Faster wickets will help pacemen to emerge - Tyson

by A.C. de Silva

CRICKET: The name Frank Holmes Tyson is stranger to Sri Lanka's crickets. This former England spearhead of pace bowling who made a name for himself, the world over as "Typhoon" Tyson by rocking the Australians to defeat in the 1954-55 'Ashes' winning series has been to Sri Lanka twice. He first played here in the days when we were known as Ceylon on his way to Australia with the English team in 1954 and went wicketless in the game against All-Ceylon and again in 1958, he returned the figures of 5 overs 4 maidens 2 runs and one wicket also against Ceylon.

Tyson was also here on a three-week coaching stint that gave the hope that Sri Lanka would have a couple of fast bowlers for the future.

He taught the young Sri Lankan bowlers, the mechanics of fast bowling. At first he took on 50 pacemen in three categories - Senior, Under-23 and Under-19 and he was simply impressed with the response he received from them.

What he taught them was the mechanics of fast bowling, the physical preparations, the mental approach and how to bowl certain types of deliveries.

Tyson scotched the belief that Sri Lanka is unable to produce fast bowlers because they do not have the height or the physique. He was noted as saying: "Your bowlers have the height and are very well built to become fast bowlers. What they need is faster wickets to give them greater encouragement. He said that the heavy roller should always be used if fast bowling is to be encouraged.

Having modelled himself on the great Harold Larwood after seeing him in action as a schoolboy, Tyson was destined to become a strike bowler in his own right, in Test cricket.

Born June 6 in 1930 in Farnworth, near Boulton, Lancashire, he is a former England cricketer of the 1950s who became a journalist and cricket commentator after he emigrated to Australia in 1960. Nicknamed "Typhoon Tyson" he is one of the fastest bowlers ever seen in cricket. He played in 17 Test matches, taking 76 wickets at an outstanding bowling average of 18.56.

Out of lists

However, he rarely appears on lists of best Test bowling averages as they usually require a minimum of 100 Test wickets. In 2007 a panel of judges declared him 'Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World' for 1955 due to his outstanding tour of Australia in 1954-55 in which he was instrumental in retaining the Ashes.

His best pace was nothing short of startling to batsmen and spectators alike. He represented an elemental force obscuring the details of his technique and the highest tribute he receives was the gasp of incredulity frequently emitted by the crowd as the ball passed from his hand to the distant wicket-keeper.

Unlike the great outswinger Fred Trueman, Tyson bowled straight and never internationally bowled an out-swinger. Instead Tyson tried on his tremendous pace to take most of his wickets, batsmen were often caught in mid-stroke by the speed of the ball coming onto the bat, or were too nervous to play fluently. On a green or crumbling wicket providing movement he could simply blast his way through the batting, and produced bounce and pace even off the placid Northamptonshire wickets.

Although affable off field Tyson was a terrifying proposition when bowling, believing that a bouncer should "pin the batsman against the sightscreen".

Fastest in England

His fast bowling gave him the nickname "Typhoon Tyson" and despite his short career, he achieved legendary status as the fastest England bowler in living memory. Don Bradman called him the "the fastest bowler I have ever seen" and Richie Benaud agreed, writing "for a short time, Frank Tyson blasted all-comers. "Tom Graveney wrote" Frank Tyson, at his peak, was possibly the fastest bowler of all time...., roaring off a long run, he generated tremendous pace that unnerved and unhinged even the greatest batsmen.

At the Aeronautical College in Wellington, New Zealand in 1955, metal plates were attached to a cricket ball and a sonic device was used to measure their speed, with Tyson's bowling measured at 89 mph (142 km/h), up Brian Statham bowled at 87 mph (139 km/h). Statham certainly bowled faster than 89 mph in matches, and Tyson claimed that he could bowl at 119 mph (190 km/h), but this cannot be proven. The best that can be said was that he was noticeable faster than his contemporaries Ray Lindwall, Keith Miller, Fred Trueman, Brian Statham, Peter Heine and Neil Adcock, which means he was very fast indeed.

Dickie Bird, the famous England umpire, wrote "he was certainly the quickest bowler I ever seen through the air." Speaking about his contemporaries, tyson was born eleven days before Brian Statham and eight months before Fred Trueman, all within 60 miles of each other, a concentration of cricketing talent only matched by the birth of Weekes, Worrell and Walcott in Barbados within seventeen months.

Statham's partnerships with Tyson and Trueman are considered two of the greatest new ball combinations in Test cricket. He was the perfect bowling partner, able to maintain a nagging line and length uphill or against the wind from one end while they let rip at the other. However, they only played in one Test together, at Adelaide in 1954-55.

Debut wicket - Roy

Tyson made his first class debut against the touring Indian team in 1953, after his first ball the slips moved back an extra five yards and he dismissed Panka Roy for a duck for his debut first class wicket.

Tyson's second first class match as against the Australians in 1953. Richie Benaud was told that the unknown Tyson was a bowler fresh out of Durham University who would give them no trouble. They began to revise this estimation when they saw the wicket-keeper take position halfway to the boundary and young Tyson walked over to the sightscreen to begin his runup.

The first ball ricocheted off the edge of Colin McDonald's bat to the boundary.The second ball caught McDonald lbe before he had time to play a stroke.

The third ball was a bouncer that flew past Graeme Hole's face. The fourth ball was yorker that clean bowled Hole and sent his stumps cartwheeling over the wicket-keeper's head.