Mitchell Johnson has been stealing the headlines over the last 4 months with some thrilling exhibitions of fast bowling on fast and bouncy wickets. From a neutral perspective, the sight of genuinely quick pace is a refreshing one. Johnson superstitiously has maintained his 'Movember' moustache as a menacing figure with ball in hand, who could blame him? He has been experiencing destructive success of the highest magnitude. The Barmy Army were left chewing their words following their chants about Johnson's awkwardness in previous Ashes.
Pace can do funny things to the best of players. Pace can make a significant difference; even a difference of 5 KPH can make a world of a difference, what might seem minor as KP tweeted during the past week. Michael Atherton pointed at the difficulty for broadcasters to showcase the pace of the game in top level sport across to the viewers, often wondering of potential solutions. Piers Morgan’s attempt to challenge Brett Lee was a demonstration of the difficulty for amateurs to appreciate the speed of top level sport, still now, but definitely in the past given the illustrious pacers of the 80s. I’m not suggesting everyone was as foolish as him by any means, but just pointing out how difficult it can be for non professionals to appreciate the speed of the game. Would Piers have really done it again? Doubt it.
Genuine pace requires a batter to make decisions and judgements fractions quicker, quick decisions often result in rash decisions, making a batter more vulnerable to committing an error. It forces you to play balls that you could have left as Durham University Cricket Coach and former England Test Cricketer; Graeme Flower tweeted during the Ashes; almost due to blurred eyesight created by pace zipping past at a rate of knots. In some cases one is virtually guessing and merely hoping.
As Michael Holding commented during the highly recommendable “Fire in Babylon” pace causes a batter to think about self preservation rather than focussing on the task at hand, making them more vulnerable of losing focus and perhaps even secretly wanting to get out!
When you have the opposite figure feared of you're capabilities, half the battle is won already. You already are a beneficiary of a distinct advantage before the arm has reached the perpendicular. The fear is one of getting hurt.
The best players of pace as Michael Atherton said during "Sky’s Ashes Zone" demonstrations during the Northern summer Ashes, are the ones who play with the mentality of my body is important, but I am willing to take blows on the body as it’s not as important as my wicket which is like a mini death. Athers of course took on the likes of Donald, Wasim, Walsh and fought fire with fire as an admirable dogged determined top order fighter through sheer grittiness and gutsiness.
Look no further than Andrew Strauss’s masterclass during the same series at Old Trafford where he attempted to take on high speeds courtesy of a bowling machine. He managed to do it and do it well and as a young-ish club cricketer I learnt plenty. But he could only do it as a recent retiree in the Sky commentary box. Others had been disconnected with the playing side of the game for a lengthy time and simply would not have the eyes or reflexes for it by any stretch; even those who departed within this century. Facing genuinely quick pace requires frequent practice and that's what makes players more vulnerable if they are not fed high speeds with any regularity, for them to suddenly face the likes of Johnson bowling at the peak of his powers.
The signs for Johnson were there in the back end of the English summer, the Champions League and the ODIs Australia played in the same country afterwards, that he may have turned a corner in all fairness and might be a changed bowler for the forthcoming Ashes. He was left out of a deciding ODI on the tour to fly back in preparation for the Ashes despite being so important in that series and bowling brilliantly. But he saved his optimum rightly for where it mattered most in the whites for an Ashes and away tour against the number 1 ranked test opposition. Chief destroyer would be an understatement, such has been the quality on show. The rarity of a fast bowler with genuinely nasty pace, made him all the more of a threatening force. The 80s batters at least had wider global exposure to such opponents.
Speed gives you the opportunity to drop short, the margin for error is significantly greater in order to avoid being punished from the backfoot. One can show aggression without the risk of getting punished.
You can rev up bowling machines as much as you want, a benefit of the modern age, but it will never quite be the same visual experience of a bowler running in at you at a speed of light.
