Kyran Bracken's announcement of his immediate retirement from cricket at the age of 33 is a sad reminder that a fast bowler's career is rarely as lengthy as that of a spinner or specialist batsman. Barely two years ago, the left-armer from New South Wales was ranked number one in the world in ODIs but after leaving Trent Bridge with the victorious Aussie side in September 2009, he can't have envisaged Graeme Swann's wicket being his last in international cricket. Even though he played only five Tests, years of wear and tear on his cartilage took their toll and the constant need for knee operations has finally resulted in calling time on a successful career which also included 116 ODIs and 19 T20 internationals, averaging only 26 in all first-class and List A matches.
Unfortunately, Bracken is the latest in a long line of promising or established seamers whose joints weren't quite up to the demands of full-time, year-round cricket, despite the army of physios and fitness coaches who now surround the professional cricketers. Shane Bond, Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones have each succumbed to injuries when in their prime in recent years while the likes of Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar decided to give up on the first-class game to focus on the less demanding one-day formats in which they send down no more than ten overs, or four in T20s, to earn their money. Australian Shaun Tait saw the writing on the wall when elbow trouble led him to retire from Tests in his mid-20s. He remains one of the best one-day bowlers around, as we may well see again in the forthcoming World Cup, but his groin strain in the recent game against England showed again that he is desperately injury-prone.
Poor Australia seem to have been singled out for bad luck in this area. Jason Gillespie is one of their most successful pace bowlers of all time yet he missed a possible 40 Tests through a succession of injuries and played his last international around his 31st birthday. Dennis Lillee almost found his career over at the age of 23 thanks to stress fractures of the back but thanks to a reduction in pace and increased control, he was able to regain in his place and become one of the greatest fast bowlers who ever lived.
Pacemen who are still at the top at 35 are a rare breed. The list of top wicket-takers are dominated by spinners, and only super-fit (and lucky) superstars like McGrath, Walsh, Ambrose and Donald have survived relatively unscathed. If Australia play in the World Cup the way they have dominated (so far) the ODI series against England, much may rest on the ability of their quick bowlers to avoid injury rather than through single great performances. Even if they protect their creaking shoulders, knees or ankles, they should also be wary of missing the action by accidentally treading on a ball in practice, as Glenn McGrath did in 2005, an act which probably handed England the Ashes!
