In this month’s magazine we celebrate the art of fast bowling and speak to some of the chin music maestros who have terrified batsmen over the past seven decades. One of the many legends interviewed for this issue, Richard Hadlee – the finest bowler that New Zealand have ever produced and one of the greatest quicks to have ever graced the game – shares the secrets of his success and gives his own assessment of the best and fastest quicks in history.
We couldn’t fit the whole interview into the magazine, so we’ve compiled the best of the rest below. Here, Hadlee explains that successful fast bowling is seldom about brute force…
Did you always know you wanted to be a quick bowler?
I always bowled fast in the backyard, with a tennis ball and a golf ball. Even at school, primary school and secondary school, I always ran in from a distance.
How fast were you?
You couldn’t time it accurately, and sometimes in the modern era you do think that maybe they’ve got the speed gun cranked up a bit, you see five more Ks and the crowd goes wild yet you see the batsmen looking at it and thinking “Was he really that quick?” Maybe mid to high 80s per hour –I could ruffle the best if needs be!
How important is it for a fast bowler to be able to intimidate a batsman?
Working over a batsman isn’t always a physical thing, it’s about examining their technique and it is something I prided myself on.
How did you do this?
I didn’t really over do the bouncer at all – the hallmark of my success was getting it there or thereabouts and interrogating the batsman. Do they play me or let it go? Sometimes if they let me go it would nip back and knock over off stump.
How do you rate England’s current attack?
They’re very good. Jimmy Anderson is streaks ahead of pretty much any other pace bowler around today simply because of his ability to move the ball, his outswinger, his inswinger, and he’s lively, he’s really come on in the last three years.
And the rest?
Stuart Broad has got it right now – before he was too full or to short, there was no middle ground. I think he’s learnt a lot against India. Tremlett, when fit, is a great bowler – he’s tall, gets real bounce. Bresnan’s solid and reverses the ball and is quicker than he looks, and then there’s Finn, who looks a very good prospect.
To read more from Hadlee and the rest of our fast bowling feature, check out AOC 88, in shops from December 29.
