Tudor learns fast how to make best use of his pace (7 November 1998)

7 November 1998

Tudor learns fast how to make best use of his pace

By Christopher Martin-Jenkins in Adelaide

IF England are to upset Australia this winter it will be a surprise if the combination of a canny old Hampshire professional and a 21-year-old Londoner of Barbadian origins has not had something to do with it.

Alex Tudor was selected for this tour mainly to gain experience but, for an England side badly in need of a bowler of genuine pace to take the load off Darren Gough, the good news is that he has already made progress under Bob Cottam's guidance.

Like his father Daryll, one-time London bus driver and now a pillar of the backroom staff at the Oval, there is an impressive dignity about young Tudor off the field. The Management team here are delighted with his attitude - an all-important word in English professional cricket - and the only thing which threatened to stop him playing a first-class match for England for the first time today was the piece of flesh he had gouged out of his left big toe by repeated landing of his front foot on hard Australian net pitches.

"They've sorted out some lighter boots for me now," he said on the eve of a match which had the potential to give his burgeoning career another big push forward. "I'm looking forward to bowling here. If I do well, you never know. The other bowlers have been helping me from the start and I feel part of the team. I'm surprised how easy it was to settle in."

The sore toe has nothing to do with the stress fracture on his left foot which kept him out of Surrey's side from the end of July soon after he had made his first acquaintance with Cottam in a "one-to-one session" which left an indelible impact on both parties. Cottam was impressed by his speed, his good, natural, orthodox action and his willingness to learn. Tudor immediately learned how to stop bowling no-balls, evening out the steps on his run to the wicket and hitting the crease at a spot sufficiently far back to be able to concentrate on the business area.

Graham Dilley was his first bowling mentor at Surrey, drumming it into him that his pace was natural and that rhythm was the key rather than "running in like a lunatic and trying to bowl with a quick arm". Tricks of the fast bowler's trade have been coming his way from England's conscientious new bowling coach since this tour's intensive net sessions began and, if the South Australians fall for some of them in this match, a Test place as early as the second match of the series in Perth is not out of the question.

Tour after tour here England have sent a bowler of West Indian origins in the hope of giving Australian batsman the hurry-up but, although each in turn has had his moments, none of them could develop into a major Test bowler. Norman Cowans in 1982-83 had a good match at Melbourne while Philip DeFreitas played an important supporting role on Mike Gatting's tour four years later. And, although he was never the tearaway those who selected him had probably hoped he might become, he developed into a fine craftsman, contributing mainly with the bat to the unexpected win in the Adelaide Test four years ago when Chris Lewis and Devon Malcolm bowled Australia out in the fourth innings.

Malcolm bowled very fast at times on successive tours but, as Ray Illingworth for one would point out, his is not an action which allowed consistency. But Tudor's is, and he is learning fast.

Cottam said that the "pie-charts" he has given to all the bowlers so they can assess each aspect of their art - "I much prefer them to judge themselves and decide where they need help" - are showing swift improvement in Tudor's case.

"I'm not a selector," added Cottam, "but if Alex can translate his net form to the middle, he'll be involved in the big matches before this tour's over." Especially if he remembers the most important requirement of the lot - line and length.

England (4-day match v S Australia in Adelaide, starting today): M A Butcher (Surrey), M A Atherton (Lancashire), N Hussain (Essex), *-A J Stewart (Surrey), G P Thorpe (Surrey), M R Ramprakash (Middlesex), D G Cork (Derbyshire), A J Tudor (Surrey), D W Headley (Kent), A R C Fraser (Middlesex), P M Such (Essex).

Sri Lankan umpire Kandiah Francis will stand in his first Test in Australia in the Ashes series opener against England in Brisbane later this month.

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