Off cutter

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Off-cutter grip for a left handed bowler

An off cutter is a type of delivery in the

game of cricket. It is bowled by fast
bowlers.
 Bowling techniques
Types

Fast Seam Swing

Medium pace

Spin Finger (off spin left-arm orthodox)

Wrist (leg spin

left-arm unorthodox)

Deliveries

Fast Bouncer Inswinger Leg cutter

Reverse
Off cutter Outswinger swing
Slower ball Yorker knuckle ball
palmbowl split finger

Spin Arm ball Doosra Teesra Flipper

 Googly Carrom ball Leg break
Off break Slider Topspinner

Other Full toss

Actions

Usual Overarm

Other Underarm Roundarm

Illegal techniques

Throwing Emery ball Beamer

v t e

A bowler releases a normal fast delivery

with the wrist locked in position and the
first two fingers positioned on top of the
cricket ball, giving it spin about a
horizontal axis perpendicular to the length
of the pitch. For an off cutter, a right-
handed bowler pulls his fingers down the
right side of the ball (from his viewpoint),
in an action similar to bowling an off
break, only at higher speed. This changes
the axis of spin to make it more like an off
break, which makes the ball deviate to the
right when it bounces on the pitch. From a
right-handed batsman's point of view, this
deviation is to the left, or from the off side
towards the leg side. This deviation is
known as cut, and the delivery is called an
off cutter because it moves away from the
off side. What differentiates a genuine off
cutter from a delivery that simply nips
back off the seam is that it is deliberately
bowled. A fast off cutter can also be
bowled by placing the index and middle
fingers on one side of the vertical seam,
with the remaining fingers spread and
tensed on the opposite side of the ball, as
used by Brian Statham [1] and Ray
Lindwall.[2]

Off cutters do not turn as sharply as off

breaks bowled by an off spin bowler, but at
the speed of a fast bowler even a tiny
deviation can cause difficulties for the
batsman. If he is not quick enough to react
to the movement, the batsman can miss
the ball with his bat and be bowled
between bat and pad or out leg before
wicket if struck on the pads.

A fast bowler will typically use the off

cutter as a variation ball, as it is most
effective when it surprises the batsman.
Waqar Younis, Mustafizur Rahman, Glenn
McGrath, Richard Hadlee, and Fred
Trueman managed a bagful of wickets
with this delivery because of the accurate
lengths at which they operated, between
fullish and good lengths (ball landing 2 to
3 steps in front of the batsman) at close to
the off stump line. The surprise comes
because, when facing rigorously accurate
off-side bowlers, like those mentioned
above, batters usually incorporate plans to
leave the ball, or exaggerate foot
movements to the pitch of the ball in
anticipation.

The calling card of this delivery, for the

batsman to read it in advance, is the
typical wobble in the seam after ball
release with the seam slanting
predominantly towards the batsman. A
simple way for a beginner to learn to bowl
cutters is to try imparting strong back-spin
to the ball by pulling down on the seam at
the time of release while keeping the seam
vertical.
Cutters work especially well on pitches
that are rough, or when the ball lands on
cracks on the surface. Such surfaces grip
the seam and stop the reverse rotation,
leading to considerable deviation as well
as causing the ball to keep low after
pitching. In the latter case, the balls are
also called 'shooters'. Lance Klusener used
this tactic in matches in the West Indies
and the Indian subcontinent, particularly in
one match in Calcutta towards the end of
his career when he had lost some of his
speed.

Mustafizur Rahman is probably the most

successful bowler of the off cutter. Instead
of rolling the fingers over the seam of
sliding it back he flicks his wrists at the
very last moment with very less change to
his action. Thus the 'Fizz' grips the surface
and deviates the ball from its line and gets
a sudden jump like bounce with slower
pace. He even bowls a fast off cutter. Thus
Nasser Hossain rightly described him as a
'fast off spinner'. A good example would
be Andre Russels dismissal by Mustafizur
in the Vivo IPL 2016.

In test matches, bowlers tend to 'work the

cracks' using cutters, meaning that they try
pitching the ball on cracks repeatedly with
the result that few of the balls that do
pitch on cracks unsettles even a well-set
batsman.

In contemporary cricket, the off-cutter is

primarily used as a slower ball in limited
over cricket.

See also
Leg cutter

See also
Glenn McGrath bowling a devastating
spell of off cutters down the slope at
Lords, 2005.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=5wsTcONIJ6w
 Mitchell Starc's off cutter from around
the wicket to dismiss James Vince,
WACA, 2017

References
1. "Brian Statham: A great fast bowler who
was once the highest wicket-taker in
Tests" . Retrieved 21 May 2016.
2. "Australian Bowling Greats: A Bat, A Ball
and A Boy - Part 3 - Cricket History" .
Retrieved 21 May 2016.

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