We weren't stressed at all before that 1996 World Cup final. The night before, we were joking around. A few of us went to look at carpets. The gravity of the situation didn't really occur to us.
In 1996, there were seven employees in the Sri Lankan cricket board. After we won the World Cup, I remember Roshan Mahanama saying: "This will be the start and the end for Sri Lankan cricket". That has come true. The game spread and became professional after the World Cup, but look at the board. There are more than 260 SLC employees now. I don't know which direction our cricket is heading in.
Whenever we played Pakistan, I talked with Wasim Akram. He was a bit of a hero of mine. He taught me plenty, but when I asked him about reverse swing, he used to say: "I'll tell you about that later." I ended up learning reverse swing by watching videos.
How does arm position impact reverse swing? I always assumed that the primary factor there was the difference in the speed of air over the smooth vs rough surface.Vaas' grip of reverse swing was different because he bowled it with a high arm, unlike Pakistani's. Latter had slinging actions. Even now other than for Malings, all other use Vaas' technique to get reverse swing, as none of them lower their arms to achieve it.
So true. Which is why it makes sense to streamline the ICC into a Big 3 instead of a Big 10.Chaminda Vaas: 'A bowler should be like a managing director of a company' | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo
In 1996, there were seven employees in the Sri Lankan cricket board. After we won the World Cup, I remember Roshan Mahanama saying: "This will be the start and the end for Sri Lankan cricket". That has come true. The game spread and became professional after the World Cup, but look at the board. There are more than 260 SLC employees now. I don't know which direction our cricket is heading in.
From what I gathered with people playing domestic cricket and with some of my own bowling experiences the more round armed your action that is your wrist coming directly over your shoulder (like old waqar, Imran etc as opposed to side arm like Malinga) the more chances that you will be able to reverse swing the ball. That was the conventional wisdom about reverse swing in PakistanHow does arm position impact reverse swing? I always assumed that the primary factor there was the difference in the speed of air over the smooth vs rough surface.