For fast bowling anywhere, nothing replaces miles run in preparation for greater tests!

Nov 25, 2012 Sports

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Colin E. H. Croft
There seems to be something wrong with fast bowing fitness in West Indies senior ranks. No fast bowling combination seems to last more than a few games!
With West Indies completing its final Test for 2012, v Bangladesh, especially its batsmen doing well, there still is concern, despite the bowlers also doing brilliantly to win Test No. 1, about overall fitness.  
Test No. 2, v Bangladesh, because of pitch conditions, West Indies fast bowling comprised of only Fidel Edwards and Tino Best, helped by medium-paced captain, Darren Sammy.
Test No. 1, v Bangladesh, Ravi Rampaul played, ahead of Edwards, getting 3-118 (32 overs), and 2-32 (11 overs); creditable match figures of 5-150 (43 overs), on a pitch not fast bowling friendly.
Yet, Ravi missed Test No. 2.  Surely he was not dropped!  If he was rested, what of rhythm, form and consistency!  If he is injured, again, that cannot be good enough for his fast bowling state!
Meanwhile, Tino Best had his first five-wicket haul ever, Bangladesh’s 2nd innings, Test No. 1; 5-24 (12.3 overs), to augment 1st innings 1-77 (23 overs), also exceptional match figures; 6-101.
Test No. 2, one week later, Best, who should have been raring to explode with confidence, is again injured, bowling only 10 overs before pulling up with a hamstring injury.
It can certainly not be good or consistent, for any player or any team, that bowlers are rotated so much!
Eons past, West Indies fast bowlers operated in pairs.  35 or so years ago, Clive Lloyd changed that to a four pronged fast bowling attack that lasted series after series, with relatively few injuries.
Nowadays, no-one is sure if any West Indies fast bowler will last even a full Test game!
News suggests that Kemar Roach is back, after pulling a fetlock before Bangladesh tour. He could not play in the two Test matches for this series.
Luckily, he seems to be okay again for ODI and T-20 series, but Roach has had a jack-in-the box existence with injuries in this team!
West Indies played its first Test for 2012, v Australia, in Barbados. The faster bowlers were Roach, Edwards and Sammy. They survived, well too, to Test No. 2 in Trinidad & Tobago.
By Test No. 3, v Australia, in Dominica, Rampaul was back, in place of the again injured Edwards.
Australia won 2-0, more by attrition than by dominance!
West Indies next Test, and tour, to England, Test No 1 at Lords, Edwards, Sammy and Roach, again, were augmented by the new, seriously quick Shannon Gabriel.  Here was hope for more real speed!
After a good start; match figures of 4-86 (26.3 overs), Gabriel had a stress fracture and has not been active internationally since.  Rumors have it that he is again fully fit and raring to extend.
Test No. 2, Trent Bridge, the faster bowlers’ combination was Roach, Rampaul and Sammy.  West Indies lost both Tests.
For Test No. 3 of that series, drawn at Birmingham, Best, who had been flown in to replace Gabriel, partnered Sammy and Rampaul. The rotation continued.
Next was a series in West Indies against New Zealand.  Rampaul, Roach and Sammy were this time used in both Tests.  At least, there was continuity here.
West Indies won both games, but that is where player continuity ended too. If taken literally, these might suggest that bowlers were being rotated for their own good and refreshment.
However, all of the faster bowlers, except Sammy, who persevered well, have had quite serious injuries this past year.  Fortunately for them, and West Indies, they have made relatively quick recoveries.
Most West Indian faster bowlers are also involved in IPL, Big Bash, SLPL, English County Cricket, etc., playing T-20’s and OdI’s. While these games are shorter, bodies still have to exude immense pressures and flexes to compete!
One must take into context fast bowling especially in Tests. The pitches, too, have not been conducive to fast bowling anywhere, not even in the Caribbean.
Gone are the days that one could look forward to fast, unpredictably bouncy Sabina Park in Jamaica, or similarly fast but more consistent bounciness of Kensington Oval in Barbados.
With that slightly disguised emphasis on more spin than ever, orthodox or knuckle-ball, pitches are even slower than ever everywhere!
This rotation, planned, from injury or otherwise, cannot be good for West Indies faster bowlers.
I can attest that fast bowling is not about strength, but mostly of rhythm.  I also ran about 50 miles per week!
It is akin to hurdling. If 400 metres hurdlers have the right rhythm, then they would eventually get good precision and enough speed.
Many present-day fast bowlers suggest that formats for getting fit have changed, that more is done in gymnasiums than just pounding pavements, running miles to get fast bowling stamina and rhythm.
That might be so, but there is no substitute for miles if your work in cricket is running long distances, as fast bowlers normally do!
If they do not run enough, they would become injured easily, regardless of how well torsos or legs look from gym work!  Enjoy!

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