The Roar sat down with Damien Fleming as he broke down why there aren’t many swing bowlers among Australian cricketers.
The former fast bowler named a couple well-known swing bowlers that stood out to him and reflected on the fact that bowlers like them aren’t really around today.
“For me, going back to Terry Alderman, it was probably myself after Terry, Ben Hilfenhaus… you generally don’t have two or three guys like that around,” Fleming said.
He went on to discuss how this may be because swing bowling is a difficult art to master and is reliant on a variety of different factors with little room for error.
“With swing, you need a bit of grass on the pitch, you need a nice new ball…overcast conditions seem to help, you’ve got to bowl the right length, you’ve got to get the line right, you’ve got to get your wrist and fingers in the right area…one of those little factors is out, and you’re not swinging the ball,” Fleming stated.
Fleming also observed that while some people are able to swing the ball, they can’t do it at their maximum pace. He noted that there are a handful of Australian players that have shown the ability to swing the ball from time to time.
“To be fair [Josh] Hazelwood, [James] Pattinson and [Pat] Cummins when the conditions are right… I wouldn’t call them genuine swing bowlers, but they do swing the ball when conditions suit,” Fleming said.
He also believes that there’s always a spot for a swing bowler in a team.
“I think there’s always a role, particularly in a squad, to have a swing bowler. So for me, there’s opportunities,” Fleming added.
paul
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This story is another strange one from Fleming. Everyone knows he's in love with swing bowlers, but he says there are no bowlers of this type in Australia, then mentions Hazlewood, Pattinson & Cummins as blokes who move the ball? What is the difference between these guys and a "genuine swing bowler"? If a "genuine swing bowler" like Anderson, for example, is defined as someone who only swings the ball, what use are they when conditions don't suit? The guys who can swing the ball, need to do so when they can, but be able to use other types of deliveries to get guys out, eg cutters. When Starc and others get the ball to reverse swing, does that not count as swinging the ball? Steve Smith certainly thought so last Shield game.