Death bowling is a tough job, but I like it: James Faulkner
James Faulkner has played a key role for the Rajasthan Royals. (Source: BCCI)
A talented bowling all-rounder, James Faulkner was the man of the match in the World Cup final. Despite carrying a bit of an injury, the Australian team persisted with him, and he showed why with a 3/36 in the final against New Zealand. Now with the Rajasthan Royals, he has been providing the depth to the squad. In a chat with The Indian Express, he explains why he is the captain’s go-to man, on death bowling and yorkers. Excerpts.
Over the years you have evolved as one of the best death-over bowler. How tough is your job and how difficult it gets with each game?
It’s a tough job. It’s a job you actually want to do. If you don’t want to do then you definitely have to say something to get out of it. It’s not something which comes within the territory. There are going to be times when you are going to be hit out of the attack and you are like a deal. Everyone says why don’t you bowl the yorker, why don’t you bowl the bouncer after the ball has gone for a six. There are times when you bowl a perfect yorker or bouncer and it goes for a six because the batters are so skilled these days. See the highs are really high because the spotlight is on you come the crunch overs. And the lows are obviously very low. Each individual takes it differently.
There was a time when bowlers were known by this one special ball — the Waqar yorker, the Waugh slower… how has that changed? Do you think one special ball makes a bowler one-dimensional and predictable in T20 cricket?
People might think it’s predictable because they know what’s coming. It’s predictable because their skill set is very good. Take Lasith (Malinga) for example. Everyone thinks he’s going to bowl a yorker because he has a hell of a good yorker. So it’s all about execution. People are talking about your deliveries so you know they are concerned about them. So you can knock them over.
You have a back of hand slower ball, yorker and a host of variations, so is mixing it up the way out for bowlers in T20 cricket?
Not the way out, I think. It purely depends on the conditions. If the wicket is slower, you want to use your variations more and if it’s fast you can use the pace of the wicket. It purely depends on the situation and the conditions.
Is the yorker a far too risky option in death overs as the margin of error is very less?
Like I said, it’s purely about execution. It’s not risky bowling a yorker if you are bowling it well. There are going to be times when you are bowling four-five yorkers out of six-seven deliveries and there are going to be times when you just can’t hit the yorker. That’s the nature of the game. If everyone could bowl the yorker the game would have been very boring.
They say the spinner needs at least three deliveries to dominate the batsman, how about a seamer? What deliveries you wish to have in your armoury?
It depends on the pace at which you bowl. If you bowl at 150, like Shaun Tait used to, you don’t really need any changes of pace, there is actual pace itself. For me, bowling 130, mid 130s, I have to have change of pace otherwise it’s easy to hit. Purely depends on the individual.
During the 50-over and Test days, a bowler would run with the delivery already in his mind. Is it the same in T20 cricket? Do you fancy making that adjustment right before the release to outsmart the batsman?
I think sometimes you naturally do, whether it’s a good thing or bad thing. Sometimes you might be coming out to bowl a yorker and you see the batsman back away. So you could follow them or go wide. Instinct takes over with how you have seen them play in the past and the movement in that specific 0.5 seconds.
A bowler these days plays the bluff card to full effect. Say getting a short-leg in position to create the impression that a short ball is on the cards and then bowl a fast in-swinger to catch the batsman off-guard. How do you plan to bluff a batsman in the middle?
When it comes to bluffing, you need to have a lot of confidence since there is lot of risk involved. Whether it’s moving the fielder and suggesting you are not going to bowl a certain delivery or suggesting you are going to bowl a certain delivery and you don’t. It’s purely how you are going on that single day and how confident you are.
How much time you spent on each of your variations during training?
It’s impossible to practice and master every single variation in training. You might bowl one or two of those deliveries over the course of the session but there are times when you specifically have a session on practicing the slower ball or practicing the yorker or the slower bouncer. It’s just too hard on your body to spend too many hours bowling.
How about the bouncer, the slower one?
I don’t really have a slower-ball bouncer. Mine is more of a cutter. You will find bowlers who have real pace have few different slower-ball bouncers. It is something I will definitely work on.
There were days when the bowler used to start with a loosener. These days, bowlers try to give their best with the first ball. Like you did during the World Cup final where you got rid of Ross Taylor with a smart slower one.
No bowler wishes to start with a loosener. You have to be switched on from ball one, especially in the format like the T20s. You actually have got six deliveries and up to 24 deliveries in a spell so you have to be switched on. Aim of the bowler is not get hit out of the park, so everyone wishes to start well.
How is it playing alongside young Indian players?
It’s the fun thing about the IPL that we get to play with India’s best young talent. We have been really lucky that we have got hold of some really good young players when it comes to Sanju (Samson) and Stuart (Binny). Stuart not in terms of age but then he is young in his international career. And obviously Karun Nair and (Deepak) Hooda this year. I’m missing some I know… Ankit… We have some really young and exciting players and everyone enjoys having them around the group.
Source:: Indian Express
