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Loading ...Finn at 6.8, Jordan at 6.2 and Broad at 6.5- could that be the tallest England pace attack in history?
I can think of a few other Afro-Carribean cricketers, you know- Trott, Strauss, Pietersen… 
England’s attack in 2011
By Will 4 months ago Leave a comment on this post
I’ve seen the future and it does not include Steve Harmison. I had a close look at Steven Finn today, Middlesex’s 6ft 8in fast bowler, and his first two balls were enough to convince me that England have a serious talent on their hands.
He runs in like a fast bowler. This sounds a ridiculous thing to say, but the emphasis on running has been forgotten by a lot of young bowlers these days. Michael Holding told me a year or so ago that while he inevitably had to do weights and push-ups, his primary form of fitness was running, as it was for Malcolm Marshall, Andy Roberts and all the other great West Indians. Finn has a long run-up but a smooth, athletic approach and a quick arm too. He doesn’t look awkwardly tall at the point of delivery like Chris Tremlett - it all looks natural. Andrew Strauss said last month he’s “as good a prospect as I’ve seen”.
So Finn is one, and a few miles south of the Thames is the other: Surrey’s 19-year-old Chris Jordan. We still don’t know where his allegiance lies - he was born in Barbados but could qualify for England through his grandmother - so for now must hope he decides on staying at Surrey and England. He is quick. Here’s what Richard Rae from The Guardian had to say about his three wickets against Durham today (see video):
Riverside; Chris Jordan has just bounced Steve Harmison - twice. The previous over he knocked out Mark Davies’ off-stump with a yorker, after softening him up with three bouncers. Davies didn’t see it. Jordan’s first ball to Killeen is vicious, smacks him on the elbow as ‘Killer’ just gets his arm up in front of his face. Two balls later, kocks out his off-stump. Durham 224 all out, well bowled the Brown Caps, each and every one.
On this evidence, Jordan is already faster than Harmison. He cleaned up the Durham tail brilliantly, and could take a lot of wickets this season.
So in a few years time we could have a tasty trio of Stuart Broad, Steve Finn and Chris Jordan. Maybe sooner. Incidentally, talking of Jordan, read Rob Steen’s piece from 2004 about the lack of Afro-Caribbean cricketers in England. It’s amazing how few there are now (Michael Carberry and Jordan are the only two I can think of who qualify for England).
Tags: caribbean, chris jordan, fast-bowlers, fast-bowling, steve-harmison, steven finn |
8 Responses to “England’s attack in 2011”
April 24th, 2008 at 11.09 pm
April 25th, 2008 at 11.32 am
It sounds like there are a number of promising young and youngish quick bowlers in England. I am slightly concerned that our recent record of developing them into good test bowlers is shoddy.
I remember Angus Fraser writing of Saj Mahmood and Liam Plunkett that they will become two of the best in the world. It seems a distant dream. James Anderson forever seems almost, but never the finished article. Tremlett and Jones can’t escape injury.
I also remember hearing about a tall, gifted fast bowler, who 212 Test Wickets later still can’t command a place in the side.
It does take time to develop into a top rated quick (Brett Lee for instance took years), but why do you think England have let so many get away?
April 25th, 2008 at 11.41 am
I’ve seen Chris Jordan play and he does look very good. Also I remember the commentators say that he wants to play for England and not the Windies.
April 25th, 2008 at 12.22 pm
Someone once told me a good fast bowler is an athlete in his run up and only a bowler when he gets to his delivery stride.
Learning to run in smoothly and efficiently is a dying art.
April 25th, 2008 at 10.46 pm
Indian Fan - ISTR exactly the opposite.
April 26th, 2008 at 9.53 am
One of these days Finn will develop so far that people won’t even need to mention his height as a way of getting people interested (not a dig at you, Will, almost everyone in the media - apart from those of us who have vowed not to mention it - is unable to avoid saying “the 6ft 8in Finn…”). It’s like Stuart Broad a year ago, who couldn’t be mentioned without the parent connection. Now he is able to compete on his own right with no one needing to say that his father is Mike Gatting.
On the black cricketers line, you are quite right that they are a disappearing breed, yet the Surrey line-up on Sunday was remarkably cosmopolitan. There were four black-origin players (if you include Mark Butcher, there were also Jordan, Pedro Collins - overseas players from the West Indies are coming back into fashion - and Chris Lewis), three English players of Asian extraction (Afzaal, Ramprakash, Newman), a Kolpak South African (Dernbach) and three English (Benning, Batty, Schofield)
April 27th, 2008 at 8.27 am
with stuart broad it wasnt just the parent connection, it was the he;s 6 foot x and he’s STILL GROWING. the way kevin pietersen isn’t mentioned without somebody saying he’s “ENGLANDS BEST BATSMAN”.
mike gatting? lol
May 8th, 2008 at 7.24 am
Stuart broad is assumed to be a part of a tasty trio??
For the sake of world cricket lets hope those words were typed in a non-sober state.
