***Official*** India in New Zealand 2013/14

[Kippax]

He got this lbw Hendrix really liked with the red ball too obvs, but was way off the mark and far too short in that match generally.

 

[Kippax]

Shark Week, Day 3.....

Cricket | Adam Milne Targets Magic Barrier | Stuff.co.nz

Q and A with Black Caps speedster Adam Milne | Stuff.co.nz

Black Caps fast bowling find Adam Milne sits down for a Q & A with Mark Geenty ahead of the second T20 against West Indies, tonight in Wellington.

Q. At what age did you realise you could bowl genuinely fast?

"At the start of high school I was a runty kid and bowled little mediums. Then at the end of sixth form [at Palmerston North Boys' High School] I started bowling a lot quicker than I had before and that's when I thought if I run in hard I can bowl quicker than a lot of people."

Q. You seem a mild mannered character for a fast bowler, have team-mates like Mitchell McClenaghan been at you to get angry?

"It's probably something I need to improve. I'm not a big trash talker and not overly aggressive towards the batsmen. It can probably give me that bit of an extra edge."

Q. Who was your fast bowling idol growing up?

"I always enjoyed watching Shane Bond play, he was the quickest New Zealand guy around. Then obviously Brett Lee, James Anderson and Dale Steyn were all pretty good to watch for their skills as well as their pace."

Q. How much influence has Bond had on your bowling?
"I've worked with him since I was 17 when he came away to Champions League with the Stags. He's been really good, having been at the top level he knows what's required and the discipline you need."

Q. What about variations like swing and a slower ball?

"You realise that pace is not everything, you have to do something else to create a bit of doubt. That inswing is something I've worked on for a couple of years with Bondy and it's starting to come right. I've got a couple of options for a slower ball and they're coming along nicely."

Q. Injuries are an occupational hazard, are you getting better at managing and prevention?

"Recovery is pretty key. At the top speed you've always got niggles and I haven't been in perfect condition since the start of the season. It's about doing the little things like the gym and conditioning. If you look at Mitchell Johnson who's come back into some amazing form, he said he really worked on strengthening his legs. You've got to have good strong legs to withstand the load you're putting on your body."

Q. You played in a Chatham Cup winning football team [Wairarapa United] in 2011. Is the football career on ice now?

"That was a good bit of fun, but I don't know how much longer I can do it for now. It might be frowned upon by NZC if I got injured playing football."

Q. Did football ever take precedence over cricket?

"It did at high school for a while. I stopped playing cricket for a couple of years; my brothers both played football and I just followed them. Then in sixth and seventh form I got back into cricket and started making a bit more progress and thought it was time to give it a crack."

Q. The Indian Premier League is always a hot topic, have you put your name forward for next month's player auction?

"I haven't put my name forward as yet. I've considered it but I'm not too worried about it. I just want to do the best for my country and get in as much cricket as I can and get my body strong. Obviously everyone would love to play in the IPL, more so for the players who are there and the experience you can get. If I went I'd never get the big money like some of the other boys."

 

[Binkley]

Shark Week, Day 3.....

It is mad isn't it? The attention Adam Milne has suddenly got because a speed gun showed him bowling slightly faster than he did last time he bowled for New Zealand. But then I can also understand it. Joe Bennett wrote in his column this morning that people love "theoretical bees", but when confronted by a real one respond by waving their arms and shrieking. I am kinda like that with bowling. In theory I want to appreciate the skill and technique of high quality swing and occasionally mutter to friends about talentless express bowlers who do nothing with the ball. But when I see those express bowlers hurling lightening bolts down the pitch I find myself waving my arms and shrieking.

Anyway. I was at the Westpac Stadium on February 16 2007 when Shane Bond ripped through Australia in an ODI. And I will be at Westpac Stadium tonight. And since that first T20 against WI I have been thinking about that night in 2007, and secretly hoping to see something tonight that might compare.

 

[Blocky]

Yeah Milne was far from gun-barrel straight with the new white ball in Sri Lanka.

The first three or four balls had noticeable swing, then maybe one every six balls had a bit of swing? Not exactly what I'd call a swing bowler.

 

[hendrix]

The first three or four balls had noticeable swing, then maybe one every six balls had a bit of swing? Not exactly what I'd call a swing bowler.

Noone's calling him a swing bowler.

 

[Blocky]

There is something I just don't like about Milne's action and it surprises me that it doesn't restrict him from bowling over 150kmh. If you compare his action to Steyn or Bond, as open chested bowlers who generate extreme pace, Milne's head falls away, his body weight isn't straight towards his target in his delivery stride, he takes his eyes off his target as he releases the ball and for me, his bowling arm is too wide of his body as it comes through after delivery into his follow through.

I think if he got a better setup, had his head straighter and had more weight going towards the batsman during delivery stride, he'd be even quicker. His arm, if he can get it closer to his left thigh, or even bring it down on the inside of his left thigh, he'll get a much better plane for consistent inswing, at the moment he's open chested with an arm action that's coming down wide of his body, meaning he's having to do a lot of work to counter the natural plane of the ball with his wrist at delivery, probably why he's so inconsistent with swing and also why he tends to skid onto the batsman despite his height and pace, rather than find bounce.

Look at Bond in his delivery stride and watch the plane of his arm, his delivery arm is much closer to his body immediately after release, he's coming down on an angle far more condusive to assisting the ball for in-swing. Steyn has a slightly different action (modelled a lot on Alan Donald) but again, his delivery arm comes through a lot closer to his body, his head position is excellent and his weight transfer during delivery is straight towards the batsman.

 

[Blocky]

But that being said, Milne has what you can't coach, can't develop and can't enhance - fast twitch muscle fibres.

I've always thought it possible to take a bowler who can consistently hit 130kmh and give him a platform to reach 140kmh through adjustments to action, but once you get to 140kmh, every single kilometer comes down to fast twitch muscle fibre, as much as technique, fitness and conditioning.

 

[Blain]

Remember Bond has been working with Milne since he was 17. These minor little things in his action which are not perfect would have been tried and probably are a work in process, or a failed change. Bond is the best guy for him to be working with, he is in safe hands.

Everyone has different actions, and should be treated differently. Otherwise that **** house NZ bowling academy would be still going, and pumping out top paceman after top paceman, Not guys rolling out in wheelchairs.

 

[Flem274*]

haha yeah while we're seeing some pretty raw bowlers coaching themselves in the absence of the academy, at least we're seeing some bowlers.

 

[Blocky]

That's what I like about our current crop of bowling coaches. Brent Arnel is fantastic at working with people through their actions, because he's had major injury issues after people attempted to tinker with his, he took an active interest in biomechanics and physiotherapy and learnt what did and didn't work.

 

[Kippax]

That's what I like about our current crop of bowling coaches. Brent Arnel is fantastic at working with people through their actions, because he's had major injury issues after people attempted to tinker with his, he took an active interest in biomechanics and physiotherapy and learnt what did and didn't work.

10 things you never knew about Brent Arnel | Stuff.co.nz

7. He's a self-confessed "late bloomer". As far back as October 2000 he was hurling it down for ND in the Super Max League: his ND debut was at the Kaipara Flats CC, for God's sake. At 24 he was selected to the New Zealand Cricket Academy and soon after broke down. His words: "I had a bad experience with a physiotherapist [at the Academy]. We had a bit of a mix-up in diagnosing what my injury was and the words still haunt me today. I was told to 'bowl through it, bowl through it'. Well, we were having to train a lot, every day in the nets on the hard concrete and I ended up having a double stress fracture in my back. The physio thought I'd had a scan but I hadn't, and then we finally got to have a scan, I had this fracture in my back which kept me out of the game for three years."

 

[Blocky]

Yeah, talking to BA in person, his experience with the NZ Academy sounds like a horror story and he considers the crop of bowlers he grew up with to be the "lost generation" as any talent they had was quickly destroyed during an academy that focused heavily on producing line and length clones that suited the green pitches our first class teams were playing on, with limited care or concern around what may make an international bowler.

Guys like Bond lucked out in my view, dropping out of the system long enough to work on their game by themselves. I think BA wishes he'd done that earlier too.

 

[Kippax]

There is something I just don't like about Milne's action and it surprises me that it doesn't restrict him from bowling over 150kmh. If you compare his action to Steyn or Bond, as open chested bowlers who generate extreme pace, Milne's head falls away, his body weight isn't straight towards his target in his delivery stride, he takes his eyes off his target as he releases the ball and for me, his bowling arm is too wide of his body as it comes through after delivery into his follow through.

I think if he got a better setup, had his head straighter and had more weight going towards the batsman during delivery stride, he'd be even quicker. His arm, if he can get it closer to his left thigh, or even bring it down on the inside of his left thigh, he'll get a much better plane for consistent inswing, at the moment he's open chested with an arm action that's coming down wide of his body, meaning he's having to do a lot of work to counter the natural plane of the ball with his wrist at delivery, probably why he's so inconsistent with swing and also why he tends to skid onto the batsman despite his height and pace, rather than find bounce.

Look at Bond in his delivery stride and watch the plane of his arm, his delivery arm is much closer to his body immediately after release, he's coming down on an angle far more condusive to assisting the ball for in-swing. Steyn has a slightly different action (modelled a lot on Alan Donald) but again, his delivery arm comes through a lot closer to his body, his head position is excellent and his weight transfer during delivery is straight towards the batsman.

Yeah that does ring true to me I think. There's 'stock outswing experimentation day' -

 

[Mike5181]

ODI squad: Brendon McCullum (capt), Corey Anderson, Martin Guptill, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Adam Milne, James Neesham, Luke Ronchi (wk), Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson

http://www.espncricinfo.com/new-zealand-v-india-2014/content/current/story/709959.html

 

[Blocky]

Yeah that does ring true to me I think. There's 'stock outswing experimentation day' -

His setup, due to falling away and bringing his arm down wide of his body would make it easier for him to find consistent outswing, but a lot of people struggle with the wrist position required and also struggle to generate the same degree of pace. It's generally why most fast bowlers are inswingers, the wrist is firmly behind the ball - think Brett Lee, Shoaib Akhtar, Waqar Younis, Shaun Tait, Shane Bond - all predominately inswingers.

 

[Kippax]

So yeah Milne's getting sort of a cheater's swing, sourcing his inswinger there from a much wristier and less powerful place.

 

[Bahnz]

Wow, you can really see how Bond shattered his back with that screencap.

 

[Immenso]

^ Is Milne the top one? And Bond below?

 

[Jono]

Just bought my match day pass

 

[Flem274*]

Getting pretty pumped for this. Both sides have their best attacks in a while. Some blokes on both sides who could go on to become world class test batsmen or maybe even better. Young Indian batsmen with something to prove and a young NZ team keen to reclaim their home turf and topple a good side after coming close against England. Jono is finally coming to NZ. She's all on.