In the latest issue of AOC – in shops on December 1 – we give you our annual rundown of the 50 best players on the planet, right now. As always, a lot of blood, sweat and tears were shed over it so be sure to take a look and tell us how wrong we were.
It might not surprise you to learn that a certain Dale Steyn featured pretty high up on that list. AOC’s Jo Harman was lucky enough to speak to the South African speedster in an exclusive interview where he discussed his nightmare spell with Essex in 2005 and the pressure that comes with the title of the world’s best fast bowler.
To find out just where Steyn placed on our list you’ll need to pick up a copy of the magazine, but in the meantime here are some excerpts that we couldn’t squeeze into another jam-packed issue of AOC.
You and Morne Morkel are one of the most fearsome fast bowling partnerships in world cricket. How does it benefit you having Morne bowling at the other end?
How does it benefit me? I’ll tell you: he scares the shit out of other guys! That would benefit anybody. I’ve never had that kind of partner bowling at the other end; I’ve always had guys like Makhaya [Ntini] and Polly [Shaun Pollock] and they were never as tall and as quick as Morne. I mean, Makhaya could really rev it up a couple of years ago, but he wasn’t as tall as Morne so he didn’t get that steep bounce.
How does his bowling style complement yours?
It’s pretty scary to know you’ve got to lunge forward to someone like Morne because every time that ball could just hit you in the throat. It helps me as a swing bowler because I try to bowl the ball as full as I can, get the ball to shape, and bowl as quick as I can. Morne stops them moving their feet and if a guy’s not moving and I’m bowling full, I’m not going to get driven as much and I will probably find the edge more than I should do.
Do you go through tactics and preparations together?
Yeah, we go through all our preparations together and look at players’ heights and how they play specific bowlers. Obviously Morne gets more bounce so you’ll find he has a gully for longer and when he’s bowling to a short guy like Sachin he might not actually need that guy catching under the helmet because it will just fly over his head. I’m a bit skiddier and my bouncer catches people a bit lower, so I might want that guy in there.
Do you each have batsmen you prefer bowling to?
Morne loves getting Andrew Strauss out for a living. If Strauss is at the non-striker’s end, for the last three balls of my over I might not be going all out to get the wicket, I just don’t want to give them a single and let him down the other end.
Which batsman in world cricket have you found most challenging to bowl to?
I think Sehwag is right up there. He just smashes it! He can hit any ball for four and things can go from looking absolutely fantastic for a bowler to disastrous in the space of two or three overs. He can just take a game completely away from you. Somebody like Sachin, for instance, is so smart – he knows when the ball’s straight he’s not going to drive and when it’s bouncy he’s not going to pull and he takes those shots and puts them away – but it’s not so difficult to bowl to him. It’s just difficult to get him out in the areas that you want to get him out. Somebody like Kallis is the same. I reckon most bowlers would probably say someone like Chris Gayle or Sehwag are the scariest players to bowl to because they make it so difficult, whereas you can actually bowl to someone like Tendulkar and know that he’s not going to really punish you in the same way.
What does life outside of cricket look like for you?
I love travelling and just getting away. My girlfriend and me recently went to the States and stopped off for a bit in London too. When I’m at home I like fishing and surfing and I know it’s corny, but I love taking my dogs to the beach. I’m never home but that’s the best thing, taking my dogs to the beach and swimming in the waves and so on.
Do you find it easy to relax outside of the game? Are you able to put cricket to the back of your mind if you’ve had a bad day at the office?
I would like to say that it doesn’t play on my mind but I always want to do well in everything that I do, I just happen to be better at cricket than I am at, say, squash or golf. Even if I lose a squash game when I get home I’m pretty grumpy for half-an-hour. But at the end of the day I’ve learned to control that as I’ve got older and realise that even cricket is just a game. I think that’s one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned so far.
Dale Steyn endorses Slazenger’s V Series cricket range available at all leading stockists. Go to: www.slazenger.com
To read Jo’s interview with Dale Steyn in full – and find out where he came in AOC’s top 50 players in the world – pick up a copy of AOC 87, in shops on December 1.
