Lancashire’s evergreen skipper shares some of the tips that have helped make him one of county cricket’s most effective seamers.
THE GRIP
“How I hold the ball – the basic grip – isn’t something that I’ve experimented with much at all. I make sure that the ball is nice and comfortable in my hand, not pressed back in the palm, and that the edge of my thumb rests on the underside of the ball, along the seam.”
ADJUST TO SUIT
“On days where the ball is swinging a lot I might alter the angle of the seam, but that still doesn’t change the basic grip. Again, I don’t profess to do that much tinkering with things, other than the basics.”
WHAT’S A GOOD LENGTH?
“Every stock ball I bowl, I want the batsman to think that they need to get forward to me. That doesn’t mean that you bowl half-volleys but it does mean that after playing the ball, it should have hit the top of the bat, and ideally with the batsman playing a half-forward defensive stroke.”
PITCHING AN AWAY-SWINGER
“At the start of any spell with the new ball, I’ll want the batsman to play. That first ball I’ll aim at middle stump and if it swings away from the right-hander it will generally end up well wide of off stump. I can then adjust and aim at around leg stump. It doesn’t mean that I’m trying to hit leg stump, it’s just giving me a basic guide.”
GUN BARREL
“If it’s not swinging, I just move my line across the other way. It’s not rocket science! But if there is anything I hate, it’s giving the batsman an easy sighter of the ball, outside off stump. So I will generally attack the stumps.”
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INNER
“For the inswinger, I try not to do much different, other than turn the shine of the ball around in my hand. Some people say that it helps if you put the fleshy part of the thumb underneath the ball. But as a rule, I just turn the ball around and try not to push the ball in at the batsman and give him a soft ball at his pads. I just let the shine on the ball do it. As a basic delivery, it’s really important to me, the inswinger. The batsman needs to know I can bowl it. And as I’ve got older and more experienced, I’ve tried to disguise it – cover it up more and more – because the batsmen have got better and better at picking it.”
MIDDLE-OF-THE-CREASE ADVANTAGE
“If the ball is swinging, releasing the ball from in the middle of the bowling crease offers a real advantage. From that position, the ball can be angled in at the stumps knowing that it will pitch in line and still hit the stumps. Wicket-to-wicket types of bowlers, if it’s swinging a lot, they find it hard to pitch in line with the stumps and still hit them. The natural delivery for the likes of Mark Ealham, Dominic Cork – that style of bowler – would see a ball that pitches on the stumps, only to swing away well wide of off. That sort of bowler has an advantage on the days where the ball isn’t swinging a lot. From their tight-to-the-stumps position on the crease, they can more easily nip the odd ball back, or shape the ball away from the batsman without it, in reality, doing too much.”
LOOK, BUT NOT TOO CLOSELY
“I get asked a fair bit, where do I look when I’m bowling? And I find it quite a difficult question to answer. I don’t really look anywhere, specific. As I turn at the top of my mark I have a picture in my mind’s eye of the batsman playing forward to a ball that would hit high up the bat. I then run in and try to recreate that picture. When I’ve bowled the ball, I then turn back round and try to do it again. And again. And again.”
TIREDNESS CAN KILL
“There are only a few instances where I might change, with regards where I’m looking. Firstly, if it’s getting to the end of the day and I’m getting tired, by looking up at the wicketkeeper instead of the batsman to help me get the ball through and hit the gloves. By looking up more it helps me to stay upright and maintain my pace.”
THE BOUNCER
“If I’m going to bowl a bouncer, I’ll look at the batsman’s head. In effect, I’m looking where I want the ball to go and not where I want it to pitch.”
LITTLE FELLAS
“When I first started playing first-class cricket I used to find it hard bowling at shorter players. Finding your length for them took me out of my comfort zone, knowing that I had to bowl fuller. Generally, for those much shorter guys, that normal length has to be a metre fuller. My back-of-a-good-length would end being cut for four –the shorter batsman is able to find that bit more room.”
FIELD SETTING
“Generally, I like to bowl with three fielders on the legside. And that would be a mid-on, fine-leg and more often than not, a square-leg rather than short-leg. I feel that it encourages me to bowl at the stumps more. And in picking which fielders to set, I also think that a square-leg prevents a four where a midwicket might cut off more singles and twos.”
THIRD MAN
“If bowlers were allowed 12 fielders, there would always be a third man in place. It’s always been a nightmare and more often than not, after over-attacking in the first innings, there is always one dropped down for the second. Nowadays, it’s an even bigger headache.”
A WORD FROM THE WISE
“I fully believe that run-rate plays a huge part in the amount of wickets you take. If you’re going at under or around two runs an over, as a seamer, you are then in the realms of bowling an eight- or nine-over spell. Which means, more than likely, you will be looking at taking two wickets in your opening stint, which would be great for the team. And that simple interpretation has been the biggest thing I’ve probably learned over the years. We all like to attack, but it’s how many runs you go for that makes the difference.”
