Troy Cooley got a few batsmen to hop around with his pace for Tasmania, but it was as a high-performance bowling coach that he found his true calling.
Cooley guided England’s bowlers during the side’s epic Ashes triumph over Australia in 2005. Then, he was drafted into the same role with the Australian side.
Now the head coach of the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane, the 52-year-old Cooley travelled to Chennai’s MRF Pace Foundation with a bunch of promising cricketers, when The Hindu caught up with him for an interview. Excerpts:
Despite the passage of time, James Anderson remains a threat. What makes him special?
Frightening skills as a bowler. He loves performing. He is his own person. Great desire… a perfectionist… wants to get batsmen out. Even in those early days when he couldn’t get a game, he would be training, trying things that would help him further down the line.
What are Anderson’s assets as a bowler, technically speaking?
His ability to release the ball and know where the seam is. And he has pace. He has great understanding of what he is doing with the ball. He has an action which is pretty fast, doesn’t spend too much time on his back leg. He gets good speed. He has vision.
The quality to move the ball in the air is a great skill. If you do it in the right areas, you are able to cause batsmen problems, test their footwork and judgment of line.
As a paceman, Anderson has evolved over the years…
When he first started, he had some issues. His first couple of steps went into the danger zone [an area of the pitch the bowler isn’t allowed to run on]. We had to sort of correct that and get him off the wicket.
Then he worked on a quick, whippy action that continues to surprise a lot of batsmen. He has developed his game, his bowling sense. He knows and understands batsmen. He has been there long enough to actually remember how he previously got them out.
What is behind Anderson’s ability to move the ball either way and flummox the batsman?
His release position is so good that he can always swing it. And by subtly changing his wrist position, he can get either an out-swinger or an in-swinger going. He is so fast through the crease and has such a quick arm action that the batsman doesn’t have enough time to pick the minimal change in his wrist position.
But then, why hasn’t Anderson enjoyed the same degree of success outside England (he averages 23.65 at home and 32.62 abroad)?
He has had some success in Australia and other places. Again, he is a slight man. When you come to Australia, you need to have a little bit of strength. It bounces more than it swings most of the time down under. You need to hit the pitch hard.
Some of the conditions that help him take wickets in England are somewhat lesser [in degree] when he plays away. The Dukes ball also helps on the grassier pitches of England. There is conventional swing and when the ball gets older, the coating on the ball tends to come off and it starts to assist reverse swing.
Why do some pacemen swing the ball more than others?
Arm speed, how you release the ball, and where the seam is are important factors. The ball will swing if the seam is in the right position, the ball is in the right condition, and you have the right speed. If you have those three things, the ball will swing.
Anderson and Stuart Broad are among the greatest new-ball pairings of all time. What makes them tick?
They know how the other functions. Bowlers work together. Broad is a big, tall, bouncy bowler. Anderson is a nippy bowler who can swing it. Their skills complement each other’s and cause different problems for the batsmen.
That’s what you want to do… batsmen having to solve multiple problems. The ball is coming at the batsmen from different angles, different heights. It does different things. And Anderson and Broad have control. They keep the pressure on.
What are Broad’s strengths?
Heart and aggression. He’s got a good skill-set too, he picks wickets with bounce and seam movement. He is the hit-the-deck type of bowler. He can spot chinks in a batsman. He’s one of those guys who loves to be in a contest.
How long can this enduring and destructive pace combination last?
I read some reports that one of them, by rotation, could be rested during the Indian series. But that could be just propaganda. Both still have much to offer. As long as they can maintain their fitness, they can work as a pair.
Given the advent of different formats and various deliveries, is the ability to bowl old fashioned line and length relentlessly, like a Glenn McGrath did, going out of the window?
It’s a skill to bowl line and length. It’s also a skill to bowl different deliveries for the shorter formats.
You can practise three, four or more types of deliveries; you can also practise line and length. I believe you should divide up your time and the balls to be delivered in different methods during practice. I think the bowlers today should do that, split their practice to become skilful in both. It will take time and lots of patience.
Tampering with the ball has become a major issue these days. It has rocked Australian cricket.
There are legal methods to do it. You are allowed to use a little bit of saliva, sweat, use the pitch, bowl cross-seam, and the ball can get scuffed up by the outfield, particularly the squares. Then are factors like a dry pitch, a dry day. And then there are illegal ways of doing it too. If you get caught, there will be consequences.
There is a feeling that the Australian team has gone a bit ‘soft’ after ‘Tampergate’. With so much scrutiny on player behaviour, the side lacked natural aggression during the shorter format series in England.
Depends on what aggression is. Body language, how you can bowl or bat, that is aggression. Not slandering. You have to respect the opposition, at the same time make them known you are there in the contest. The Aussies can still play aggressive cricket.
Why do pacemen break down so often these days? In Australia, for example, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins have all had injury problems.
If you look at the bowling numbers and their age, they have bowled a lot of balls in different formats. This leads to stress-related injuries when your body is unable to accept the load you are given.
The remedial measures include technical adjustments, biomechanical changes… understanding the body and the bone maturity. If you know the technique, understand the age, and comprehend the workload, you can work through injuries. Rotation of bowlers is important.
Many point out that international bowlers from the past played a lot more First Class cricket.
But look at the schedule. They had six months off in the winter in the past. Some of them went off to play county cricket in England. There is no off-season now. And international balls, in any format, have a lot more intensity than domestic balls.
Which two young fast-bowlers would you back to become great pacemen?
Starc bowls in the high 140s (kmph), is extremely tall, has a slingy action, swing, reverse swing, bounce. And a left-armer’s angle. He’s a handful. [Kagiso] Rabada has genuine mechanics to get good velocity. Again, look at his wrist position.
India has a good and varied bunch of pacemen too.
For the pacemen to survive in India where the conditions are against their development is outstanding. I think institutions like the MRF Pace Foundation have played a big role. India has a good mix. You have the tall Ishant, the pace of Umesh Yadav, the skiddy Mohammed Shami, the swing of Bhuvneshwar, and the different action and release of Jasprit Bumrah… guys of different qualities coming together.
