Sometimes even the great Shane Warne had to admit defeat.  Despite being the textbook attacking spinner, there were times even Warnie used negative bowling to get results.

There is certainly no shame in switching plans as a last resort.  If the finest leggie to ever live used it, you can too.

Picture the scene; a limited over game where you bat first and put up an above par score of 223. 

You already know the opposition will have to bat brilliantly. But they start well. As the game progresses they get ahead of the required rate and wickets are not coming.

Every bowler gets a try, but by the 35th over the score is 168-2, 56 required off 90 balls. Defeat looks inevitable.

 Now is the time to pull the emergency stop lever.

Bring on your most accurate spinner - off or leg - tell her to bowl at leg stump and pack the leg side with 6 or 7 fielders:

Look to bowl maidens, squeeze the runs tight and force the batters to find different ways to score.

It's dull, painful for everyone involved and the last desperate throw of the dice, but it is ruthlessly effective. Batsmen panic as soon as about 10 dots build in a row. Even a couple of scampered singles doesn’t help. They want to blaze an easy target down with boundaries and you are making them sweat.

 The batsman tries to work it into a gap and plays on or nicks off. An end opens and the new man is feeling the pressure to score from ball one, just like the others. The panic sets in. 

After the game the opposition captain scratches his head and wonders where the collapse came from. You smile, shake hands and say 'bad luck, good game'. You know it was about more than luck.

Winning games is about having plans, and backup plans, then putting the plans into action. If you can do that, then playing negative cricket is just another tool to use to get results.