New Front Page Article: Fast Bowling Lessons From Sri Lanka by Jeeshan Mirza

[Zunaid]

Originally Posted by Naimul_Hd
^^ How about the pigeon, McGrath ? Surely he isn't well built and the skinniest of all. That's why he got that nick.

196 cm and 90 kg. He may not have been beefy but he definitely wasn't skinny. 196 cm and 90 kg - that's NOT a small man. It's his thin legs in comparison to his barrel chest that gave him his nickname.

[Naimul_Hd]

Originally Posted by Zunaid
196 cm and 90 kg. He may not have been beefy but he definitely wasn't skinny. 196 cm and 90 kg - that's NOT a small man. It's his thin legs in comparison to his barrel chest that gave him his nickname.

90 kg ? is it his current weight ? I doubt he was 90 kg when he started his career !!

For a 6' 5" guy, 90 kg may be normal.

[jeesh]

McGrath used to bowl at 140 plus when he started, over the years his pace declined. But still he could comfortably bowl over 135. His height, delivery point, accuracy were his key strengths. Very hard to replicate. India has tried with several guys-identical action. But so far none of them had any success.

Anyway you dont need pace and brute strength to be a successful bowler. Chaminda Vaas, Kulasekara, Praveen Kumar, Aaqib Javed, Streak are all good examples. Height and pace are obviously an advantage. But a bowler can do without if they have accuracy, skill and intelligence. These are things that need to be taught to our guys and will come with experience and practice. McGrath used to put a coin on the pitch and practice day and night.

Most of our pacers are poor in all these areas. Most dont have height or pace. Only Mashrafee and Nazmul are somewhat accurate. Most have limited skills (How many can genuinely swing or seam the ball in and out consistently?), and hardly any of them use intelligence. Rasel for instance can make up for the lack of pace with accurate wicket to wicket bowling and a bit of swing. But he sprays the ball over the place and gets whacked around. Lot of work for our bowling coaches to do. And these things need long term training, not just 3 weeks before a tour.

[shuziburo]

Practice is one thing that all greats are great at. Somehow most of our players don't think so.

Bradman was known for his pursuit of perfection. Harold Larwood also used to practice with a coin on the pitch. Tendulkar is one of the current examples.

[shuziburo]

Originally Posted by Ian Pont
Always happy to set up an MRF style pace academy in Bangladesh but no one seems to want it, or has the enthusiasm for it.

Unless the BCB want this, it will not happen. Or unless the big companies want to fund this, it will not happen.

I am getting fed up offering my services but I am passionate about making this work - somehow

Ian, if this happens, it is unlikely to be due to BCB. Please don't get disheartened. It will happen, but might take time.

[jeesh]

When is BCB election? Good time to feed the idea to Mr. Kamal. Anyone have his number? :P

[Zeeshan]

Late to comment. Impressive knowledge Jeesh. Do you, however, have any more thoughts on the quoted section? Can you expand on it? I fully agree that we should use unorthodox scouting to find those rare fit players from rural areas, who could be fine tuned into fast bowlers.

The lesson is we may not be able to find a Malinga in the nets of Abahani practicing with a leather ball. We need to widen our search parameters. We need to look at villages, rural school cricket and often resort to the unlikeliest places to find a future fast bowler. Sounds easy in theory, but how can we implement this? This is where the decentralization of cricket will help. Individual’s delegated responsibility of promoting cricket in the different regions must scout for such prospects and bring them into the system. This has been one Sri Lanka’s key success factors-the ability to discover and bring in young talent from around the country.

[jeesh]

Thank you for the kind feedback Zeeshan.

Our selectors have a very traditional or conventional approach. Have school cricket, develop under 19 team, have first class cricket, give a team opportunity to prospects then promote to NT if they perform. These days they also dont take too many risks. Now this is good, this way we allow a player to develop instead of rushing him. But sometimes this approach might prevent us from finding rough uncut diamonds.

Because cricket is so Dhaka centric not every boy around the country has the ability to obtain proper coaching or even purchase a full kit. So while our eyes are on Dhaka, there might be a tearaway from Rangpur who only plays village cricket. How Sri Lanka benefits is their highly publicized island wide school tournaments-its easier to identify performers or talent. Also their coaches and selectors are not afraid to take risks. If they spot talent, they will not hesitate fastracking to academy or A team or sometimes even NT. They dont care whether the boy has had good training, or whether he has first class experience. They believe in raw talent. Malinga is a product of this school of thought. Akila Dananjaya is the most recent success story. The guy never played a professional match in his life, he was just picked by Wayamba because of his impressive showing in the nets as a net practice bowler. Now he ll be in the SL T20 team.

Now we too have a success story in the same line. Mashrafe wasnt unearthed the traditional way. He was spotted in a regional tournament. Had a few days with Andy Roberts which totally changed his life. Was fastracked to A team where he played 4 matches in India. Was called up to the NT immediately after that where he made a huge impact. Is Mashrafe a once in a generation bowler or a very special talent? I bet there are more guys there, we just have to go out and find.

[World Champs]

I don't know much about fast bowling but IMO Its not all about being 6''4 and having a good built to bowl fast. India has number of players in domestic cricket who are tall and well built but they are trundlers. We had a guy like Abhey Kuruvilla but he used to bowl in 125-130 range, whereas a skinny and short ajit agarkar used to bowl quicket than him. Take Eg of Mohd Aamir he wasn't a big guy either but used to bowl 140-145.

[jeesh]

Correct. Ajit Agarkar had a quick arm and wrist action which enabled him to bowl over 140 early on in his career. Height adds bounce and carry, but is not necessarily proportional to pace. Upper body strength, shoulder muscle, arm action are more important.

[Gowza]

long limbs can help with pace, they can gather more momentum but obviously having strong legs and a strong upper body is important to.

[jeesh]

There's so much of science to it. Once i recall Ian Chappel say McGrath's pace is a fraction less because when he is bowling the ball travels a greater distance because of his height and high arm action-as opposed to a shorter bowler. Dont ask me to explain the logic, even i wasnt sure what he meant. But point is there are so many theories.

[Gowza]

Originally Posted by jeesh
There's so much of science to it. Once i recall Ian Chappel say McGrath's pace is a fraction less because when he is bowling the ball travels a greater distance because of his height and high arm action-as opposed to a shorter bowler. Dont ask me to explain the logic, even i wasnt sure what he meant. But point is there are so many theories.

less pace at the batsman's end maybe, though speeds are measured from the hand so what comes up on the speed gun shouldn't be affected by his height and high arm action. think about it logically, if 2 bowlers were to release the ball at the same point in the bowlers crease, the bowler who releases the ball at a higher point will be bowling it further by the time it gets to the batsman.