Fast bowling, seam bowling, swing bowling is a physically demanding act that puts a lot of stress on the body. Success comes with a lot of hard work and skill and usually needs a healthy dose of luck along the way.
Seeing Jimmy Anderson & Stuart Broad line up together again in 2022, both well past 150 test caps is remarkable. They have been aided by central contracts and in particular having been able to concentrate on the purest form of the game, but that should not take away from their own hard work and dedication.
The current injury list only serves to highlight this, it includes a number of players but in particular the four fastest bowlers at England’s disposal (or not as the case is). Mark Wood at age 32 and 26 tests is the veteran of this group, Jofra aged 27 with 13 tests, Olly Stone aged 28 with 3 tests and Saqib Mahmood aged 25 with 2 tests are those we hoped would be integral by now.
The spotlight is on the amount of cricket, correctly, and the link to injuries but it is noteworthy that England have not had many fast bowlers get past 50 caps in the last 3 decades; Caddick 62, Harmison 63, Hoggard 67 and the outstanding Gough with 58 are the only ones.
Angus Fraser 46, Devon Malcolm 40, Chris Lewis 32 , Dominic Cork 37 and Steve Finn 36 are examples of players who never made it to 50 caps.
Below are 4 of my favourite players, who were all outstanding in their short test careers before injury stole them from us (in the sense of playing cricket as all 4 still give an enormous back to the game and society).
Deano had to wait until 1997 for a test debut and was sadly finished by 1999, however he did play 2 ashes series in that time (home and away) and an away series in the Caribbean. He stands among a select few to make a real impression in Australia against what was the best team in the world at that time. Over 3 tests in 1998/99 he took 19 Australian wickets, striking every 38 balls!
His initial selection owed a lot to his outstanding performance for Nasser’s A Team in Pakistan. Perhaps he should’ve played sooner! He was a brave batsman always willing to get in line, he was a tremendous in the field but most importantly a very very fine bowler! He could bowl quick and made the ball skid in, the stock deliver angled in to the right hander with that ability to hold the odd one up. He could bowl long spells and was an excellent bowler with the old ball.
This era of cricket is best know for Gough and Caddick but Deano was the ideal third prong to that attack. With central contracts and some luck they would’ve made for a fearsome all conditions pace attack.
Deano remains one of my absolute favourite players and blokes.
Tudes made his debut in the 1998/99 Ashes in Australia (same one Deano starred in) as the preferred option over Andy Caddick. He bowled with serious gas and skill in Australia that winter, he was only 22 years old. He could bat too as he showed in 1999, but then the injuries curtailed his progress. He was back in 2001 making a big impact in the Trent Bridge test with 5 wickets. Next to be seen in, yes you guessed it, the Ashes bowling with heat at Perth in 2002/03 series.
Much like Deano we didn’t see anywhere enough of Tudes, but when we did it was against the best side in the world home and away. Across 5 ashes tests he took 16 wickers striking every 44 balls.
In my own fantasy cricket, viewed through the rear view mirror, he was the ideal man to bat at no 8 with Freddie at no6 and a keeper between them.
Horse’s story is possibly the best known of these 4 players. He was very fast, but also very skilful with the old and new ball. A player earmarked by Duncan Fletcher as having the qualities to step up a level. Best known for his integral role in the 2005 Ashes win, Jones actually debut in 2002 and looked the part. He was selected for the 2002/03 Ashes tour before a freak and devastating knee injury set him back. He did remarkably well to come back from that to be the bowler he was.
Striking at under 50 balls per wicket puts you un the top echelon of bowlers, his pace, trajectory and skill set often made the pitch irrelevant. He was aged 26 when the Ashes were won in 2005, with a fair wind on the injury front he would’ve ended his test career as legend of the game. 5 tests, 19 wickets striking every 34 ball sis a handy record against Australia.
Always one to watch, a class act, a team man who was also a brave (and occasionally bold hitter) and a serious athlete in the field.
Tremers comes from a cricketing family and that combined with his physical build placed certain expectations and demands on him. He made his test debut in 2007, but much like the other three chaps on this list he made his indelible mark on test cricket in 2010/11 playing in the away Ashes series.
He played 4 of the 5 tests in a remarkable series win for England in Australia (for the record they should’ve at least drawn in 1998/99 but for a dodgy run out decision … ask Deano and Tudes). He picked up 21 wickets striking every 45 balls. Sadly it was all over by 2015, it was great to see a picture of Chris playing a charity match last week and catching up with old friends at Hampshire.
Its easy to group these guys together as being the unlucky victims of injury, but I prefer to group them together as exception talents and remarkable blokes. They played their very best cricket against the best team in the world at that time, which speaks volumes of their character and temperament.
Equally, or actually more importantly, they are four exceptional men who have continued to give back to the game of cricket despite their own ambitions being cut short.
Cheers lads, for the memories and for all your continue to do for our game.