Protean Speed Guns - The South African X Factor

Vernon Philander:

Vernon Philander’s rise to the top has been nothing short of sensational; he has notched up 105 wickets in 20 games at an unbelievable average of 18. He symbolifies the importance of sticking to the copybook basics. Technically speaking, Philander has got a flawless action – coming close to the stumps and bowling the identical line and length time and again. He bowls around that in-between length making it harder for the batsman to get away.

Philander makes the ball swing both ways which makes him even more deadly. The better batsmen of the world read the direction of swing from the wrist position of the bowler. Well, Philander’s too street-smart for that. He offers few clues with his wrist postion. Despite bowling with a scrambled seam, he manages to do what he does using the thrust his wrist provides. Moreover, the batsman is compelled to play him as the ball is released from so close to the stumps mistaking it to be coming straight.

The swing, in his case, is more or less off the deck, and hence, we are talking about ‘late swing’ which makes him all the more difficult to face. He doesn’t have the 140 km/h pace; not that it bothers him as he does his job efficiently within the speed limitations. He bowls to take wickets. It’s as simple as that. His dismissals occur as the batsman facing him is caught in two minds, and that triggers the outside edge. He requires assistance from the pitch and when provided, can do what his captain expects him to.

Morne Morkel:Morne Morkel is the other experienced campaigner, apart from Steyn, in the Saffers’ bowling unit. This tall, lanky speedster’s stature is enough to fear the best of bats. He doesn’t pick up buckets of wickets as Steyn does, but he does his job effectively enough. He relies on seam movement off the deck and unsurprisingly, on bounce as well. On a typical Wanderers wicket, he can be menacing.

The uneven bounce that he is capable of extracting at around 145 km/h makes him even more potent. More often than not, he deceives the batsmen with his length which is hard to gauge given the high release position. He is fully aware of his innate ability to bounce the batsmen out and doesn’t use it as a negative or defensive tactic. He can bowl the occasional fuller ones to catch the batsman, expecting short-stuff, off-guard. He picks up a wicket for almost every 30 runs he concedes which doesn’t make for a bad reading, by any standards.

The trio has done wonderfully well for over a period of three years now. They have done so by avoiding any sort of major injury for so long. Credit must go to the South African selectors and the team management for having managed the trio smartly. They are my favourites and am sure it’s not just me who admires their talent but millions of them around the world.