Someone obviously had a bad day...
Pace, pace... spin?
by Abhinav Shankar
The West-Indian attack of the 80`s. The current Australian team. What two things do these sides have in common? Multiple fast-bowlers that win matches.
Spinners are taking over Cricketweb land. It`s that simple. The Webhead spinners are doing their job for the National Team, not to mention their amazing work in the domestic competition. But with this success, flaws in the pace-bowling department are critically exposed.
The CWXI ODI team is steadily churning along, with moderate success. But when they`re not playing shortened, meaningless matches, they are failing in the big-boys version of the game.
For a bowler, wickets and averages mean the world. The bowlers with the most wickets and best average for the CWXI? Neil Pickup and Tom Halsey, two spinners. This consistency in productive spinners has certainly helped the national side remain competitive. But how do the pacemen fair? Quicks Kennett, Camps, Bhatia and Rose, despite their decent domestic form, have averages in the 30`s, 40`s and beyond. When considering the selectors reluctance to play two spinners, this is terrible news. The only bowler to go against the trend is KS Wright, but even he is averaging over 31 in the domestic competition.
Former pace bowler Nath Patrick was asked about what he thought of his fellow quick bowlers. “The statistics show that our pace generation is clearly suffering, and I`m not sure why. The talent is there, the effort is there... just not the results. Perhaps a special fast-bowling camp should be set-up for a few weeks, to mould the guys together? My statistics certainly weren`t impressive for Cricketweb Blue, and I blame that on my inconsistency, a lack of concentration.”
When asked about a possible return to competitive cricket, Nathan laughed and answered “I`m not ruling anything out. I`ve missed my cricket... that`s all there is to say.”
Let`s have a look at the current domestic bowling statistics for the senior bowlers, with the spinners in bold.
Bhatia 386 @ 25.77
Broadbent 100 @ 28.48
Camps 147 @ 32.21
Collins 148 @ 27.23
Halsey 314 @ 26.75
Hoy 192 @ 21.92
Kennett 350 @ 27.75
Patrick 195 @ 28.68
Pickup 389 @ 28.37
Richards 145 @ 25.08
Rose 230 @ 25.14
Timewell 190 @ 19.84
Verghese 142 @ 35.20
Watt 322 @ 26.78
Wright 314 @ 31.42
The alarm bells are ringing after viewing these statistics. What other nation has only two of their senior pace bowlers with averages under 25? For the two that do, Hoy is a rising star (Why hasn`t he played a Test?) but Timewell is another story. He has incredible talent, but alongside it, a lazy attitude and ignorance for the feelings of team-mates and officials alike.
The aforementioned international bowlers domestic averages are 27.75, 32.21, 25.77, 25.14 and 31.42. Hardly outstanding for world-class bowlers.
Player`s Association Representative Andrew Garven was very clear with what he thought. “As shown by the results of the Dev. League last season pace bowling is the key to a teams success, Hoy and Timewell dominated for Green and Bhatia for Black. Success in the Dev. League doesn't seem to translate to test cricket though. Kyle Wright for instance, our 'premier' quick in test cricket averages in the high 20's, with others such as Kennett, Bhatia and Camps have averaged in the 40's. This is not a good record in any way and we really need more out of our all pace bowlers if we are going to become competitive on the international scene.”
When asked about what initiatives the CWBCC Board could implement, Mr. Garven commented “That`s a tough question, I think that the board needs to see the urgency of the issue, perhaps preparing more batsman and spinner friendly wickets in the Dev. League would enable our quicks to better learn their trade.”
And so it seems that the days where a paceman can enjoy a seamer-friendly wicket and be encouraged, are over.