I know we can BANISH THE WINTER BLUES
ICAN honestly say I’ve never approached an international summer with as much confidence as I have at the moment — and it’s all down to the work I did on my action between the Ashes and the trip to New Zealand.
Since the Sydney Test, I’ve picked up 25 wickets in five games for England and Nottinghamshire, and a lot of that is down to the fact that I am now backing myself to bowl a fuller, more attacking length.
I now know I can beat the righthanders on both sides of the bat, because my wrist is behind the ball and I’m hitting the seam. Because of my height, that makes me a dangerous proposition. I’m itching to get out there against Pakistan at Lord’s on Thursday.
I think I’d spent so much time over the past few years bowling to left-handers, especially from round the wicket, that I’d got into the habit of only bringing the ball back in to the right-handers, not moving it away from them.
I don’t want to lose that skill of bowling to the lefties, but equally I needed t o rediscover my ol d threat.
Paul Franks, our assistant coach at Notts, summed it up quite well. He said I was bowling l i ke a 23- year- old Stuart Broad — but with more experience. I like the sound of that. SHAKING OFF HANGOVER FOUR years ago, we came off the back of a bad beating in Australia and immediately lost at home to Sri Lanka. We were unlucky, it’s true: we needed only one more wicket to win the first Test at Lord’s, then lost the second at Headingley when Jimmy Anderson was out to the penultimate ball of the game.
So when we get going against Pakistan, we need to make sure the hangover f rom Australia and New Zealand has gone. We saw at Auckland how a two-match series can pass you by very quickly if you’re not careful: we were 27 for nine on that first morning, and were always playing catch-up.
But we also have to be realistic about the fact that we’re better at home — like pretty much every team in the world at the minute. Last summer we beat a good South African side in England. We lost away to Australia, who then went to South Africa and lost badly. So it’s a bit of a merry-go-round, and we have to do our bit by beating Pakistan and India this summer.
It’s going to take some of the guys a bit of time to switch on to the redball stuff after playing at the IPL, but we’ll all be buzzing at Lord’s. Pakistan beat us in the UAE in 2015, then drew 2-2 here two years ago. We want that trophy back.
WELCOME BACK, JOS
ONE of those IPL guys is Jos Buttler — and, as we’ve seen with his five fifties in a row for Rajasthan Royals, there’s no doubting his talent. He’s a wonderful guy to have around: he has this quiet confidence, and he speaks very well in front of the group when he has to.
Some people have wondered whether he’d prefer to stay in India, but I spoke to him after the squad was announced on Tuesday and he was over the moon. It’s an exciting thing for Test cricket for a guy of his white-ball skills to be playing the five-day game again.
I’ve always believed Test performances are about 80 per cent character and 20 per cent technique. It’s about having a t oughness, a competitiveness, a stubbornness. Jos has all three. And just imagine what he’ll do from No7 if the Pakistan bowlers are into their third spells and getting tired. It could be a lot of fun — and it’s good to have him back.
COOKING UP A STORM
SPEAKING of stubbornness, don’t be surprised if Alastair Cook scores big runs this summer. I know the winter hurt him a lot, despite that double hundred in Melbourne,
which was my Ashes highlight. But a few of us were doing the yo-yo test on Thursday, the modern version of the bleep test, and Cooky just wouldn’t give up. I had to stop, and was virtually throwing up at the side, but he just kept on running — a bit like Forrest Gump.
Sometimes, you don’t need to see a net session or runs in the middle to be convinced someone’s up for it, and I just looked at him and thought he’s going to have a good summer. Cooky’s never going to win a sprint, but when it comes to endurance there’s no one to match him. He just doesn’t give up.
THRILLING TIMES
ENGLISH cricket has been desperate for a while to find a tournament to match the IPL and Big Bash, and I think this 100-ball idea is exciting for our game. I’m all for positive change, and if this helps get some matches on terrestrial TV, as well as Sky’s usual fantastic coverage, and families through the gates, then it can only be a good thing.
I’m not sure I’ll be queuing up to bowl the 10-ball over, but I know there’s a lot still to discuss about the way the game will be played.
My only slight concern about any new competition is whether it risks making the game too gimmicky, which will put off the players.
The simpler the format, the more effective it will be — both in convincing the players that it is the way ahead, and in attracting a new audience.
But I don’t see why this idea won’t work — and I’m glad the ECB are prepared to shake things up a bit if it means safeguarding cricket’s future in this country.
‘IT’S EXCITING THAT A PLAYER WITH JOS’S WHITE-BALL SKILLS IS BACK IN TEST CRICKET’