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The gentle giant
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Mike Hendrick, former England fast bowler, walks down memory lane
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ACE OF SWING Mike Hendrick
In the post-1970 England cricket, 59-year-old Mike Hendrick, stands out as a perfect example of being one of the most difficult bowlers ever to be handled by the best of the batsmen of his times but also one of the unluckiest players as it was the bo
wlers from the other end who used to get most of the wickets even as this gentle giant troubled the best with his late swing.
And when this star bowler was in Vizag to coach the Andhra team during a two-day camp along with M.V. Narasimha Rao, former India cricketer, he was the most sought-after for advice.
Hendrick (30 Tests, 81 wickets between 1974 and 1981) says the emphasis seems to be on merely bowling fast now-a-days. “ Some of the greats like Dennis Lillee and Richard Hadlee were far more successful in their later part of their careers for they were more accurate and made the ball talk.”
Sporting injuries
While talking on the sporting injuries he says, “Because of overdose of cricket there are quite a few fast bowlers who are suffering serious injuries.
Perhaps, this is where sports scientists can play a key role to come out with bowler-specific programmes to reduce these injuries.”
On the Indian talent he says,“Ishant Sharma has a great future and with experience he should be a very tough player to handle,” he adds.
Hendrick says that spin bowling seems to be the neglected art now which should be addressed with all seriousness. “It will be a shame if this art of spin continues to be treated indifferently,” he added.
The former English swing bowler feels it would be good if an Englishman were to be the coach of the national team.
“But again the problem not many ex-cricketers are seriously involved in coaching in country cricket and thereby not graduating to the much tougher assignment,” he points out.
“When I started playing, there were many who said cricket in England is dying. Look, even now it is alive and still going strong. It continues to be a big sport,” he says.
On Sachin
And on the topic of Sachin, Hendrick has this to say, “I would love to see this legend talk to the cricketers – especially the youngsters – on how and what it means to sustain such levels of excellence as he did over 17 years. That should be interesting and inspire quite a few of these youngsters,” he concludes.
V.V. SUBRAHMANYAM
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