(c)Cricinfo. Stuart Meaker bowls for Surrey on his debut in late 2008.
As you may remember on May 26th, PlanetCricket announced an exclusive interview with young Surrey fast bowler, Stuart Meaker. Who is tipped as one of the brightest young fast bowling stars in the country. In his last game for Surrey against Northants, he took 4/59 in the second innings to help Surrey secure a much needed victory after Tremlett had been the catalyst for this taking 3 wickets in just 9 balls. We can now announce the interview has been conducted and is here for all to read.
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It was nerve wrecking making my debut, not only because it was my first game but also because I was told that I had to take the new ball ahead of one of the games all time greats in shoaib Akhtar.
"It's a batsman's game". It's no secret that pitches are much flatter and slower than what they used to be. More days of cricket means more ticket sales. On top of that as a bowler you're putting your body under enormous strain and are therefore far more prone to injury.
The toughest challenge I've faced is the strain of having to get up day after day despite my body screaming at me for rest and having to go out and perform at a high tempo. Greatest achievement will have been my first 5 for that i got against gloucestershire early on this year!!
Alan Donald is my cricketing hero and more recently Dale Steyn. I hope one day I can get to their kind of level of fast bowling!
Batsmen is easily Mark Ramprakash. He is the ultimate proffesional even now at the age of nearly 41! Best bowler will easily be Shoaib Akhtar. One of the few to have bowled over 100mph.
I wasnt aware of that no. There isn't anything like that at Surrey although it does sound like a good idea. I think its a little more difficult to do that at surrey because a lot of how much you train is down to you and it would be difficult to have a buddy that live over 2 hours away which can often be the case when playing for a london club!
I would say that I probably enjoy the longer form of the game more than the shorter format. Its slightly more of an even game for bowlers rather then the run fests that seem to be occurring more and more in one day cricket. I wouldnt say that it (Test Cricket) is at the forefront of every young players mind. Certainly the vast majority of them aspire to become test cricketers but some of them are just more naturally gifted at striking a cricket ball than others and are therefore inclined to prefer the one day format.
T20 has actually had a negative effect on fast bowling in my opinon because as we have seen that anything with pace usually goes the distance especially on these flatter pitches. The T20 format has brought back the medium and slower pace into the game because it is often much harder to hit into the stands
To bowl quickly you have to have a strong core. You don't have to be overly big to bowl fast. Its often the more athletic who become fast bowlers because they can cope with the strains and forces on the body whilst having the strength to bowl the ball at speed. Look at Dale Steyn for example. You wouldn't say that he is the biggest guy in the world but he can still bowl at over 90mph. You do have to be very fit these days to cope with the long season and getting miles and strength in the legs is probably the most important.
I wouldn't say Andre has had a great deal to say about my bowling technique. He has helped me with my general awareness of the game and what to bowl in different circumstances and conditions. As you would expect from a seasoned pro.
It's very improtant these days. When the pitch doesnt offer a bowler very much help then sometimes you need to take the pitch out of the equation and that's when it helps to have a good quick yorker in your arsenal. In another way the slower ball is vital in the shorter format when batsmen are swinging at the ball very hard a subtle change in pace can be very hard to deal with. Whenever I have nets before a T20 or Pro40 I make sure i go through all my variations to feel confident that im bowling them well.
For any young fast bowler trying to make his way in the game I would have to say that the biggest thing you can do to improve your game is to practice hitting the right areas. Practice, practice and more practice. Then when it finally comes to bowling in a game you can be confident that you have already done the necessary practice and it wont feel weird and alien when u run into bowl during the match. So many times I ran into bowl during a game not feeling confident about my action and i started thinking too much about what to do with my arms and wrist instead of actually concentrating on where to pitch the ball. The more you can focus on where to bowl the ball rather than thinking too much about your action the easier and more natural it becomes. Sounds obvious but its not as easy as it sounds.
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PlanetCricket would like to thank Stuart for his co-operation when conducting this interview and hopes that he enjoyed answering your questions. We hope that the PC members can take a lot of help and have learnt something about like as a fast bowler in English Domestic Cricket.
