Fast bowlers. Don'tcha just love 'em? Well, maybe not if you're an Englishman and definitely if you're not one of the XI out there in Adelaide and contemplating what might happen on a pitch that is actually beter suited to pace and bounce. For the last few years, Mitchell Johnson had been ridiculed by the Barmy Army for his tendency to spray the ball ove the place with a wild slinging action. All credit to the Queenslander for remodelling his action and coming back faster and more accurate than ever to put England virtually out of the Ashes running after only eight days.
Pace bowling is nothing new, of course. From Larwood and Lindwall, Truman and Thomson through to Lee and Shoaib Akhtar, there have been some storming characters to put the wind up batsmen and stir the blood of cricket fans across the world. And I didn't even mention the stream of West Indians in the seventies and eighties. In some ways, Holding, Clarke, Daniel, Marshall, Ambrose et al were so successful at mixing toe-jangling yorkers with neck-jerking bouncers, especially the latter, that they set back fast bowling for years. Why? Because we ended up with limits on short-pitched bowling and, perhaps more welcome, minimum over-rates in Tests.
Spin bowling came back in fashion thanks to Warne, Murali and Kumble, and the advent of T20 has extended that revival well into the 21st century. Seam and swing still feature strongly, led by arch-exponents Anderson and Steyn, but men who can consistently deliver at 90mph without sacrificing accuracy are rare talents indeed. They always were, of course. Hostile environments also motivate 'quicks' to bend their backs just a shade more. Some are easily riled but not necessarily to the benefit of their bowling. Just think of Devon Malcolm in the '90s or indeed Johnson in recent years. Shoaib, Shane Bond and others are also examples of very fast bowlers whose careers were punctuated and finally ended by injury. Dennis Lillee was originally ferociously fast but a serious back injury forced him to ease off and instead become one of the most controlled and thoughtful of fast-mediums in history.
In he past few decades, Brett Lee stands out as one of the few 90+ mph bowlers who enjoyed a lengthy international career comprising 76 Tests and 221 ODIs but even his Test average was the wrong side of 30, unlike ex-colleague Glenn McGrath. Sticking with the Aussies, it is also interesting to see how all the fast young guns like Cummins and Pattinson have succumbed to niggles or worse, it's the 30-somethings leading an attack causing England so many problems. Whie it may be tempting to bowl Johnson as much as possible, Michael Clarke must know that you should use him as an old-fashioned strike bowler. Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle can tie 'em down then that extra zip from Johnson can wreak havoc. From the other angle, there's the potential for batsmen to see the support bowlers as 'light relief', only to come a cropper.
Yesterday's 7-40 is the best Ashes performance for years and for all the fuss about sledging, perhaps all you need is a heavily-tattooed arm and a menacing moustache to induce panic in England batsmen. If an accomplished opener like Alastair Cook can be so comprehensively beaten for pace, what hope do the likes of Root, Stokes and the tailenders have? Confidence also counts for a lot, of course, and the events of the first two Tests must have destroyed England mentally so soon after their victories last summer. It could all change with a few big innings from KP or Bell, or a dazzling display from a Swann or Broad but for now Mitch Johnson seems to have England all hot and bothered. Nice to see pace is king once more.
