Simon Jones and Brett Lee are both in thrall to speed. Jones’s only rival as England’s fastest bowler is Steve Harmison, who can also touch 95mph on a good day but is less concerned with pace for its own sake. Lee, who got near to 100mph two years ago, stands alone as the swiftest in Australia’s ranks. Both covet the title of the world’s fastest bowler. But speed can be an irritating distraction: it doesn’t necessarily bring wickets and often comes at the expense of accuracy. Jones and Lee both know about that. The story is all in their Test figures: healthy strike-rates of a wicket every 53 balls and a profligate 3Ĺ runs conceded per over.
When they get things right, they can be irresistible, seemingly breaching defences at will. But when it goes wrong, they are an embarrassing luxury for their captains. Michael Vaughan has been accused of under-bowling Jones; Ricky Ponting of not trusting Lee, whom he has yet to pick since taking over Australia’s Test side 18 months ago. In his last Test, against India in Sydney, Lee went for 276 runs. Last weekend, Jones, handed the new ball in favourable bowling conditions, conceded four fours to Adam Gilchrist in his second over. But at other times they have bowled match-winning spells. The fast bowling of athletic young men doesn’t come in testosterone-lite cans.
Their love of speed has generated controversy and may do so again before the summer is out. Lee has been breaking bones for years. He smashed the thumb of an Indian opening batsman on his Test debut in 1999 and in 2001 broke Graham Thorpe’s hand at Lord’s. More controversially, he shamelessly targets tailenders. Five years ago, during a warm-up match in New Zealand, he was accused by umpire David Quested of deliberately overstepping the crease by almost a yard to pepper a hapless No 11. At Perth 2Ĺ years ago, he felled England bowler Alex Tudor with a blow to the head that put him out of the series. “I try to put the wind up tailenders,” he says.
Lee, who has also survived “throwing” allegations, insists that he has never deliberately infringed the laws, but the frequency with which he delivers the blackest delivery in the book — the beamer, which puts batsmen in the greatest jeopardy — has fed conspiracy theorists. Lee bowled Marcus Trescothick one at Lord’s last weekend, and although he immediately apologised, Trescothick may still have been unsettled when he was out in the next over. If there is an innocent explanation for Lee’s beamers, it is that he strives so hard for extra pace that he loses his footing (which is what is claimed happened at Lord’s) or the ball slips out of his hand. Whatever, it suggests a lack of nous, as does his habitual no-balling.
As an express machine, Lee gave Jones something to aim at. Jones arrived in Test cricket in 2002 at the age of 23, a year older than Lee when he started, with the stated aim of becoming the fastest bowler in the game. Lee was then near his peak in terms of speed and Jones had been encouraged to hear a couple of Australian batsmen in county cricket, Martin Love and Jimmy Maher, say they thought him as fast as Lee. Growing up, Jones’s favourite speedster was Allan Donald, whom he hailed as the ultimate “predator”.
Jones’s exuberance can also get the better of him. He was fined for giving Ramnaresh Sarwan a “send-off” in Trinidad last year and his spat with Matthew Hayden at Edgbaston 12 days ago was the first flashpoint of the Ashes summer. Jones was in the wrong. His shy at the stumps — which hit Hayden in the chest — was a hot-headed reaction to the ball being driven back at him and he had little chance of hitting the wicket, as Hayden was plainly blocking his path.
To Jones’s credit, he regained his focus to trap Hayden leg-before two overs later with an excellent in-swinger into the left-hander. He celebrated by beating his chest. Jones has become a strikingly better bowler since his return to the side last year, and, provided he is fit, is certain to start the series. Fitness has always been an issue for the Welshman. Since his full recovery from major surgery on the knee he damaged on the opening day of the last Ashes series in Brisbane — an injury that appears to have cost him a few mph — he has often fallen prey to niggles and strains.
Whereas he was originally viewed as somebody who swung the old ball, he is now swinging it when new and has even opened the bowling for England in one-dayers this summer. The speed of his arm and his knack of skidding the ball make him one of the harder bowlers to gauge. Perhaps like Lee, who starred in Australia’s march to the World Cup two years ago, he will develop into an effective one-day weapon.
Given his record, Jones may do well to get through five Tests in eight weeks. Experienced, reliable replacements are thin on the ground and among the candidates to take his place would be Chris Tremlett and Jon Lewis, both uncapped in Tests, and James Anderson, who is struggling to put zip back into his game.
Despite sitting out Australia’s past six series, Lee appears certain of a recall next week. Ponting has been grateful for the accuracy of Michael Kasprowicz’s off-cutters, but he may feel inadequately armed without Lee’s speed. He may not feel inclined to forgive Lee for the last-ball misfield that gave England a tie in the NatWest Series final, but he may have to. Unless Lee plays, England will possess the three fastest bowlers, Jones, Harmison and Andrew Flintoff, and they have already made it plain that they intend to exercise that superior firepower. Australia aren’t used to being so emphatically outgunned and will need Lee to check an all-out English bouncer war.
Lee appears to be England’s prime target for intimidation. They suspect he does not like short-pitched bowling and that it might make him think twice before trying to put the wind up them. Courtesy of Flintoff, he has already sat out two one-dayers with a bruised shoulder.
Lee has had his share of misfortune. By the time he was 18, bowling had damaged his back sufficiently to require surgery, which meant three months in a back brace and corrective work on his action. At 22 he broke an arm while fielding and put himself out of action for several months. He has had problems with his ankles, which cost his place to Kasprowicz last year. He has sat out 27 Tests in 5Ĺ years. Jones has missed 25 in three.
Here are two exciting cricketers united in a passion for bowling fast who have yet to bowl at each other in an international. If Jones’s brief part in the last Ashes series is ignored, neither has played in a losing Test series.
- SIMON WILDE