Many don't even get the chance.
Mark Watt is a strong western left-arm finger spinner who doesn't get turn and after four games in this tournament, is going at less than a run a ball. Yet, even with everything I have told you, if you've seen him bowl, you could understand why Lancs or Derby gave up after one year.
To understand Mark Watt, you really have to watch super close. From a distance, it just looks like part-time spin.
Watt isn't the kind of bowler that cricket fans gravitate to, but as a spoiler bowler with an unusual record, he's one of the weirdest successful cricketers in this World Cup.
He is like a young Les Milne - similar shape just lacks the beard.
Jarrod- I wonder if part of Mark Watt’s effectiveness against left handed batsmen is partly to do with where he bowls from in the crease. Within baseball, the left/left and right/right matchup advantage is often most pronounced with pitchers who throw from a lower arm slot. That is largely to do with the fact that, as a batter, the ball is often coming from outside of the traditional eye line, and those batters have to adjust and change the way that they set up to face a pitcher with the same handedness throwing from a low arm slot. Is the fact that Watt comes from so far out of the traditional eye line for a batsman aiding him against left handlers?