CRICKET: Mike Selvey
IF ever there was an illustration of the vast chasm that English bowlers must cross before they can compete with the best in the world, it came late last Monday afternoon. Wasim Akram had taken 298 wickets in Tests and with two more English wickets there for the taking, was keen to get the 300 done, dusted and out of the way.
>From around the wicket, he sent a full- length ball snorting towards the outside edge of Robert Croft’s left pad and the batsman, sensing runs, shaped to glance the ball to fine leg. It was in the last 10 feet that it happened. Suddenly, the ball began to swerve sharply towards the off, snaked past Croft’s bat and had his right pad not intercepted it, would have lifted the middle stump from the ground. Quite how the umpire Mervyn Kitchen failed to notice it will remain a mystery.
The delivery, quite simply, was unplayable and beyond the means of any England bowler to produce. A batsman has less than two- fifths of a second to react to anything bowled at upwards of 135km/h in any case, but when it does not even start to deviate until it is beyond the point where a normal length ball would pitch, then there is just no time to respond.
With the scuffy old ball, Wasim can bowl these virtually at will and so can Waqar Younis. It is why they become increasingly dangerous as they press for a win because the older the ball, the more likely a side is to succumb. In essence, this pair have stood the game on its head and bearing that in mind, the England collapses at Lord’s and on Monday at The Oval are not quite the hapless exhibitions they may have seemed.
So let us salute truly great fast bowlers, and a spinner to match. It is the fact of the matter that until England find bowlers who can compete with these, winning consistently against the best sides on Test match-quality pitches will be beyond them.
Instead, this summer has been one of disappointment in the quest for an attack that will trouble the Australian batting less than a year from now. Cork’s decline has removed the one quality cutting edge the side possessed, while Lewis degenerated from the most successful bowler against India to the most hapless against Pakistan.
As Wasim pointed out, Caddick would surely have been a better bet at The Oval, although the Pakistan captain has played in enough disjointed sides to understand that there are more things to the making of a team than ability alone.
The only plus point has been the emergence of Mullally. He got in the side somewhat under false pretences as a left-armer who moved the ball into the right-hander and the fact that he is still waiting for his first leg-before decision of the first- class summer says all that needs to be said about that. However, his temperament was excellent and he lent control, gaining wickets by virtue of attrition. Others need to learn that art.