Rex Clementine, in The Sunday Island, 23 October 2016, where the title reads ” Fate has forced Vandersay to wait patiently”
With the exit of Shane Warne, for a few years, leg-spin looked a dying art. But Pakistan’s Yasir Shah has kept cricket’s most difficult art alive. Last year, as Pakistan won in Sri Lanka after nine years, the leg-spinner took 24 wickets. He became the quickest Pakistani to take 50 wickets in Tests and became the first leg-spinner since Warne to be ranked as world’s number one bowler. He is following on the footsteps of other remarkable Pakistani leg-spinners such as Abdul Qadir and Mushtaq Ahmed.
Leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay was out of cricket for more than six months and on Friday spun Sri Lanka ‘A’ to a series win over West Indies ‘A’ taking six wickets in the second innings at Dambulla.
But Yasir, unlike Warne, heavily depends on his stock delivery. Warne was outstanding because he had excellent control over his variations like the googly (one that turns the opposite way), the top spinner (one that doesn’t turn but dips sharpy and bounces higher), the flipper (one that skids through and keeps low), the slider (the faster one). Sri Lanka could provide the answer for the complete package of Warne as there’s a leg-spinner who is obsessed with Warne. Jeffrey Vandersay is his name. Continue reading →
