Troy Cooley, Australia’s bowling coach, needs a car hoist and two balancing machines. He cannot tell the difference between a Lamborghini and a beatup Holden. Neither can he distinguish between a Range Rover and a working ute.
If he was the head mechanic of my non-existent fleet of cars I would sack him. Yes, Warne and McGrath have gone but he should keep the cars he has in running order.
Mitchell Johnson has been bowling like a car with bald tyres or more accurately as a car with misaligned wheels.
In this age of biomechanics and ice baths he seems blinded by too much knowledge.
The first priority of a bowling coach is to ensure his charges are physically fit and fine tuned. This means routine and regular checks and corrections.
A good fleet manager knows that preventive maintenance saves on downtime and is cost effective in the long run. When a car comes to a shuddering halt it is doubly expensive to put it back on the road.
Tim Nielsen is also not entirely blameless. He is still mouthing banal statements like “…there are positives..”. I am afraid this did not save the Titanic and unless the back room boys start earning their money, Ricky will never win an Ashes in England as captain. More the pity because he is, along with Tendulkar and Lara, a modern batting great.
Kerry O’Keefe pointed out in his column that it is not Johnson’s left arm that is the concern but the right side and the right arm.
He points out that the low right arm is making him fall away. Conversely it is Hauritz’s low left arm that is stopping him realise his full potential.
In 1965 Kirti Azad, who later coached Kapil Dev, was espousing the Pendulum Principle. Simple and earthy common sense.
For a right handed bowler the high left arm, to the point of inducing a stretch in your side, meant the right had to follow that arc.
Kerry O Keefe may appear light hearted but behind the Parody there lurks a razor sharp brain. He calls for the “technical purity” of Watson’s batting at the top of the order and Manou’s keeping but I think this is Kerry trying to shock the team management into action.
There needs to be only one or at the most two changes for Edgbaston. Clark for North would be an attacking move and would show faith in the bowlers who did so well in the last six months (barring Lords).
Andy Flower on the other hand has gone quietly about his business and is getting the most out of his unfashionable fleet of cars.
It is no use calling for a rocket scientist when all you need is a basic mechanic.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Jameswm--some merit in what you say but from what I can gather(according to Aln Border) is that Johnson needed the work in the legs and getting his confidence back. This seems more a conditioning aspect than a coaching aspect. The point about Tiger Woods though is that Tiger is trying to take his game to another level. Federer doesn't have a full time coach. Some guys when they get to the top want to surrouns themselves with an entourage to give their own egos a boost. Hussey credits Ponting with his improved(?) batting. I also dont think you have to be technically perfect. Its about scoring runs and taking wickets. Understanding technique is a lot to understanding yourself. . Skill work is also a lot of practice and repeating the lines.
William F Woods
Guest
Point noted about Johnson's inswinger - I hope he can continue to produce such balls. However, the main concern is the lack of consistency (through seemingly unaddressed technical flaws - and not just in recent tests) in his overall line and length with the stock ball moving across the right hander.
Jameswm
Guest
Hey guys - whre is the credit for Johnson's inswinger (to the right hander) returning? Witness those LBWs against Bell - perfect deliveries. I disagree about the coaches though - just because someone makes it to test level doesn't make them technically perfect. They should have their own bowling coach though, just like how Tiger still has a swing coach. You have to keep on doing the skill work even at that level.
William F Woods
Guest
Vinay - you're on the mark when it comes to questioning the need for all the supporting coaches - especially in light of the fact that those who are there (as pointed out quite rightly by Whiteline) don't seem capable of doing the job effectively anyway. However, the reality is these coaches are here to stay in this professional era. Like the players - if they aren't performing then they should get a tap on the shoulder from above.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Whiteline- Cooley reminds me of these consultants State and Federal Governments continually hire. Why would the Department of Planning need a planning consultant? Because the Head of the Department is ineffecient. Why does Nielsen need a bowling coach? You can answer that one. You need a coach in the underage teams. If you still have problems when playing Tests then I suggest you should not be playing Tests. If the problem is mental I can understand. But if it is technical then the whole selection process is in question.
Whiteline
Guest
I think this proves a few things in regards to the coaches we are talking about. Big Troy Cooley is no brain surgeon - either is Neilson for that matter. From what i've heard and read about Flower, he probably has more idea than those two chaps put together. Anyone who has been close enough to the Australian Cricket scene knows that Cooley is no guru. Simon Jones made him an instant star overnight in 2005. You may recall that Flintoff bowled well to the left handers in 05 (as he has generally done throughout his career), Hoggart was his usual self, Harmison was out of sorts besides breaking a few heads in the first test and Jones was swinging it all over the shop. Cooley was given an enormous amount of credit for this and in the 3 or so years since he has been Australian coach what have we seen?
Lewie
Guest
Great stuff Vinay, you are spot on.....Clark for North is the only change necessary.
Jameswm
Guest
eric - no I mean off cutters, because he's a left handed bowler and that is the motion out of his hand. They do cut away from the RHB. As for the reverse swing thing - it's funny. A guy like Brett Lee bowls a standard right arm outswinger, and when the ball referses, it goes in to the right hander. Johnson though, seems to get the old ball to go away (from the RHB) without getting the new one to come in. Again, I think it has to do with the seam position. vinay doesn't mean literally right up to the batsman's face, but having a strong follow through certainly adds more speed and weight to the ball. A bit of intimidation doesn't go astray anyway - just ask Flintoff.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
OK ,Eric, lets just focus on human nature. If you feel good about life and yourself you have a spring in your step. You run on your toes and dont drag your feet. Life seems easy. Conversely if you are down there is a heavy wight on your shoulders and everything is hang dog. If you are bowling with rythm and fast the energy will take you down the pitch. Even as a spinner I found that when I was free of stress my follow through was extended. Now with McGrath because his line was so unerring the batsman was not sure if he could let it go. How many wickets do you remember "caught Healy bowled McGrath" He had 373 caught and the rest bowled or LBW. So he made them play a hell of a lot. The point is the batsman was never sure whether to play or let it go. This is more for RHB's as the lefties left him alone more often. 391 of his 543 wickets were right handers. His average was 21,6 and economy 2.49...So no easy runs there. He was also stiking every 51 balls . Batsmen "let a few go" more on a hope and a prayer than a conviction. My remark should therefore be taken as a whole rather than in isolation. Good discussion,Eric, and please feel free to pose questions. Will answer to the best of my ability.
eric
Guest
Vinay, Just explain what will be achieved by following through to the batsmans face, apart from a longer walk back to your mark. Will it make him faster or more accurate or do something more with the ball? I am not saying you are wrong, but I'm trying to nail specifically the technical or mental problems. I disagree on your remark of McGrath "making the batsman play" . Bowling in the "corridor of uncertainty" inevitably means that a batsman will let a few go. That is part of the bigger plan. If you make them play, it means you're bowling at the stumps. That inevitably leads to middle and leg balls being turned for easy runs. It is much harder to set a field to that sort of bowling.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Eric, James means leg cutter to the RHB. Johnson is not a firstup new ball bowler and will come on first change. With Johnson if you go back when he first played in the one dayers in Malaysia he was finishing his follow through in the batsman's face. That is enrgy through the bowling crease. Now he seems to pull up and is sluggish like a car with the handbrake on. Pigeon' would keep it simple and in the corridor. He would keep his line and length and bring the odd one in. He made the batsmen play. If Hilfenhaus can adjust so can Johnson. Stuart Clark has to come in as he is the nearest we have to a McGrath. I would still have Johnson in my team as he is out and out the quickest we have. He has had two average Tests on his way to 102 wickets and has led the attack well in the last 18 months.
eric
Guest
It seems to me the expert observers can't agree on Johnston's strengths and problems. Jameswm says he off cuts it away from right handers. I presume you mean leg cutters. If he can reverse swing an outswinger to a RHB, then he should be able to bowl the inswinger when the ball is newish. Vinay, "energy through the bowling crease"? I'm not sure what that means in Johnston's case, and what it will achieve. Johnston isn't the first bowler to struggle in England. Gillespie last tour totally lost his mojo too. What would Pigeon's advice be?
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
James,you made the point a few weeks ago that now is not the time to be tinkering too much. On reflection Johnson is trying to do too much. If the inducker to the rhb is not working he should just concentrate on his pace and L & L.At his pace he can get the openers LBW and the rhb's caught behind. I believe he will be a more complete bowler when he has the inducket to the rhb under control. But now is not the time to fret. He also needs to get some energy thru the bowling crease.
Jameswm
Guest
Johnson has got lots of wickets from his off cutter (away from the right hander), and also from hitting the right spot and moving it slightly across the right hander. He also reverse swings it across the right hander. He gets bounce and this has worried people (esp Strauss and Graeme Smith). Really, he only started bringing it back in to the right hander in South Africa, and he'd been going perfectly well before then without it. Too much is being made of it, as it was during the Whit's career. There are so many left handed top order batsmen around these days, do we only pick right handed seamers who bring it back to the left hander? What's the difference? The fact is he does NOT need to bring it back to the right hander to be successful. All he needs to do is bowl accurately at good pace, and have the ball do a little one way or the other. It's as simple as that.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Thats just the point of this article,Davido...Get the mechanic on the case. Personally, I think he can turn it around. His captain is supporting him and he just has to stand up and be counted. No more excuses. His 63 in the second innings showed he is not altogether a shot duck.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Eric, Up until South Africa Johnson got the majority of his wickets in Australia with pace and bounce. He had been working on the ball coming in to the right hander and going away from the left. He had this working in south Africa and got a few of the top right handers out LBW . He also snared a few lefties caught at slip. When you have this left handers outswing the batsmen are not sure if they can let it go so they play nearly every ball. What is happening now is that Johnson has lost this ability and both right and left handers just let him go. And if he pitches short or full he gets hammered. His line is all over the place and his length is based on a hope and a prayer. A misfiring car with the right blinker going when he is about to turn left. For a more technical explanation you may have to talk to our resident expert,Jameswm. I dont know where he has disappeared to. Steyn is good but look out for Shane Bond. He has been picked to go to Sri Lanka and I expect him to give Sanga and Co a big hurry up. Dan Vettori finally has a strike bowler of the highest class.
davido
Guest
Great article... would you say johnson has enough confidence to start tinkering with his action during an Ashes series?
eric
Guest
OK, OK, back to the point of the article about the bowling mechanic and his vehicles. I must admit I am curious how Johnston got so many wickets up til now. Sure, he's quick, and lefties can be awkward. He has a leg cutter, but doesn't appear to have the lefties stock inswinger (to right handers). He has always bowled a lot of rubbish, but the lack of bounce in England has him stuffed. O'Keeffe is not saying anything remarkable. Everyone knows you need to get your leading shoulder and arm up. I haven't noticed Johnston "falling away", and he is still quick, which indicates his action is OK. I think he needs to pitch it up, in the corridor, and get the seam up. And if Brett Lee did the same, he'd be as good as Dale Steyn.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Sheek, I am humbled by your generous salute I will leave you with a couple of lines from ny latest collection Where once , I was , a guardian of Wasps I have become, a keeper of butterflies.
sheek
Guest
Vinay, Not so long ago, Greg Russell complimented me by naming me in his dream frontrow of rugby writers. Or something like that! Remind me to select you as my very cagey spinner in my cricket writing team. You have the full repetoire - offbreaks, legbreaks, topspinners, wrong un's, straight balls, looping teasers, ripping medium pacers, etc, etc. You prod, you tease, you toss em up, you drift, you dip, but mostly you tell it like it is, a master writer-spinner!