Sri Lankans have more talent than Englishmen or Australians - Ashley Mallett

By Ranjan Anandappa

Former Australian off Spinner Lanky Ashley Mallet is of the view that there is lot more latent talent in Sri Lanka than in England or Australia.

Mallet who is in Sri Lanka to conduct his Spinners Academy, represented Australia in 38 Tests and has taken 132 wickets in an era when Test matches were not played, as frequently as now, was a member of a great Aussie side, the nucleus of which was formed by the Chappel brothers Ian and Greg. Dennis Lilee and Rodney Marsh after having played under Bill Lawry initially. Mallet visits the Island thrice a year to conduct the academy and he also visits most of the other Test playing nations too. Excerpts of Mallet's interview with the Sunday Observer.

Q: How do you identify the making of a spin bowler or a potential spin bowler for the future?

A: You must spin the ball hard. And when we see them doing a big tweak, they tend to do something rough. Sometimes you need to change the action completely or modify a little bit. But the good thing in Sri Lankans is that they have got the gift of a spinning arm and have no fear and have no pre-conceived ideas. They have been conditioned in a clone sense. We saw all sorts of guys who do it differently, but it works which is alright, it is unbelieveable.

Q: Do you think that too much one day cricket could hamper spin bowlers because the tendency to bowl flat and fast to curtail the runs?

A: No, they shouldn't bow1 different. I remember coaching Garet Batty, who played for Worcester and played a few games for England, he was with the English Academy in Adelaide and I was coaching him. He was picked to represent England in a couple of one dayers.

And he bowled very flat and very fast. He is a very good off spinner, but he bowled differently than what he was doing, because the coach Duncan Fletcher and captain Nasser Hussain told him to bowl differently, I told him, it's crazy, why should you bowl differently, you are a pretty good bowler. You bowled rubbish in the one dayers. Then he said that that the coach and the skipper wanted him to bowl that way.

He went to Perth it was a tri-seires and I happended to be there. He sat down with Muralitharan and Warne and he asked Warne how to bowl in a one day game?

Warne said: I just bowl. He asked Murali the same question. He too said the same thing. "We don't bowl differently. We spin the ball hard, we have a bigger area of danger, so we don't bowl any differently. Obviously, in the last couple of overs, we might bowl a few further ups so that they can't get under you to hit you for a six."

Q: They say that fast bowlers come in pairs, could you say the same thing about spin bowlers?

A: It happens from time to time, but what you need is the ideal balance. Two good fast bowlers. A bowling allrounder and a couple of spinners. That's the perfect balance.

Q: Have you discovered any potential players while coaching who could reach Test levels in the future?

A: Yes, there are a few potential Test players. There is lot more talent here than in England or Australia I can tell you that.

Q: How often do you visit Sri Lanka?

A: Thrice a year, setting up the Academy. So we got the cubs under 13, and the scouts under 17, and a mixture of young seniors and the older seniors. We have a structure and have set up a programme. We are not resurrecting actions when they are older. So we get them when they are at this age. If they have a problem with their action we sort them out then and there.

We also have an eight-year-old Chinaman bowler. Who looks good.

Q: Prior to gaining full Test status Sri Lanka took part in the first World Cup, in England in 1975. You were a member of that team where Sri Lanka lost to Australia after a good fight. How do you compare the cricket then and now?

A: Even then they had very good players. But what was lacking was the depth. But now you have some wonderful batsmen and tremendous bowlers. Chaminda Vaas is a terrific bowler and Muralitharan is a 'freak' really. He is just not a freakish guy in what he does basically with the ball. He is a tremendous thinker right between the years. It was interesting talking to him some years ago.

Murali said he only bowls two balls, one that comes in and one that goes out and if he did anything else different it is the wicket. What Murali says is, the bowler has got to be consistent and must have variations of course. Warne is also the same, both are great bowlers. They spin hard, they vary.

When you take a bowler like Muralitharan he has a huge area of danger-big as a dinner table, but English spinner does not turn as much as Muralitharan.

Q: People are talking about the Ashes series starting in November this year. What are your predictions?

A: It's going to be good. If England's fast bowlers all are fit, I think that's the key.

Warne is going to be a bit of a problem, he needs to be there, Flintoff needs to be there. And now England has a keeper, Chris Read who can keep wickets and they got a spinner who can bowl-Monty Panesar.

Chris Read the best 'keeper' for England since Allan Knott, he is a tremendous keeper he can also bat.