WHEN the hardboiled Douglas Jardine found a furiously fast bowler in coal miner Harold Larwood, he unleashed an instrument to create cricket’s first big crisis – Bodyline.The tactic to keep Donald Bradman from scoring runs shook the very foundations of cricket.
Larwood was the first genuinely fast and fearsome bowler who arrived on the world stage with a 100 kilowatt thunk. Many moons later when beleaguered West indies captain Clive Lloyd found that three spinners – Inshan Ali, Albert Padmore and Rafiq Jumadeen – were unable to curtail Indian batters in their unprecedented quest for a 400-plus score on a wearing fourth and fith day track in Port of Spain, he too decided that the only way forward was brutal pace to attack the bodies of the batsmen in the series decider in Sabina Park. Battered and bruised Indian batsmen were subjected to a body bruising catechism by Andy Roberts, Michael Holding and Wayne Daniel.
This was the beginning of years of domination by a conveyor belt of West Indian fast men which probably ended with the retirement of Courtney Walsh, Curtley Ambrose and Ian Bishop. In fact, this troika did not achieve the success that earlier Windies fast bowlers had managed. But they were the last of the greats. Lloyd and his side should have learnt their lesson in Australia just before the famous Port of Spain run chase against India. Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson and Max Walker indulged in a demolition derby where the West Indians were shut out 5-1.
This was the era which gave way to the deadly dangerous fast bowling combines who consistently bowled at 90 miles per hour and put the fear of God in the hearts and minds of batsmen. Many batsmen succumbed to the raw pace of the Aussies and the West Indians those days. Then raw pace simply disappeared till it returned in the form of three bowlers principally – Shoaib Akhtar from Pakistan, Brett Lee from Australia and Shane Bond from New Zealand and more recently Dale Steyn. All three were quick bowling consistently over 90 mph and even crossing 150 kmph. Some of the swinging yorkers bowled by Akhtar were virtually unplayable when he was on song. His exploits in Kolkata against India or in New Zeland saw him emerge as one of the fastest bowlers of his time. The swinging yorker like a heat seeking missile demolishing the woodwork behind the batsman. Not since Jeff Thomson or a Wayne Daniel had the world seen such raw pace.
But did he inspire fear in the dressing room? I don’t think so. Did Bond or Lee inspire fear? Again the answer is in the negative. But they were quick nevertheless and feared by batters around the world. It was seen with all three that their full length deliveries were often the fastest clocking in excess of 90 mph. So, the ball was delivered faster in the air and not off the pitch which meant that it was quick and didn’t have anything to do with the wicket per se. I still remember VVS Laxman’s bewildered look when he was beaten by Akhtar’s pace in a one day game. The ball was quick and unplayable, swinging late in the air to find its target at the base of the stumps.
That was Akhtar’s genius and obviously when a bowler is not picked by batsmen, questions are asked of his action. This happened in Akhtar’s case. Akhtar was lethal, and a class apart from Lee and Bond who though equally quick didn’t generate the same reverse to bend the ball back at high speed. This helped Akhtar brutalise the psyche of batsmen. But Akhtar was never consistent and over time he has put on too much weight on his upper body. Lack of stamina doesn’t allow him to bowl for long spells either. Notably, the upper body having become so heavy is not supported by his weak knees which cave in under relentless bowling pressure.
Unlike Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram who delivered kayo punches over many years and could bowl real quick when they wanted, Akhtar has struggled with his fitness. I still think despite his poor fitness and a question mark over his real quick swinging yorker’s legitimacy, Akhtar was a far more dangerous bowler than Lee and Bond. Primarily because of the length that he bowled in his real prime. Lee and Bond very rarely bowl that fullish length consistently and that negates their threat percept considerably. Dale Steyn, Umar Gul, Fidel Edwards, Lasith Malinga can bowl that length, but do they have the fear factor? Nyet. Which brings me to the current crop of fast bowlers. They are all clones and we are seeing a veritable invasion by these clones. Why do I say that? Well, bowling at 90mph has become commonplace.
Look around you – Pakistan has Umar Gul, Sri Lanka has Lasith Malinga, West Indies have Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor, England have Flintoff, Broad, Anderson and even the wiry thin Graeme Onions, Australia has Mitchell Johnson and Brett Lee, India has Ishant Sharma, New Zealand has Bond and Kyle Mills, South Africa has Dale Steyn, Morkel brothers and Wayne Parnell. So, what has changed in world cricket? Is pace no longer a thrill? Does it not induce fear and loathing? Seems so, for the rules of the game have also changed.
Bouncers or bumpers cannot be overused as the umpires step in. Helmets and extra padding has also reduced the fear factor. As have slowing pitches the world over. Think about it – India won a Test at Perth vanquishing Australia. It is only in the T20 World Cup that one saw the re-emergence of the bouncer to undermine a batsman’s technical capability. Strangely it was India which was targeted by Taylor and Edwards most successfully. We had Suresh Raina, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja falling prey to the short ball. In some cases like Raina, Pathan and Jadeja, technical inadequacies were exposed. After a long time one saw a batsman shuffle to leg (Jadeja) or a Pathan unable to drop his hands out of a bouncer’s way or a Raina trying to short arm hook a ball where the length didn’t demand that particular shot.
This has brought back the spectre of pace and the bouncer. England used the same tactic in the very next game against India and the tri series in Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy immediately after that will once again throw the Indian batsmen into the deep end. Perhaps that is why Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar have been asked to step up to the plate. It is a strange conundrum – bowlers are getting faster even as the pitches are getting slower. And batsmen are getting bolder and displaying more derring do and bravado in playing more audacious shots. This is also a function of the surfeit of cricket, now being played year round including an overdose of one day cricket.
And how can I forget, a catalogue of rules which favours the batsmen.One bouncer an over, batting power plays and what have you have taken the chutzpah out of the game.
Fast bowling is one of the most vital components of cricket. It is a showpiece and a cenrtifuge to the game’s popularity. I remember Akhtar tearing in to bowl to a West Indian batter (Sherwin Campbell) who top edged and the ball went over the wicket keeper for six in the 1999 World Cup. The crowd was agog. Similarly when Tendulkar used a rasping full blooded cut against the same Akhtar in the 2003 World Cup, the ball went sailing over the third man boundary for six. Fast bowlers provide an edge of the seat thrill when they steam in to bowl. They are an integral part of the game and they need to be given more space. As teams around the world churn out an assembly line of 90mph bowlers, the game needs a spanking new talent who can bowl at say 95 or 100 mph to revive fear in the hearts and minds of batsmen.
Why did a Shane Warne capture the imagination of crowds – he had variety, he was colourful, he could bowl the magic unplayable ball; new terms like over spin, revolutions et al were the buzzwords which set the cricketing stage alight. I am a little disappointed with this invasion of the clones. I want to see a real tearaway fast bowler emerge. Or maybe one of the existing lot show us some new skills in the Champions Trophy in South Africa in late September. Reverse swing maybe, some hostile bouncers, a really quick spell which pushes batsmen on the backfoot, a change of pace; something that reposes my faith in fast bowling. The ‘human’ element or character needs to re-emerge from behind these clones. Like Fidel Edwards in the IPL.
Push the batsman back, make him think, make him earn his runs, make him smell the perfume ball, wince a bit, hop around a bit… Bring the excitement back into the game. Let the crowds get involved irrespective of which nationality they are supporting.
