Tendulkar's son tries bowling through cramp, sends down two full bungers before quitting
Arjun Tendulkar fell victim to the humidity as he cramped up, but he wished he had taken himself off as he delivered two gifts…
As the South African cricket team returns home after another successful tour of Australia, I’ve been interested in the clear difference in philosophy for both teams.
While the Australian team has fully embraced the use of sports science and conditioning, the South Africans remain quite old-school in the way they develop players.
The Aussies want great athletes who are fit, fast and versatile, while some of the South African players would struggle to run a lap before training. But the biggest difference I’ve seen is the way both teams talk about fast bowling.
Australia has a great history of aggressive fast bowlers who charge in and attack batsmen with the short ball before setting them up with a full one on the stumps. There is an obsession with what speed each bowler can reach, with those who can bowl at over 140km/h given more opportunities at international level than any other type of fast bowler.
The South Africans also have a history of angry fast bowlers, but in this modern age they seem to value accuracy and consistency over raw pace.
Vernon Philander and Kyle Abbott never get close to 140km/h and very rarely bowl bouncers. Even Kagiso Rabada, who is capable of bowling express pace, often bowls well within himself so he can be more accurate.
On Australian pitches, it is hard to identify which philosophy is more effective, but we only have to look at the success of South African bowlers in places like England or India to see why they have adopted this approach. In their opinion, bowling fast means nothing without swing, seam and accuracy.
I will be interested to see how this new breed of Aussie fast bowlers is able to adapt to different conditions around the world.
I have a feeling that, eventually, things will turn back around and instead of searching for the next Brett Lee, the selectors will begin looking for the next Glenn McGrath.
What’s the difference between the two? About 250 Test wickets.
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.
Arjun Tendulkar fell victim to the humidity as he cramped up, but he wished he had taken himself off as he delivered two gifts…
New Zealand took 28 years to win a Test match, finally triumphing in 1956. There were plenty of skilled individuals before that but not a complete team.
In just under three weeks, the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup will commence in Texas as the United States face off against Canada in…
After Rajasthan opener Yashasvi Jaiswal hit a boundary off the first ball, the Punjab player got revenge a few balls later - and ultimately…
"No cricketer that has ever lived hit the ball so often, so fast and with such a bewildering variety of strokes.” - HS Altham…
Featuring Aussie cricket star Usman Khawaja and taking inspiration from multiple horror films, Amazon Prime's promo for the 2024 T20 World Cup has certainly…