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Current fast bowlers do not bowl half the overs I use to bowl: Andy Roberts
By CricketCountry Staff
Fast bowlers, these days, are suffering from recurring injuries mostly due to the excessive cricket being played, but former pacers decline to believe that scheduling is having an impact on the modern-day quicks.
Published: Oct 27, 2011, 06:25 PM (IST)
Edited: Oct 27, 2011, 06:25 PM (IST)
Andy Roberts said he didn’t think it is scheduling is resulting in injuries to modern-day fast bowlers © Getty Images
By CricketCountry Staff
London: Oct 27, 2011
Fast bowlers, these days, are suffering from recurring injuries mostly due to the excessive cricket, but former pacers deny that scheduling is having an impact on the modern-day quicks.
West Indian bowling legend, Andy Roberts refused to believe relentless scheduling is having an impact on the modern-day pacers.
“I do not think it is scheduling. How many great fast bowlers did you have in the history of cricket up to 1990? How many of those fast bowlers had back injuries? These modern-day fast bowlers do not bowl half the overs I bowled.
“In my first season in county cricket I bowled 800 overs between April and August. Then I went to India and bowled 200 more overs,” Roberts said in an interview to Cricinfo.
Kiwi legend Richard Hadlee felt it is more about handling the load and training differently for different format.
“It is all about the bowling loading. If you condition yourself to playing three different formats, you train differently. And if you are alternating between different forms, you might not be right for one form or the other,” Hadlee said.
Former South African all-rounder, Clive Rice said the more a bowler bowls, the better he gets so there is no argument of excessive cricket.
“It is not about the workload. Just before I started playing, guys in England bowled 1600 overs in a county season. Guys today have it easy. The more you bowl, the better you become.”
“A fast bowler, to me, is like a sprinter in athletics. You have got to be able to sprint, not just jog in to bowl. Then you can stand up to it. You see the guys with long run-ups, but you are not running 5000 metres. You have got to run in with a purpose,” the South African added.
The legendary Glen McGrath, said maybe scheduling doesn’t allow modern-day bowlers to recuperate leading to injuries.
“Scheduling these days is not allowing that recovery or time off to build your strength back, to get fit and get strong again… maybe that has a little bit to do with it.”
Another West Indian legend, Curtly Ambrose seconded the former Australian pacer saying, back-to-back tours is resulting in bowlers getting injured more often.
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“The workload is a bit too much, to be quite honest. I mean, guys are going from one tour to the next without having any time to recover. Your body needs time to recuperate. So some of the guys get injuries so often,” Ambrose said.