Melbourne: Anil Kumble has been rated as the best slow bowler to tour Down Under in the last quarter century by former Australian leg-spinner Kerry O’ Keeffe.

O’ Keeffe was certainly not the most successful of spinners to have played for Australia, taking 53 wickets from 24 Tests, but is hugely respected in his country and works as a leg-spin coach at the Australian cricket academy.

“It is one of the most cleverly orchestrated campaigns of leg-spin bowling in this country that I have ever seen,” O’ Keeffe said of Kumble, who took 24 wickets in the three matches he played in the four-Test series.

“Kumble has used that 101-102 km slider, his two-three variations of googly which either opened the gate or had batsmen hitting back catches.” O’ Keeffe looked deep at Kumble’s methods and said he saw a very crafty bowler at his peak.

“When Lee came in late on the third day (in Sydney), Kumble bowled him a 100 km yorker and followed it up with a 78 km wrong ’un, wide. When everybody was thinking he would york him the last ball, he bowled a bleepy wrong ’un,” he said.

“When he got Ponting with that spearing stuff, he found the batsman looking to work him on the on-side. He just kept slowing a couple up, setting it up, and then the 101 km slider just got his man.

O’ Keeffe said he noticed Kumble hates being cut yet he used this as a ploy to get Steve Waugh. (PTI)