Andy Pakes looks at the emergence of Australia's James Pattinson and compares him to his England-capped brother Darren.
Sam Holloway looks at why test match cricket is not going to become extinct just yet
Manraj Bahra looks at the subtle differences between the forms of cricket and how teams shouldn't look to pick the same players in all forms.
Sports Editor James Tompkinson looks at the continuing problem of corruption within cricket as the cases of three Pakistani cricketers accused of spot fixing comes to an end
Andy Roberts caused a storm in a teacup, the other day, when he noted that Munaf Patel was no longer a genuine fast bowler and that he had started ‘spinning the ball’.
The comments were the inadvertent continuation of the discussion/obsession within circles of Indian cricket fans for the genuine fast bowler. India has struggled, throughout its cricketing history, to produce a bowler capable of consistently bowling at 90mph. It would appear to be an arbitrary goal – release speed from the hand certainly does not have a mathematically direct correlation with success (a late Glenn Mcgrath can illustrate that). However, this realisation has not stopped fans repeatedly throwing arms up in despair when yet another bowler comes along, occasionally pushing the 90mph mark and then slowly ‘adapts’ into an 80mph medium pacer due to unhelpful conditions, injuries and so on.
Munaf Patel remains the standard-bearer of such Indian bowlers. For years prior to his debut, it was hyped that the boy from a small village in Gujarat was as quick as they came. He had impressed numerous coaches along the way and legendarily worked over Steve Waugh in the nets off a short run up. However, through whatever process had felled so many before him, he very quickly slowed down. There are countless theories behind this – poor coaching, good coaching, injuries, lack of fitness, poor attitude, the list goes on.
But consider for a moment that perhaps the romanticism behind the genuine quick bowler is one which is genuinely misplaced. Consider that Munaf Patel may be the perfect example of such misplaced romanticism. Cricket may be a spectator sport and it may be entertaining to watch someone put fear in the heart of a batsman but isn’t the greatest personal success of a player where he adopts a style which keeps him playing, with a spot in the international team, without the injuries which plagued Munaf’s early career? Isn’t the greatest team success of a player is where he adapts to conditions such that he can play a pivotal role in a World Cup win (or an IPL win, if I may induce a small fragment of vomit from any cricket purists who happen to be reading.) If the man is achieving personal and team success, who are we to question him?
Surely we should just wait and see and applaud when Munaf, at a mere 80mph, assists India to victory over England in the coming Test series. Or is that, like the search for an Indian 90mph speedster, another unrealistic aim?
I think that what the Indians have to be weary of when they come to England this summer is that pitches in England don't always suit the quickest bowlers. England's best bowler for the last couple of years has been Jimmy Anderson, and he isn't a 90mph speedster. What he does is bowl the right lengths and gets the ball to swing both ways, which can be far more effective in English conditions than masses of pace.
I also think that India are possibly underestimating the task ahead of them this summer. England's batsmen are in the form of their lives, and every single player in our top 7 averages over 40 in Test match cricket. Taking 20 wickets will be very hard for India, and if Anderson, Tremlett and Swann can perform in conditions and on pitches that will be tailored to their bowling styles, then India could have a real fight on their hands to win the series.
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