Swing bowling has been around for a long time.
The Demon Fred Spofforth used it.
And I’m sure the English had an opening bowler who perfected it before Rasputin was a boy.
My point is this is not a new phenomenon.
Australia has even had bowlers that practice the art, Bob Massie, Terry Alderman, Alan Davidson and Rick(y) Ponting among them.
However when a ball is delivered towards them, and it swings, in either direction, in either fashion, they tend to miss, nick or slice it.
It is a worrying thing.
I even have evidence. Mind you its evidence from my memory, it’s not based on facts or anything.
Case 1, Ashes in 2005.
You could blame McGrath’s Ankle, Ponting’s odd decisions, Warne’s dropped catch, Rauf’s hatred of Martyn, but to me the real reason was Australia’s absolute capitulation to the swinging ball, reverse mostly, but occasionally traditional as well.
Case 2, Ben Hilfenhaus.
Tasmania won the Sheffield pura Shield cup last year. Sure they had some handy batsmen and an allrounder who played an amazing final, but simply put Hilfenhaus averaged over 6 wickets a game bowling outswing. It was almost as if no one in Australia could play him.
Case 3, Agit Agarkar once took wickets in Australia.
I thought the reason we switched from Platypus balls to Kookaburra balls, was to stop international teams from swinging the ball.
Perhaps we need a new ball, the echidna?
Emu?
Wombat?
Uncle J, would you call Pathan a probot? Can swing bowlers be probots?
I don’t think he is a probot, a probot know his game very well, he is still up and down, perhaps an un programmed probot.
i thought you will give india more credit than this…after all you don’t see aussies getting bowled for 200 odd too often…
Sp, India will get their credit, but first i am angry at how we play swing bowling, then i clear my head and praise the indians. Nope still too angry, let me write my Michael clarke blog, then i’ll talk about the indians.
UncleJ,Most batsmen falter against swing bowling.
Well look at the Australian batting line up. Ponting has the best technique. However after him, there’s not much there in terms of copy book. They all can hit good innings, but there are no Dravids or Tenulkars or Kallis’.This may be because Australian bowlers are slowly becoming poo, or the conditions are getting more batter friendly. Or it could be the all the batters look like they spend more time in the gym than learning how to play a forward defence without looking awkward.
Ott, i would debate that. Swing bowlers very rarely have long productive careers, like seam or spin bowlers do. Banh, correct.
Best Indian quick of all time: KapilBest Paki quick of all time: AkramBest Sri Lankan quick of all time: Chaminda VaasBest Kiwi quick of all time: Hadlee?Best English quick of all time: BothamBest Saffer quick of all time: Donald/PollockSo, but for Australia and the Windies, all the best quicks have been swingers. Don’t know if this is really relevant. Best Aussie quicks have been McGrath and Lilee, neither of whom really swung it much. Lee has added a lot of swing to his armoury, but when it comes to late swing, he still has a lot to learn.
John, yeah but John the Australian and the West Indies are the best fast bowlers of all time. Plus your leaving out spinners.
True, all I’m saying is maybe there is something with the pitches and conditions in Oz and Windies that discourage swing bowlers.
I think you’ll find, Uncle Wotsyerface, that George Hirst was the first Englishman to perfect the subtle art of swing bowling.Alas, by the time he came around, John Ruskin (who, as it happens, saw Spofforth during the 1882 Test Match) was at a fairly ripe old age.
If AB or Tugga had been there at 6, this wouldn’t have happened.I see where you are coming from UJ. You could have a point about Kookaburra affecting batsmen in the long run.England use Duke and India SG and they swing a lot more. Maybe that’s why there aren’t out and out pacemen there but more of swingers and the batsmen match correspondingly…better swing-players and tend to hop against pure pace.
I think Australia’s problem is that can’t play when the ball swings late. I remember actually paying attention to Steve Waugh when he was criticising the Ausslers during the 2005 rout for having backlifts that were too high. It is all very well being a flat-track bully, and playing fancy looking shots, but when the balls moves just before you hit it, then you’ll probably look like an idiot. Perhaps the habit of relentless attack is hard to break, and possibly hubristic?
Rodney, so i was wrong, an Englishman didnt invent swing bowling before Rasputin was a boy. who would have thought i’d get that wrong. John, you could be right. Atheist, in 2005 the players started using lower back lifts. Still didn’t help them. Yesterday Pathan and RP were swinging the ball late and swinging it early, the aussies missed both.
Thanks Rod, that was just about the only sensible thing I’ve said in weeks and what do you do? You crush it. All my dreams are dead.
perhaps you could make an animation about how i crushed your dreams.
I would suggest, Uncle Wotsyerface, that you consider purchasing a few rather more comfy undergarments than those which you are presently donning if that is the way that you generally react to perfectly civil and acceptable factual nitpicking.For what it is worth, though, ’twas Spofforth invented swing bowling — despite a blinkered scientist’s contention that it was nothing more than an ocular illusion.As Spoff also mastered a fabled monster called “vertical swing”, it is fairly safe to say that we shall never see his like again.
Rodney, I was actually taking the piss out of my obviously un researched comment not your good self. Actually it was an excuse to talk about the demon fred spofforth if you must know. Baseball pitchers use vertical swing don’t they? Although i’m sure they don’t call it that.
You are forgiven, Uncle Wotsyerface — albeit several months after the fact. The seeking of excuses to talk about F.R. Spofforth is to be heartily encouraged, I feel.
Looking through this thread again, I cannot for the life of me work out how I confused Ruskin with Rasputin.