indian pace

[Neil Pickup]

Small guys don't scare anyone.

Darren Gough?
Malcolm Marshall?

 

[Tom Halsey]

Fidel Edwards is 5ft 8" and slightly built, but he struck some fear into Kirsten today.

 

[krkode]

Darren Gough?
Malcolm Marshall?

Those guys weren't "small" in the traditional sense. They may have been short, but they were both well built and somewhat muscular/stocky/however you'll have it.

In other words, Marshall and Gough aren't small. Agarkar is small. Nehra is small.

 

[Tom Halsey]

You ignored my post that Fidel Edwards isn't "muscular" or "stocky" but he still struck fear into Kirsten today.

 

[krkode]

You ignored my post that Fidel Edwards isn't "muscular" or "stocky" but he still struck fear into Kirsten today.

My bad for not replying, mate. Didn't read it at first.

Striking fear into a batsman today and striking fear into batsmen throughout your career (read: Marshall, Gough) are different things.

We'll see how he carries on. But, perhaps Fidel is special, either way.

I'm not saying it's a universal rule, though. Some people can just be fearsome. Body language, facial attitude. Forget all chucking controversy and everything, if Murali was a fast bowler, as small and slightly built as he is, he'd strike fear in me with a bowling expression like that :O :P

 

[Tom Halsey]

Very true.

 

[Richard]

Basically, you don't need to scare batsmen physically if you can get them out by pitching moving balls in the right area.

 

[krkode]

Basically, you don't need to scare batsmen physically if you can get them out by pitching moving balls in the right area.

It helps to be able to do the former if you can't do the latter, which most bowlers can't anyway.

 

[Richard]

Maybe it would help if you could do the former, but no-one can, because batsmen aren't scared by pace any more.
And you're right that most bowlers going around ATM can't do the latter either (on flat wickets, anyway). But still, the batsmen have been doing the job by piling-up 500+ totals with regularity, something that has helped enormously in the last 2 years, because opposition batting has felt obliged to collapse willingly in the face of such large totals.
There is some evidence that this is being ceased, hopefully it will continue, draws will abound and something will be put back into the pitches for the bowlers.

 

[Tom Halsey]

Maybe it would help if you could do the former, but no-one can, because batsmen aren't scared by pace any more.

Sarwan? Bevan?

 

[Richard]

You having a laugh?
Sarwan, who came back into the fray just minutes after learning he hadn't got a fractured skull, scared of fast bowling?
We've seen an astonishing number of batsmen ducking into fullish balls in the current two Tests (and our resident Kiwis can tell us if there's been any at Basin Reserve - with Shoaib and Sami I wouldn't rule it out) but how many of them have reacted in a way that would suggest they had had fear struck into them?
As for Bevan, I've never seen anything that would suggest he's scared of fast bowling. He failed at Test level because of a weakness against the short-ball, just like Hick, but nothing suggested fear to me.

 

[Arjun]

batsmen aren't scared by pace any more.

Indian batsmen are ALWAYS scared of pace. In their first-class matches, the bowling attacks lack pace. Place them against Brett Lee or Shoaib Akhtar, and they'll start hopping scared, since they have never faced that pace before. In this match, they were in trouble against Brett Lee and Brad Williams.

Even Bevan, in that 3-match super-challenge in Australia, was having trouble against Shoaib Akhtar. He was even trembling at the sight of Akhtar in the last 2 matches.

 

[Richard]

Arjun, in most domestic competitions the bowling attacks lack bowlers who can bowl at 90 mph. It really isn't that important. In England, the only two bowlers who can bowl at close to 90 mph are Jones and Harmison. Jones has hardly played because he had never merited a place until he took that 6-for on the opening day of 2002 and then he suffered from injuries. Harmison has never presented an extraordinary threat.
I don't know how many 90 mph bowlers there are in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies, South Africa or New Zealand, but the only ones I can think of off the top of my head are Bond (injured all the time), Dilhara Fernando (injured all the time, and for some reason keeps getting picked for internationals when not injured), Ntini (international regular), Nel (international regular), Hayward (gone off in a strop, don't know if he's back yet), Ngam (more injuries than is surely possible), Lawson (injured all the time) and Butler (completely useless). There may be a couple more, but as you see, very few batsmen will have to be regularly facing bowling of 90 mph pace. Not absolutely certain how many 90 mph bowlers there are in Australia, Johnson's the only one I can think of off the top of my head, but honestly, Arjun, stepping-up from facing 80 mph to 90 (and no-one has much of a problem with Lee, do they?) isn't that difficult if you're a good batsman.
I cannot believe that Bevan would have been trembling at the sight of Shoaib, but I didn't see the matches so I can't say for certain. Anyhow, any batsman with any sense would have been trembling at the thought that a realistically unplayable delivery was coming down any minute, as it did rather regularly in those two games.
Regarding the recently completed Test, the only top-order player Williams troubled was Tendulkar. As for Lee, 4 wickets in the match for nearly 200 - hardly troubling either. Pace doesn't worry decent batsmen, you need movement and the ability to bowl line and length. Lee certainly doesn't have the latter, Williams has yet to show much evidence that he has the former.

 

[capt_Luffy]

We have come a long way.....

 

[Coronis]

We have come a long way.....

long unnecessary necro.

Good stuff

 

[smash84]

Indian batsmen are ALWAYS scared of pace. In their first-class matches, the bowling attacks lack pace. Place them against Brett Lee or Shoaib Akhtar, and they'll start hopping scared, since they have never faced that pace before. In this match, they were in trouble against Brett Lee and Brad Williams.

Even Bevan, in that 3-match super-challenge in Australia, was having trouble against Shoaib Akhtar. He was even trembling at the sight of Akhtar in the last 2 matches.

What in the world......