The googly is a leg-spinner’s most prized weapon ... the bowler can impart counterclockwise spin on the ball, causing it to turn from off to leg. To bowl a wrong’un, the leg-spinner grips ...

Put simply, the it is the off-spinner's version of the googly. Over the past five years ... It looks very similar to a normal off-break, but rather than spin towards the bat, it goes the other way ...

THE WRONG 'UN: A surprise weapon in a leg spinner's arsenal, the Googly is the variation used to catch the batsman off guard. Here's Laxman Sivaramakrishnan with the basics.

The visit of the South African team has revived interest in the googly ... to alter the axis of spin, so that a ball which normally delivered would break from leg breaks from the off.