Mental strength required for fast bowling

By A. C. De Silva

No batsman relishes consistent short – pitched deliveries especially at the beginning of are innings. In the picture Geoff Boycott – the England batsman gets a good bouncer from Len Pascoe. Note Pascoe’s characteristic finish, low and powerful follow though.

FAST BOWLING: If you want to be fit enough for fast bowling, you've got to be mentally strong. A world class fast bowler is someone who's relaxed mentally and physically because he knows that when necessary he can pull out a performance that wins a match.

Former England pace bowler Bob Willis says that until he was hypnotised by his good friend in the past Dr. Arthur Jackson that he became capable of consistently fast successful bowling at the highest level. Willis says that Dr. Jackson gave him the mental strength that leads to that vital fitness.

The revelation that his friend Dr. Jackson helped him in his career, leading to headlines like 'Hypnotism Helped Willis Skittle the Aussies," made him happy in the early years. What Dr. Arthur really did was form past of a programme that helped him (Willis) at knocking to bowl better than at any stage in his career.

The hypnotherapy - and it must be stressed here that it was just one 20 minute session - was designed to bring home to me the importance of being fit, Willis said.

After the Century Test, Willis says that he requested Dr. Jackson to get him overcome tenseness in his bowling and after the early sessions with Dr. Jackson, Willis says that he felt better straitaway. Willis was more relaxed less talkative, more self contained and more confident.

The doctor had instilled into him willis' subconscious the importance of a controlled planned tracing routine.

Willis realised that he'd get nowhere in big cricket without striving to become extremely fit. "I buckled down to the Van Aaken programme as soon as I returned to England and I never looked back." Willis says that he no longer did run himself down.

Joel Garner – the West Indian paceman is a real cool customer and never appears perturbed when his appeals go unanswered. ‘Big Bird’ simply walks back to his mark.

He says that he stopped telling everyone that naturally talented bowlers like Mike Hendrick and Chris Old had more to offer England than me and I matured." He started to be on his own and it helped him to recover, says Willis.

Bowlers must study technique of batsmen

A good bowler - irrespective of his pace - must always study the technique of good batsmen, file away his impressions and then use them to his advantage. "I was taught this in the early days at the Oval by Ken Barrongton, who told me to keep a notebook of individual batsman's weaknesses.

At Test level, Bob Willis says, he really enjoys hatching traps with his team and many examples come to his mind where long term planning's worked.

There was Greg Chappell, the Australian Skipper in 1977 and a magnificent batsman.

He was obviously the danger early in the series and we decided at a team talk that he (Willis) tries to trouble him with a few fast bouncers in the Old Trafford Test.

Greg Chappell is truly a fine batsman but he can be quite unnerved by a few fast bouncers. A speedster should note down such little things about every batsman at any level of cricket.

"Well, he got a hundred in that innings, but I unsettled him so much that he was never the same player in the series.

He was unnerved by my pace, didn't get properly into line in subsequent innings and I had him caught in the skips twice." said Willis.

Vivian Richards - top order Windies batsman

Another top order batsman was the West Indian Viv Richards. He was in tremendous form in 1976 in England, yet. I got him out twice in my comeback Test at Headingley. Because of his leg-side excellence willis had to bowl on the off side, but not wide enough to allow Richards to step back for the cut, another of his great strengths.

The fine Indian batsman Sunny Gavaskar is the kind of player a bowler needs to study. Gavaskar is an excellent judge of when to leave the ball alone and yet he's a rash hooker. So, the bowler has to dig the ball in around the breastbone (remember he is a small man) keep him tucked up on the back foot, and hope he'll get frustrated and sky a mistimed hook.

The fast bowler who learns from watching as well as from bowling is maturing, and it's the same with a quickie who can stifle his frustration when he is bowling.

About making appeals to the umpire. Only once he (Willis) says that he made a song and dance about an appeal being turned down. It was against Middlesex, Mike Smith - the opener, was so plumb out lbw on the back boot that he was almost walking to the pavilion, Willis says that he (Willis) couldn't believe the umpire said: "Not out". And Willis was thoroughly annoyed that he swore and gave an annoyed look at the umpire.