According to the general media consensus Hazelwood’s debut for Australia was encouraging, or promising. Or encourageably promising.
It certainly wasn’t shit.
But let us look a little deeper than the words encouraging or promising.
General look:
The best way to describe Josh is as a Country Australian version of Tin Tin who has been feed human growth hormones. He is a large chunk of a lad with the face of a 15 year old who does well at school but dreams of looking cooler.
Pace:
Not quick. Luke Wright was quicker. Seemed to sit around the 86 (138 k) an hour range. It isn’t slow, but it isn’t quick either. He did look like he had it in him to bowl quicker. He would want to. 86 miles an hour is a medium pacer now, and I can’t see someone specialising at that pace for 10 years. Being that it was a one dayer, he could have been holding back.
Bounce:
Wasn’t scary Curtly bounce. There was one ball that got up off a good length. Maybe if he was a little quicker the bounce would come in, but Douggie got better carry than he did.
Movement:
The boy moves the ball in, nicely. Off the seam when no one else in the game seemed to move it off the pitch much at all. The wicket of Kieswetter was an across the seam ball that shouldn’t have moved but it did. I’d call it a fluke, but I saw him do it three times. I didn’t see him move the ball away, but he got KP edging to slip with a straight one after a few had come back.
Action:
It isn’t pretty. The word lumbering will be used for him getting to the wicket, and his actual delivery almost turns him into a modern day Carl Rackermann. What I like about it is that it doesn’t look like some prissy academy action. This is the action of a bunch of farmers from across County Australia. Yet again the country boys come in untouched while the big city players come in looking like the coaching manual is stuck in their ass cheeks.
Fire:
The dude looks like tin tin, there wasn’t much fire there. He doesn’t look like an aggressive fella, but if he did it would look funny on him.
Length:
By far my favourite thing about the way he bowled was his length. Like all good bowlers he found the length he liked and just stayed there. It is a nice length as Kieswetter found out. A McGrath/Curtly type length. Although I still think he needs a bit more pace if he wants to keep it there.
Wicketability:
I’d like to think I made this term up, but I bet some wanker has used it before. To me he doesn’t look like he will be a big bag wicket taker, but he does look like he will take regular wickets. On another day he takes the wicket of KP and the Australian press call him the new Lindwall.
If I was 19 and I played like that on debut I’d be pretty happy. Although I’d then be pissed off that Ponting didn’t bowl me after the 28th over, and I’d be ever more pissed off that Watson bowled more overs than me. Although If I was Josh Hazelwood I probably wouldn’t be writing this.
Well played, Josh. The new new Glenn McGrath.
cricketwithballs
