Lightning Boult is the big threat
The saying goes that batsmen set up matches, but bowlers win them. here,
Sportsmail’s Jason Gillespie examines the credentials of the pace attacks ahead of tomorrow’s World Cup final.
NEW ZEALAND
THEIR trump card is Trent Boult and england will be prepared for his threat. he will look to swing the ball back in and blow away the pads of Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy.
But the england pair had a bit of success against left-armer Mitchell Starc just a couple of days ago, so they can take some confidence that they have combatted someone trying to implement a similar game-plan.
A fast bowler is allowed to bowl good balls at the start of an innings, to attack the stumps and beat the bat, but england kept out Starc’s good ones and if he missed his mark by a little bit they climbed into him. It put the bowler on to the back foot and a bowler r who starts worrying about t going for runs rather than thinking about wickets is far less effective.
In that scenario, the batter is ahead in our game e of cat and mouse.
Bowling defensively plays ays into the hands of playersrs like Roy and Bairstow — they target boundaries early in the over and that leads to opponents attempting to limit the damage. Negative thoughts in bowlers’ heads makes them forget about bowling their best balls.
Boult’s new-ball partner Matt henry (above) skids it on a bit quicker than a lot of people anticipate, and he has skills like the back-of-the-hand slower ball, a decent yorker, nice variations.
What he does well is bowl fuller than most. Besides Starc, henry bowls his stock ball fuller than anyone, and along with Boult he will provide a great challenge of techniques.
At first change, Lockie Ferguson has genuine pace, is not afraid to bowl his bouncer, but maintains that top- ofthe-bail length as his stock ball.
his plans are simple and he uses his deliveries at the appropriate times. A slight angle into the right-hander poses a different question and if he wants to close out an over, he goes fast, full and straight, seeking those toes.
ENGLAND
WHEN a bowler goes at two an over in his first spell, as Jofra Archer did in the semi-final, it puts scoreboard heat on the opposition.
To finish with two for 32 in a one-day international in this era tells you he is a serious game-changer. Twenty-five years ago, that was viewed as a very good spell, but in the modern game — with just two fielders out for the majority of his overs — it’s remarkable.
Archer doesn’t go for runs — nobody in the tournament has delivered more dot balls — yet he maintains attacking lines and lengths and is always striving for wickets. he is also fiercely driven to succeed. After Australia won the group game between the teams at Lord’s, he came back to Sussex to watch us play a Championship match at hove.
I was sitting on the balcony when I felt a hand rest on my shoulder. I looked up and it was Jofra. ‘Coach, you may have won the battle but you haven’t won the war,’ he told me. It was light-hearted but it gives you an insights into his psyche. he’s confident without being arrogant, he trusts his game and backs himself to the hilt. Growing up in Barbados, he possesses a laid-back exterior but underneath there is a competitive edge. Chris Woakes is your boy-next-door type, a nice guy who is never flashy or showy. he just runs in and does his job, ball after ball. Fast bowlers like Liam Plunkett are Adonises, real muscle machines, but Woakes just ambles in and sends it down at close to 90 miles per hour. A very low-maintenance cricketer, a ‘No worries, skip’ player.
he reminds me of Michael Kasprowicz or Andy Bichel from my playing days with Australia — guys who just wanted to crack on with the job.
As for Mark Wood, it is to his immense credit that he has got through this World Cup without a drop in pace or worries about his ankle. In the past, he seemed to be having a scan weekly. It led to regular doubts about whether he was fit enough to get through a game, let alone a tournament.
But as an old fast bowler, I know how hard it is to slam down your front foot hundreds of times. It takes it toll. It hurts. The great Dennis Lillee always said the secret of fast bowling was ‘bloody hard work’. For Wood and the rest of the england attack, there is a little bit more work to do yet.