What do you think will happen if Muttiah Muralitharan accepts an invitation to run his eye over Australia’s spin stocks at the Centre of Excellence? Will we end up with a generation of bowlers with controversial actions? Or will we end up with a generation of bowlers with a little more knowledge of the hardest craft in cricket.
When I first heard of the plan I thought it was a good idea. I still do, but I’ve struggled to comprehend some of the reaction over the last couple of days.
Murali, however controversial, will go down as one of the greatest spinners the world has ever seen. His bowling action, in some people’s eyes, prevents him from being the greatest ever. But that is an argument without an end point.
Contrary to the ever-growing belief, Australia’s spinners aren’t going to end up replicating the Sri Lankan tweakers action en masse after a week of tuition.
The 38-year-old isn’t going to walk into the Centre of Excellence and instantly change the action of a young kid to resemble his own, when it currently looks more like Jason Krejza.
Former Australian wicket-keeper Ian Healy told the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday that “If we can find someone who can bowl at 14.7 degrees [off a straight arm] with a flicky wrist, let’s do it”. While that is within the realms of possibility, it’s highly unlikely. It’s also not what the brief should be. The brief should involve instilling a deeper knowledge of spin bowling. Plans, patience and field placement should be high on the agenda.
His action has its merits. If you’ve ever tried to have a go at replicating the “murali” in the nets or on some backyard field of dreams, you’ll note you can spin the ball a mile (the cracks also help for those playing along in driveways). My guess is that junior coaches wouldn’t let it slide in a match or in the nets and so having a young spinner who bowls like Murali is doubtful.
What the veteran can bring to the table, however, is a keen eye and knowledge of the dip and turn required to fool a batsman.
If a few sessions can help turn the next average Australian spinner into a great Australian spinner, isn’t it worth it?
The lack of quality in the spin ranks is a terrible legacy for the governing body to have in the wake of the Shane Warne era.
It’s time to start turning things around in a serious way, because the process at the moment clearly isn’t working.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.
Australia are set to turn their back on rising star Jake Fraser-McGurk’s whirlwind IPL form and drop Steve Smith in their T20 World Cup…
If people can lose their job, and clubs can face massive payouts, due to the behaviour of coaches, it will drastically change the way sporting teams in Australia will be run.
Australian fast bowling great Jason Gillespie has been named head coach of Pakistan's Test team, as the nation overhauls its coaching department ahead of…
Will Jacks got RCB past the 200 target set by Gujarat with four overs to spare.
With Rajasthan needing 25 off 17, both batsmen ended up at the same end but the bowler dropped the throw from his teammate -…
A six-laden, 27-ball 84 from Jake Fraser-McGurk to continue his outrageous debut IPL!
