Matt Critchley has hailed spin icon Anil Kumble after a masterclass with the former India international during a six-week placement in India.
The 22-year-old recently returned from the sub-continent, where he worked to improve his all-round game, whilst also taking advice on spin bowling from one of cricket’s greats.
Critchley paid tribute to Kumble for helping him to improve and the all-rounder sees similar traits between the spin duo.
“The main thing [for me] is he’s quite similar to me being tall,” said Critchley.
“He said that people see the classical leg spinner getting big in-drift, slow up and down and spinning it away.
“He said to stick to what I’ve got – you’re born with the assets you’ve got, so you might as well use them.
“Not many [spinners] are my height and can get my bounce – and he made a career on that.
“He had a googly that spun, but he didn’t really spin it massively away from the bat; he just used his bounce and always tried to hit the batsman on the knee-roll.
“It was good to speak to someone who’s similar to me and get the reassurance that it is okay to be different.
“You don’t have to follow the classical mould – sometimes being different opens up different opportunities for you.”
Critchley is now inspired to put his skills into practice for Derbyshire and help the team to achieve win more matches this season.
“I’ll go back to Derby and talk to Steve Kirby and the coaches to discuss what will help me in the roles I play at Derbyshire to try and win games.
“Obviously you want to do well yourself, but the reason we play is to win games and try and win trophies.
“It’s about filtering my knowledge and going back to try and win games for Derbyshire.”
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