Mullally sharpens England attack (28 May 1999)

28 May 1999

Mullally sharpens England attack

Michael Henderson

Alan Mullally has cause to remember Edgbaston with gratitude. He made his Test debut there three years ago, against India, when he contributed a few late runs, as well as wickets, to an England victory. This easy-going tail-end Charlie jested about it yesterday, recalling how he stuck around long enough to help Nasser Hussain reach his maiden Test hundred. "Those were the days," he said with a chuckle.

When he returns there tomorrow it is as a bowler, pure and simple: an improving bowler and, in this World Cup, a successful one. Emboldened by the experience he has gained since that debut, by the 13 Tests he has played and by the two championship medals he has won with Leicestershire, Mullally is a more rounded, confident cricketer. Indeed, he is sufficiently bold to say England are "good enough to win the World Cup".

England's final group game should be the best, and certainly the most evenly contested, of the five. They have beaten Sri Lanka, Kenya and Zimbabwe easily, and lost by a country mile to South Africa. India lost their first two games but recovered to hammer Kenya and inflict the most wounding blow imaginable on the cup holders, whose campaign lies in tatters.

The balance of power will rest between India's batsmen and England's bowlers, and both are primed, even if Mullally gives the impression of being supremely unconcerned about what may happen. "I don't go to bed thinking Tendulkar is going to make 150," he said. "He is just another batsman."

Well, yes Al, up to a point. The Ritz is, so to speak, just another hotel, and Windsor is one castle among many. "Smashin' Sachin" has made 22 hundreds in one-day internationals (10 more than B C Lara, by way of comparison) and the recent death of his father, which necessitated a temporary leave-taking, has not weakened his resolve. Far from it. His team-mates feel compelled to offer a comradely hand.

India have made 1,204 runs so far in this tournament, at a rate of more than six an over. Rahul Dravid has made two hundreds, and there have been centuries for Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, who also has a 97. Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja, two other excellent players, have yet to show their mettle, as England's players will have observed.

The highlight of India's World Cup, and the highlight of the tournament to date, was that stand of 318 between Ganguly and Dravid for the second wicket against Sri Lanka at Taunton. It was the best partnership in the history of international one-day cricket, and it sent out a frank warning to those who would underestimate this Indian team.

If England are feeling a bit undervalued, they can do themselves a big favour by spiking the Indian guns. Mullally and Mark Ealham have both taken eight wickets, one fewer than Darren Gough, from whom one has come to expect unalloyed excellence. These are the three bowlers Alec Stewart can rely on. The difficulty is finding 20 respectable overs from the others. At the moment they cannot decide whether Angus Fraser or Ian Austin should share the new ball with Gough.

Mullally, who takes it in Tests, has switched to first change with immediate effect. He ripped out four Sri Lankans, finding an absolute peach for Aravinda de Silva that bounced and left the batsman, and bowled no less splendidly against the South Africans, when he straightened one to castle the dangerous Jacques Kallis for a duck.

Clearly, he is enjoying life. "I am. It has clicked since Lord's, and I am probably in the best form of my life. I have a few check points when I bowl - attacking the crease at the right pace, keeping my head still and following through halfway down the pitch. It feels good so far."

The Kallis dismissal pleased him greatly because, "as a left-armer, you like to bring one back through the gate". He feels a much better bowler now than when he first played for England. "Without a doubt. I'm a lot more accurate, faster, and more confident in my bowling."

The white Dukes ball, which has confounded many of the faster bowlers in the World Cup, Mullally finds to his liking. "I wish we could use them in Test cricket," he said, jesting again. But, like many quick bowlers, he is shaky on the whys and wherefores of a ball's movement through the air and off the pitch.

Only one English pace bowler is confident of his ability to make the ball do what he wants, when he wants, and he is not in the team at the moment. Mullally is happy to profess ignorance. "Sometimes the ball comes back in," he said. "I don't know how, but it does." So now you know.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)