Australian off-spinner Todd Murphy is looking to add new skills to his bowling ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) final and Ashes series. He was inspired by Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s carrom ball during the Border Gavaskar Trophy in February 2023. Murphy is working on adding this delivery to his arsenal for the upcoming tour of India and England.
Murphy had an impressive start to his Test career, with 14 wickets at an average of 25.21 during the BGT series in India. He learned the carrom ball technique by watching clips of Ashwin’s bowling and studying his hand and wrist position. Murphy said that having a delivery that goes the other way poses different challenges for batsmen.
The WTC final will begin on June 7 at London’s Oval, while the Ashes will begin on June 16 at Birmingham’s Edgbaston. Murphy is Australia’s second-choice spinner after veteran Nathan Lyon, and unless Lyon is injured, he is unlikely to play on the tour. The Australian squad for the WTC final includes Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Josh Inglis, Todd Murphy, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, with reserves Mitch Marsh and Matt Renshaw.
