APaceJour

nalPubl
icat
ion
 PaceJour
nal
TheBookofPace

Di
git
alEdi
tion

Allri
ghtsr eserved.Nopar tofthi spubli
cationmay
bereproducedort r
ansmittedinanyf orm orbyany
means , el ect
r onic or mechani cal, includi ng
photocopy,r ecor di
ng or any informati
on s torage
andr et
rievals ystem now known ort obei nvent ed
wit
houtper mis s
ioninwritingfrom thepubl i
s her.

Publ
ishedi
nTheUni
tedKi
ngdom
Publ
ishedi
n2020byPaceJour
nalLi
mit
ed

Cr
eat
iveDi
rect
ion:ShahbazChoudhr
y
CoverDes
ign:Ez
equi
elCas
anel
la

© 2020PaceJour
nalLi
mit
ed
s
peed@t
hepacej
our
nal
.com

www.
thepacej
our
nal
.com
 DI
SCLAI
MER

Whi lsteveryef forthasbeenmadet oens uret hat

this book i st echnicall
y accur ate and s ound,
neithert heaut hornort hepubl ishercan accept
respons i
bil
ityf oranyi njur yorl osss ustainedasa
result of us i
ng t his mater ial.Li ke any s port
involving s peed, f ast bowl i
ng pos es s ome
inherentr isk.The aut horand publ isheradvi se
reader stotakef ullrespons ibili
tyf orthei rs afety
and know t heirl i
mi ts.Bef or epract i
sing anyof
thes kill
soract iviti
esdes cr i
bedi nt hisbook,be
suret hatyouar efittodos o,andyourequi pment
iswel lmaintained.Donott aker is
ksbeyondyour
level of exper i
ence, apt itude, t raining and
comf ortlevel .
 MARKI
NG CONTENT

When Ir ead abook,Idon’ tj ustr ead i tforthe

sakeofr eadi ng.Itrytot akeever ythi nginandget
themos toutofi t
.Asyoucani magi ne,whenyou
are cons umi ng hundr eds ofpages ,i tbecomes
impos si
bl et orememberever yt hing.Iadvi seyou
alltogr abahi ghli
ghterandapen,andwhenever
youcomeacr os sasentence,par agr aphors ect
ion
oft hebookt hats ti
cksoutt oyou,mar ki t
.Then
checkwhatpagenumberyourmar ki ngison,go
tot he bl ank pages att he startand wr itethe
numberal ongwi thawor dt odes cribewhyyour
mar kingi simpor tanttoyou.I tcoul dbe“ fi
tness”,
“technique” or anyt hing recogni sablet o you.
Ther e may come a t ime when you des peratel
y
needt or emi ndyour sel
fofs omet hi ngyour eadin
thebookandi nst
eadoft ryi
ngt of i
ndi t
,referto
your mar kings.I fyou own t he eBook,gr ab a
blankpi eceofpaperorus eanot esappon your
phoneanddot hes ame.
 CONTENTS

FOREWORD (byTymalMi
lls
) 7

FOREWORD (byJockCampbel
l) 1
0

SHAHBAZ CHOUDHRY 1
4

I
NTRODUCTI
ON 20

MEMBERSSECTI
ON 28

PACE JOURNAL 30

ARE FAST BOWLERSBORN? 39

HEI
GHT & FAST BOWLI
NG 46

ART & SCI

ENCE 51

I
NFORMATI
ON OVERLOAD 58

THE GOOD COACH 66

HOW TO BOWL FAST 89

BELI
EF 93

TECHNI
QUE 1
01

EXPERI
ENCE 1
24

FI
TNESS 1
41

MI
NDSET 1
56

CONFI
DENCE 1
65

FI
NAL THOUGHTS 1
81

OTHER WORKS 1
94

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 201
FOREW ORD
TYMAL MILLS
 ForewordbyTymalMi
lls

Looki
ngback,Ihaveprobablytakenafew t
hings
in my l
ifefor grant
ed. Being a pr
ofessi
onal
cri
cket
erforalmos
t10 year
sand being abl
eto
bowlmorethan90mphbeingtwoofthem.

Mycareerhastakenmeal
lovertheworld.Ihave
s
haredchangingroomswi
ththebigges
tnamesi n
cr
icket
. Pl
ayed in some of t
he mosticoni
c
st
adiumsont hepl
anetandbowledspel
lswher
e
I
've f
eltunplayabl
e.As I s
tand her
et oday,I
r
eali
sethatfor99% ofus
,thisisadream,nota
r
eali
ty.

Si
ncemeet
ingShahbazandj
oini
ngPaceJour
nal
,
myeyeshaveopenedt ot
hepass
ion,curi
osit
yand
painthatisexperi
encedbypeoplefr
om allwal ks
ofl i
fe who st
rive t
oi mpr
ove and chaset heir
dream tobowlfast
.

Thi
s book gave me gr
eatinsi
ghton Shahbaz
's
per
sonalj
our neyandexper
iences
,andIhaveno
doubtt
hatatl
eas
tsomet
hingwi
llr
esonat
ewi
th
you.

Ther
ear
emanypot
ent
ialpi
tfal
lsoutt
her
eint
he
worl
dofcri
cketandf
astbowl
ing,nomat
terwhat
l
evelyoupl
ayat.

8
 ForewordbyTymalMi
lls

Whatyoushallr
eadfrom her
eonwi l
lhopef
ull
y
hel
pyounavi
gateyourj
ourneythatl
itt
lebi
tmore
s
moot
hly.

So,whileyou maynotbeasfor
tunatetofol
low
the pat
hthatIhave wal
ked,alwaysremember
whyyouplaythi
sgamet hatweallloveandthe
j
oythati
tbri
ngstomil
lionsofpeopl
eallovert
he
wor
ld.

TymalMi
lls
Engl
and Cri cket
er & One of The Fast
est
Bowler'
sin TheW orld

9
 FOREW ORD
JOCK CAMPBELL
 ForewordbyJockCampbel
l

Ifi
rstmetShahbazin2018whenheaskedmefor
an i
nter
view f
orhispodcas
taboutf
astbowl
ing.
Heint r
oducedhi
ms el
fasanexfastbowlerfr
om
Englandwithahugepassionf
orthecraf
t.That’
s
thegreatt
hingaboutthi
sgameofours.Itbr
ings
al
lwal
ksoflifet
oget
herfr
om allovert
heWor
ld
wit
hagreatcommonfri
end,cr
icket
.

Shahbazs
aid he wasa bi
gfan oft
he wor
kI’
d
done,part
icular
lytheappthatIcr
eat
edwi
tht
he
greatMit
chellJohnson,Bowl
fit
.

Iagreedtot hei
nter
view,thinkingi
tmi ghtbea
podcastl
ist
enedtoby1 00people.Well
,4mi l
lion
impressi
ons lat
er,and after many chat
s over
Zoom,SkypeandWhat sapp,Iknew hehadseen,
experi
enced and hear
d a greatdealaboutfast
bowling and want
ed t
oshar
ethi
s wi
th t
he
cri
cketi
ngworld.

Shahbaz’
spassion f
ort
hear toffas
tbowli
ngi s
unparal
lel
ed,andwhatIloveishow hi
spat
ience
andgener
osi
tyf
orhi
smember
siss
econdt
onone.

1
1
 ForewordbyJockCampbel
l

I am very exci
ted toread t
he Book ofPace.
Shahbazhasintervi
ewedsomeoft
hegreates
tfast
bowlingmindsinhistor
y.Hehasexperi
encedthe
highsand l
owsbot h phys
icall
yand mental
lyof
whati ti
st o be a f
astbowler,whi
ch even t
he
great
estonesgot
hrough,of
tenbei
ngt
hemaki
ng
ofthem.

Hetakesallthisexper
ienceand knowledgeand
put
sitint
ot hisbook,whichess
ent i
all
yr emi
nds
usnevertof
orgett
owi
ndupandl
ett
hebal
lri
p
regul
arl
y!

Fas
tbowl
ingi
sthemos
tphys
icalcomponentof
thegameandr equi
resagr
eatamountofr
egular
physicalworktobeanygood.Guesswhat,that
incl
udesplentyofbowli
ng.

Both Shahbaz and Ibel

ieve i
nthe conceptof
,
“don’
toverthi
nki t”,i
thasbeen t
heundoi ngof
manyaf
astbowl
er.

Ast
hegr
eatGl
ennMcGr
athus
edt
osay,“
Idon’
t
haveas
impl
epl
an,Ical
lituncompl
icat
ed!
”

1
2
 ForewordbyJockCampbel
l

EnjoytheBookofPace(Il
ovethename),andall
the gr
eatinf
ormati
on coming outofThe Pace
Jour
nal
,it
’sagi
ft!

AndShahbaz
,ther
e’ss
til
lti
mef
oryourbowl
ing
car
eer
!

Your
sincr
icket
,

JockCampbell
Austral
ian Nat
ional Cri
cket Team, Head
Strengt
h & Conditi
oning Coach/Physi
cal
PerformanceManager,2000 – 2005

1
3
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SHAHBAZ CHOUDHRY
 AboutTheAut
hor

ShahbazChoudhryi
saBr i
tis
hbornex-cr
icketer
tur
nedentrepr
eneur
.Bor
nwi thani
nnat
epas si
on
forf
astbowl
ing,hequickl
yestabl
ishedhi
msel
fas
anexcit
ingf
astbowli
ngpr os
pect.

Hisambi
tion t
oincr
easehisbowli
ngspeed s
aw
hi
m godownanunus ualr
outefr
om ayoungage.
Seeking i nspi
rat
ion and knowl edge from
technicalbowli
ngcoaches
,javel
in,bas
ebal
land
eli
test
rengt
h and condi
tioni
ng coachesar
ound
theworl
d.

SignedbyNorthamptonshi
reCCCi nthewinterof
2009,helef
ttheclubthenextyearci
tingalossof
abil
ityto bowland per
sonals
truggl
es as bi
g
reasonsf
orhisexi
t.

He returned t
o cr
icketinl
ate 2017,wi
tht he
reput
ation ofaman wit
han obs
essi
veapproach
tol
earni
ngandunders
tandi
ngt
henuancesoff
ast
bowli
ngsti
lli
n-t
act
.

1
5
 AboutTheAut
hor

Inundatedwit
hques ti
onsfrom f
astbowlersofal
l
ages and abi
lit
ies around t
he world, he was
ins
pired t
o cr
eatet he Pace Journalin 2018.A
uniqueandfir
stofitskindpl atf
orm dedicatedt
o
uncover
inginsight
s,exper i
encesand lessonson
fast bowli
ng direct
lyf r
om pas t and pr
esent
professi
onal cr
icketer
s, coaches and fit
ness
trai
ners.

Since i
tsl aunch, Pace Journal has ri
sen to
becomet helarges
tf astbowli
ngpl atf
ormi nthe
world;educati
ngandi nspir
ingover100,000fast
bowlers,coaches and cr
icketfans i
n over 1
00
countri
es.

1
6
 W ORDS FROM
TERSEUS LIEBENBERG
 WordsFrom Ters
eusLi
ebenberg

Ifi
rstmetShahbazChoudhr
ys ever
alyearsago
when hewasvi
sit
ingtheNorth-
Wes tUniver
sit
y
i
nPot
chef
str
oom,Sout
hAf
rica.

Ii
mmedi
atel
yknew t
hathewasan except
ional
pers
on,ext remel
y ent
husiasti
c,knowledgeabl
e
and passionat
e about cr
icket, es
peci
all
yf as
t
bowling.

Hishungerforknowl
edge,innovati
ves kil
lsand
pass
ionfort
hewonderfulsportofcrickethasno
boundar
ies
.

He wi
dened hi
s vi
sion by l
ear
ning f
rom t
he
javel
int hr
ow and how t hi
s coul
d ultimatel
y
benefitf
astbowl i
ng.Iwasal
sosuper-i
mpr es
sed
with Shahbaz 's deep under s
tanding of
biomechanicalconcept
s.

Iknew t
hathi
spr
act
icalappr
oach woul
dsoon
makehi
m agr
eatcoach.

1
8
 WordsFrom Ters
eusLi
ebenberg

Cricketcoaches
,at hl
eti
cscoaches
,s tudent
sand
sports enthusias
ts wi th a cur i
os i
ty about
movement ,s
kil
lsandhow f
orcesar
egeneratedin
cri
cketand the j
avel
inthrow wil
lsigni
ficant
ly
benefi
tfr
om hiswork.

Mybes tandmostsincer
ewishesaccompanyt hi
s
f
ine young gent
leman on his except
ionaland
i
nspi
ringj
our
ney!

"The realvoyage ofdiscover

y consi
sts noti
n
seeki
ngnew landscapes
,buti nhavi
ngnew eyes"
-Mar celPr
oust.

TerseusLiebenberg
3xSout h Af
rican Ol
ympi
cCoach.

Ters
eusi
saworl
d-renownedj
avel
incoachwho
i
sal
soknownf
orworki
ngwi
thJanZel
ezny,t
he
currentjavel
inworl
drecordhol
der,3xOl
ympi
c
Champi onand3xWorl dChampion.

Zelez
ny i
swidel
y consi
dered t
obet
hegreat
est
javel
int
hrowerofallt
ime.

1
9
INTRODUCTION
 I
ntroduct
ion

HeyPaceFam,

Fir
stl
y,Iwouldliket
ot hankyoufori
nvesti
ngin
thi
s book. If you fol
low me on I ns
tagram
(@mrshahbaz
choudhry),you wil
lknow t hat I
haveat
hingf
orwr
iti
ng.

Yet
,nomat t
erhow richmycapti
onsareorhow
manyhour
sIs pendi
nt er
act
ingwi
thyouonaLive
st
ream,the quest
ion,"
how can I bowlf
ast
?"
nevers
topsf
lyingint
omyinbox.

Myobject
ivewiththi
sbookistohelpshedsome
li
ghton my viewsregar
ding t
hishi
ghlytalked
abouts
ubject
.

Bef
oreyoucont
inue…

I
fyou know me per
sonal
ly,you wi
lls
ee t
hatI
haveapar
ticul
ars
tyl
ewi
thmywr
iti
ng.I
'm abi
g
f
an of 'human-t
o-human' inter
acti
on, and
t
her
efor
e,incer
tai
npartsoft
hi sbook,youmay
s
eeaQ&Af
ormatbei
ngus
ed.

nkofi
Thi tasaconver
sat
ionbet
weent
wopar
ties
;
meandyou.

21
 I
ntroduct
ion

I'
m s or
ry if you were expecti
ng t echnical
drawi
ngs,dr
ill
s,di
etpl
ansandfitnessr
out ines–
thati
snotmyobj
ect
ivef
ornow,andIwi
llexpl
ain
why:

Ibeli
evethatthemosteff
ecti
veform oflear
ni ng
(es
pecial
lyforspor
t)isvisual
.Thel astthing I
wanttodoisconfuseyouorriskt
heinformat i
on

I am gi vi
ng you bei ng misunder
stood and
misappl
ied out of context
. I have ther
efor
e
chos
en nottoincludeanyt
hing pr
act
icalwhi
ch
youcan't
angi
bly'use.

Coincidental
ly,whatIf eelmakesthisproj
ectso
speci
ali snotinitsattempttot el
lyouwhatyou
shoulddo,buti ns
tead,makingyouawar eofwhat
yous houldn'
tdo.

WhatImeanist
hatt
herei
sani nfini
teamountof
i
nfor
mati
on onl
inewhi
ch can educateand hel
p
you unders
t and whatsortofthi
ngstowor kon.
Buttherear everyfew r
esour
ceswhichteachyou
thethingsthatyouneedt obewaryof.

Thet
hingst
hatwi
llpr
otectyourcar
eer
.

22
 I
ntroduct
ion

Havingsai
dt hat,Idofeelthatthebulkofthis
book wi
llgive you t
he i
nit
ialanswersyou ar
e
l
ooki
ngf
or.

Dependi
ngonhow your
espondt
othi
s,Iwi
llbe
happy toindulge deeper i
ntosomethi
ng more
constr
ucti
veforyoual ltowatch,l
ear
nf r
om and
useforyourdevel
opment .

Oneofthehar
des
tthingsformetoacceptabout
not maki
ng itin cri
cket i
s becaus
e I was
overambit
iousandmadeaf ew baddecisi
ons.Not
because I was l
azy, a bad team player
, not
tal
entedorintonegat
ivelif
est
ylehabit
s.

Thisbook exis
tst o pr
otectyou oranyone you
know orcoachfrom makingthesamemistakesas
me.

Iam goi
ngt oapol
ogisein advancef
orthelong
i
ntr
oductionanddescr
ipt
ionsf r
om myjour
ney.I
feel t
hat t
o unders
tand my viewpoi
nts
,iti
s
necessar
ytohaveanunders
tandi
ngofmeandmy
stor
y.

Withthats
aid,Ihopeyouenj
oyr
eadi
ngt
hrough
t
hisbook.

23
 I
ntroduct
ion

Pl
eas
edr opmeanoteonmyInstagram orhi
tme
uponspeed@t
hepacej
our
nal
.com toletmeknow
whatyout
hinkofi
t.

Enoughaboutme,l
et'
stal
kaboutf
astbowl
ing.
Readyf
ort
hef
irs
tques
tion?

W hyam Iwri
tingt
his?

Throughmyworkwit
hThePaceJour nal,Ihave
int
eract
edwi
tht
ensofthous
andsofbowlersf
rom
allovertheworld.Andt
henumberonethi
ngthat
they allhave i
n common i
sthe des
iret
o bowl
faster
.

Imean,whodoes
n'twantt
obowlf
ast
er?

WhenIlookbackathow thedigit
alfastbowl
ing
s
pacehasevol
vedanddeveloped,Ilaugh.

Theupr
oarwehavecr
eat
edatPaceJour
nalhas
s
entanenor
mousal
arm bel
ltocont
entcr
eat
ors
aroundtheworl
dt hatt
her
eisamar
ketf
orf
ast
bowlingi
nfor
mation.

24
 I
ntroduct
ion

Alt
houghIam proudoft
hefactt
hatourworkhas
rai
sed awar
enes
s ofa ski
llwhich Iam deepl
y
pas
sionat
eabout–Iam al
sowor
ried.

I have s
een a l
ot of oppor
tuni
sts who have
ent
eredthemar ketandaretr
yingt
ocashin on
vul
nerabl
efastbowl er
s who ar
ethir
styt
o get
bet
terandimprove.

Ihavebeendeeplyinvol
vedinthear
tands
cience
offas
tbowli
ngf orover15year
s.

Fas
tbowl
ingi
snotapar
tofmyl
ife,i
tisapar
tof
me.

AsmuchasIwoul dlovetosithereandjotdown
absol
utely ever
ything t
hatI have learned and
dis
coveredalongmyj ourney,Ican'
t.Therei
sj us
t
t
oomuchi
nfor
mat
ion.

25
 I
ntroduct
ion

Myobject
ivewi
ththi
sprojecti
stomakeastar
tin
put
ting my thoughts and exper
iences i
nto
s
omethi
ngwhi cht
hewor l
dcanenjoyandus
efor
t
hei
rsel
f-devel
opmentandeducat
ion.

Ihopethiscol
lect
ionofwordscans hedli
ghton
j
ustsome oft he thi
ngs Ihave l
earned i
n my
j
ourney.

Attimes,you mayquest
ion whyIam speaki
ng
aboutaparti
culart
opi
c–butIpr omi
seyou,itis
al
lli
nkedandr
elevant
.

Fi
nal
ly,Ihopet
hisbookcanhel
pbr
ingpeaceand
clar
itytojustoneambi ti
ousf astbowl
erwhois
satthere,dayandnight,hopingandpr ayi
ngf
or
anans wertohisorherqueri
es .

26
 I
ntroduct
ion

Onthecontrar
y,Iam surethisbookwi l
lspeakto
many of you who have gone through simil
ar
experiencesasme.Ihopet hesepagescanbri
ng
clos
ur eandhelpyoumakes enseofs omeofthe
mys t
er i
esthatyou may have no ans
wersfor–
unt
ilnow.

Las
tly,Ihopethisbookcan (
ins omeway)hel
p
ans
wer the never
-endi
ng quest
ion,"how do I
bowlf
ast
?"

Dearf
astbowl
er,Iknow whati
tfeel
sli
ke.

So,t
hisi
sforyou.

ShahbazChoudhry

27
MEMBERS SECTION
 MembersSect
ion

Someofyouwhoar
er eadingt
hismayknow who
Iam,butIals
oappreciat
ethatalotofyouwil
l
notknow meorbeawar
eofmyj
our
ney.

I have t
her
efor
e cr
eat
ed an excl
usi
ve,
members
-onl
ysect
ionasanadditi
ont ot
hisbook.
The s
ect
ion wi
ll be pr
ivat
e and excl
usi
ve to
owner
softhi
sbook.

You wi
llf
ind det
ail
sofhow you can acces
st hi
s
excl
usi
veandpr i
vatear
eai
nt hedocument syou
r
ecei
veduponpur
chas
eoft
hisbook.

Ther
ewi
llbeanoppor
tuni
tyf
ormember
stoas
k
me ques ti
ons rel
ated tothe book as wel
las
exclusive vi
deos f r
om my ar chi
ves (f
r om
what everIcan fi
nd)f oryou al
lt o wat
ch and
enjoy.

29
PACE JOURNAL
 PaceJournal

WhenIdeci dedtoret
urnt ocri
cketin201
7,Ihad
a mas
sive chall
enge on my hands;Ineeded t
o
l
ear
nhow t
obowlagai
n.

Oh,andwai
t.

Ial
soneededt
olos
e31
kgs
.

Iwasobes
e!

Myplanwastot r
ainf
rom June2017t
oDecember
201
7and then playt
he201 8seas
on her
einthe
UK.

Somehow,Imanagedt
oachi
eveal
lofmygoal
s,
and i
n December201
7,Iwasfitt
erthan Ihave
everbeenbef
oreandIwasbowl
ingfas
t!

Foronce,i
n my cr
icket
ing l
ife,ever
ythi
ng was
goi
ngaccor
dingt
opl
an.

Atl
eas
tIt
houghti
twas
…

31
 PaceJournal

WhenIpl
ayedmyf i
rstcompet
iti
vel
eaguematch
i
n 201
8 – ever
ythi
ng crumbl
ed.Iwillexpl
ain
whathappened i
n moredet
ailinlaterchapters
.
Attheti
me,Iwasgoi ngcrazyaskingmys el
fall
sor
tsofquest
ionsaboutmytechni
que,mymat ch
perf
ormances,r
hyt
hm and whatIneed t
odot o
getthi
ngscli
cki
ngint
hemiddle(matches
)agai
n

Ist
illr
emember t
owards t
he middle of t
hat
s
eas
on,meandmyf ri
endlef
ttr
ainingandwent
toarest
aur
anttoeat.Aswes at,helookedatme
and sai
d,"al
l we ever do ist al
k about f
ast
bowli
ng.It
'sunheal
thy.Weneed t
o changet
he
subj
ect"
.

Ilef
tthatmeet i
ngfeeli
ngl ostandscar
ed.Isti
ll
had so many ques
tions i
n my head aboutfast
bowli
ngandwi thnoonet os peaktoaboutt
hem,
whatwoul
dIdo?

I
twasatt
hatmomentt
hatIt
houghtt
omys
elf
,
whydon'
tIs
tar
ta '
Jour
nal
'ofmyexper
iences
dur
ingt
hats
eas
on.

32
 PaceJournal

I
twasi ni
tial
lyas
ideprojectt
odist
ractmefrom
t
hinki
ngaboutfastbowl
ingallthet
ime.Ins
tead,
Iwoul dus emyt imeawayfrom t
hegym andthe
cricketground tofocuson br
anding;making a
logo,col
ours chemeanddesi
gnas tr
ategyt
ogrow
The Pace Journal
.I tthen devel
oped int
o me
writi
ngjournalsabouteach ofmygames ;how I
fel
t,howIperformedandwhatIt houghtIneeded
todonext.

Themor eIstar
tedwrit
ing,t
hemor eIwantedto
expand on t
he cont
entI was col
lect
ing.So,I
reachedouttoTi noBest,t
hef ormerWestIndian
internat
ional f
ast bowler who has bowled at
97mphandas kedi fIcoul
di ntervi
ew hi
m about
fastbowl
ing.Ineverexpect
edhimt
or epl
y,buthe
did,andwebookedat i
mef ort
hei
ntervi
ew.

Mi
d-wayt
hrought
he201
8seas
on,Ir
eal
isedmy
aspi
rat
ionsofplayi
ng pr
ofes
sionalcr
icketwere
sl
im.Byt hatpoint
,PaceJournalwasgr owi
ng,
andi
tmeantal
ott
ome,s
oIwant
edt
ocont
inue
t
hepr
oject
.

33
 PaceJournal

Itwoul
dbeawayformetoletgooft
hedream t
o
bowl 100mph wi
thout i
ncurri
ng too much
emotional and ment
al damage becaus
e guess
what,IhadandhaveThePaceJour naltofocus
on.

ng back, Pace Jour

Looki nal isthe great
est
bl
essi
ngIcouldeverhaver ecei
vedatt
hattime.
ThisiswhyIam s
ogr
atef
ulands
uppor
tiveoft
he
#pacefami
ly.

I'
m notaprofes
sionalcr
icketert
hough,soIdon'
t
havea cr
ediblevoicetos haremyopi ni
on – i
s
whatIt
houghtbackt
hen.

For t
hatr
eas
on,t
he Jour
nalbecame and i
sa
sacr
edplacewhi
chwouldhostonl
ytheopi
nions
ofthos
ewho havebeen t
her
eand doneitata
pr
ofes
sionall
evel
.

Thebr
andwasmade.

Theconceptwascl
ear
.

Ther
esti
shi
stor
y.

34
 PaceJournal

You maylook atPaceJournaland t

hink i
tisa
pas
sionpr
oject,butiti
salotdeeperthanthat
.
PaceJour nalismylasteff
orti
n prot
ecti
ngt he
fut
ur e offastbowl
ing f
rom making the s
ame
mistakesasIdid.

I
tismywhol
eheartedpl
edgetoadvancethes
ki l
l
t
hatIl
ovewith asmuch i
nsi
ghtf
ul,infor
mative
andent
ert
aini
ngcont
entasIcanpr
oduce.

Asyou wil
ll ear
nt hrough t
he chapt
ersoft hi
s
book,Ihad everyt
hinggoingforme,butaf ew
wrongdeci
sionsand al ackofdir
ecti
on cos
tme
ever
ythi
ng.

IwantPaceJour
nalt
obet
hepl
acet
hatIwi
shI
hadwhenIwasayoungf
astbowl
er.

AsIs
ayt
omyt
eam behi
ndcl
oseddoor
s,wear
e
nother
etomakecar
eer
s.

W eareheret
osavet
hem.

35
Thevi ewsand opinionsexpressed i
nthis
book belong s
olel
yt otheaut horand not
PaceJournalLimit
ed.
 ARE FAST
BOW LERS BORN?
 AreFas
tBowl
ersBorn?

It
'sonlyf
itt
ingt
hatwekickof
fbyansweringthi
s
quest
ion–andit'
soneofmyfavour
iteones!

I'
veheardsomanypeoplesaythatfas
tbowler
s
arebor
n.Pers
onal
lyspeaki
ng,Ithinkthi
sisan
excus
efori
ndi
vidual
swhodon'
tunder
standf
ast
bowli
ng.

I
'llneverfor
getthewordsofIan Pont
,thefi
rst
f
astbowlingcoachwhoopenedmyeyestothef
act
t
hatspeedcanbetaught.Hesaid,"whenhaveyou
s
een a guy wi
th an act
ion l
ike Bret
tLee bowl
s
low?"

Thiscommental oneopenedmymi ndtoexplore

the potenti
alofhow much i
mpr ovementIcan
makewi th mys
peed i
fIdevelop an act
ion l
ike
BrettLee.

OrShoai
bAkht
ar.

Ormaybebot
h?

Wewi
llgeti
ntot
hisi
nal
aterchapt
er!

40
 AreFas
tBowl
ersBorn?

Back tothe poi

ntand to ans
werthi
squestion
accur
atel
y, iffast bowl
ers are'
born' – can
someonepl
eas
eexpl
aint
hef
oll
owi
ngexampl
est
o
me.

1 - England's Chri
s Woakes ent er
ed t he
pr
ofes
sionalgame asa genui
ne medi
um- pacer
;
Chri
sbowl
edat75-
80mph(
max)f
ormany,many
year
s.

Then allofasudden – he'

sbowli
ngat85mph+
cons
istentl
y.I
fI'
vegotmyf act
sri
ght,hehaseven
cr
oss
edt
he90mphmar
kaf
ew t
imes
.

Chrisisareal
-li
feexampleofabowl erwhohas
incr
easedhiss
peedbyatl eas
t1 0-
15mph,andthe
jokeis
,itdoesn'
teven l
ookl ikehehaschanged
hisact
ionmuch!

Wher
ehast
hatpacewhi
chhe(
appar
ent
ly)i
sn'
t
bor
nwi
thcomef
rom?

41
 AreFas
tBowl
ersBorn?

2-Anotherexci
tingf
astbowl
erwhoIwouldl
ike
t
o us
e asan exampleisWar wi
cks
hir
e's
,Henry
Brookes.Ir ememberf i
rstcomi ngacros
sHenry
when Iwas att he gym,on t he t
readmil
land
watching a one-
day county game where Henr
y
was opening up.His prof
ile came up on t
he
screen,andIsaw t
hathewasj ust18year
soldat
thetime.Afewball
sin,thespeedgunwascoming
upat89mph.

Ii
mmedi
atel
ygotof
fthet
readmi
llandwentr
ight
up t
othebigscr
een and wat
ched hi
snextf
ew
over
scl
osel
y.

Wasi
tjus
tonebal
l?Maybeas
peedguner
ror
?I
t
hought
…

But no, Henr

y was cons
ist
ent
ly bowl
ing
85-
90mph.

Fas
tfor
war
d,IgotHenr
yasagues
tonThePace
Jour
nalandas
kedhi
m,"
haveyoual
waysbeena
f
astbowl
er?"

42
 AreFas
tBowl
ersBorn?

Tomys hockands
urpr
ise,het
urnedaroundand
sai
d,"
whenIwasyounger,Iwouldn'
tquit
eclas
s
myselfasafastbowl
er.Ir
anupandbowl
eds
ome
medium pace"
.

Icoul
dnotbeli
evewhatIwasheari
ng.Henr
y,a
19-
year-
old(
atthet
imeIi
nter
viewedhi
m)whois
r
egul
arl
ybowl i
ngover85mph i
stel
lingmet
hat
j
ustafew year
sago,hewasagenuinemedi
um
pacebowl
er.

Needmor
epr
oof
?

3 -I
shantShar
ma,oneofI
ndi
a'smos
tpr
oli
fic
fas
tbowlers
,openlys
tat
edthatwhenhemadehi
s
First
-Cl
assdebut
,hewasn'
tthatqui
ck.

I
fyouar
eaf
anandhi
stor
ianoff
astbowl
ing,t
hen
youmusthaveseenthespel
lthatI
shantbowl
ed
toRi
ckyPonting,i
n Aus
tral
iawherehecross
ed
t
he1
50kphmar
k.

Speaki
ngont
hats
pel
l,I
shantment
ionedt
hathe
di
dn'
tevenknow hecoul
dbowlt
hatf
ast
.

43
 AreFas
tBowl
ersBorn?

Til
lthisday,peopl
esti
llques
tionhow I
shantwas
cl
ockingthosespeedsashehasneverreal
lybeen
knownasanoutandouts
peeds
ter
.

Onet
hing wecan'
tdenyi
sthathehasbowl
ed
t
hos
espeeds
.Onof
fici
alguns
!

Ifa bowlerwho hasof

fici
all
y cl
ocked 1
50kph+
openlysai
dthathewasneverthatquickwhenhe
s
tar
tedplayingt
hegamepr of
essi
onall
y,howdoes
t
he cl
aim thatyou ar
e born afas
tbowl ers
til
l
s
tand?

I
tbaf
flesmehowi
ndi
vidual
sandcoachess
til
lsay
thatyou ar
ebor n afas
tbowlerwhen t
her
eare
countl
essreal
-li
feexamplesofpeopl
ewhohave
incr
easedthei
rspeed!

Imr
anKhan,whowasoncef amouslynicknamed,
'
Mili
tar
y Medium' and India'
s Bhuvnes hwar
Kumararemor
eexamplesofproli
ficf
astbowlers
t
hathavei
ncr
eas
edt
hei
rspeeds
igni
ficant
ly.

Oh,butwai
t,s
orr
y.Youar
ebor
naf
astbowl
er!

44
 AreFas
tBowl
ersBorn?

In myopinion,you maybe'born'afas
tbowler
,
butthatf
astbowlerinsi
deofyoucoul
dbehidden
awayorl
ost
.

I
tisupt
oyout
owor
khar
danduncovert
hef
ast
bowl
erwi
thi
nyou.

Whether your t
op s
peed is 70mph, 80mph,
90mphor1 00mph–aslongasyouhavet
ickedal
l
theboxesand been cons
ist
entand pat
ientwi
th
youref
fort
s,youhavedoneyourjob!

45
HEIGHT & FAST BOW LING
 Hei
ght& Fas
tBowl
ing

When I was younger,I remember my dad

obs
ess
ingovermyheight–const
ant
lymeasur
ing
met
omakes
ureIwasgr
owi
ng.

Heevenf
edmeas
peci
ali
seddi
ett
hathebel
ieved
would encouragebonedevel
opmentand gr
owt
h
(I
'm notjoking).

Igrew upt
hinki
ng,I
'mtal
lerthanever
yoneel
se,
soIcanbowlfast
ert
haneveryoneel
se.

I
t was onl
y af
ter I mat
ured and s
tar
ted t
o
understandabi tmoreaboutfastbowlingthatI
real
isedthatheightwasanadvant
age,butitcame
withdisadvant
agesaswell.

How?

Thel ongerthelever(
arm),thel
ongert
hepathof
accel
er at
ion and t her
efor
e, the higher t
he
potentialfors
peed.

However,(
and the core of thi
s book wil
l
emphasi
sethi
sfact
)t hereis no one s
peci
al
ingr
edi
ent
,theoryortechni
quewhi
ch wi
llhel
p
youbowlr
ocketsal
one.

47
 Hei
ght& Fas
tBowl
ing

I
fyout hi
nkyouneedtobet
alltobowlf
ast,j
ust
l
ook atthe Wes
tIndi
an'
s,Tino Bes
tand Fi
del
Edwards. Bot
h bowlers ar
e1.73m ( 5f
t6) and
1.65m (
5ft4)res
pect
ivel
y buthave comfort
ably
toppedthe95mphmar k.

Having had many conver

sat
ions wi
t h Tino,I
di
scovered t
hathi
swayofnegat ing hislack of
hei
ghtistoenhanceot
herat
tri
but
ess
uchashi
s
physi
cals
trengt
h.

Thepoi
ntIam t
ryingt
omakehereisthathei
ght
maybeanadvantaget
othes
kil
fulaspectoff
ast
bowli
ng,buti
twi
llnotguar
ant
eet
hatyou wi
ll
bowlfas
t.

Thesameappliest
othecont r
ary,alackofheight
maybeperceivedasadi s
advantage.Stil
l,i
fyou
st
rengt
hen the other aspectsrequired, your
hei
ghtwi
llnotl
imi
tyourover
allabi
lit
ytobowl
f
ast
.

Ti
no, Fi
del and many ot
her
s ar
e excel
lent
exampl
esoft
his
.

48
 Hei
ght& Fas
tBowl
ing

Above,Iment
ionedt
hatIevenf
oundthathei
ght
(Iam 6f
t3/1.
93cm)canbeadis
advant
age.

Withoutgoi
ngi nt
ocraz
ydetai
l– thecoreofmy
bowli
ng action and s
peed rel
ies on a ver
y
explosivef
rontf
ootblockinthecr
ease.Islam my
leftlegdownint
othegr oundandexplodeagains
t
it,overandoutofthecrease.

On many occas
i ons
,the l
engt
h ofmy deli
very
st
ride and balance i
n the creas
e has been
i
ncons
ist
entandabr
upt
lydi
stur
bed.

Ineverunder
stoodwhy…

UntilI spoke to Jock Campbel

l,who i s best
knownforhi sprol
ificworkwithBrettLee.Jock
worked with the Austral
ian Nati
onal Cricket
Team anddi
dal
otofwor
kwi
thBr
ettLeet
ohel
p
hi
m bowlevenf
ast
er.

Ir
ememberani
nter
view wher
eBr
ettLeeopenl
y
s
aidt
oJock,"
yougotmet
obowlatover1
60kph"
.

Anyway,JockhasbeenaguestonPaceJournal
,
andIhavebeenveryfor
tunat
etohavedevel
oped
apers
onalrelat
ions
hipwit
hhim aswel
l.

49
 Hei
ght& Fas
tBowl
ing

Dur
ingourchat,Jockmenti
onedt
hat"t
hereisa
l
otmorethatcangowr ongwit
ha6ft
6( 2m)guy
wit
hl ongli
mbst han t
herei swit
ha6f
t2(
1.8m)
guythatisabeauti
fulathl
ete".

Ist
illr
emembert he momentJock s ai
dt hi
s.I
musthave paus
ed f
ora second because al
lof
thoset
imeswhereIfeltthebot
tom halfofmy
acti
onfal
lapar
tjus
tbegantomakesensetome.

Togi
veyoumorecontextbehi
ndt hequote,i
t'sal
l
todowit
hmargins.So,thelongerthelever,the
s
mal
lert
hemar
ginf
orer
ror
.

On the contrar
y,s horterbowlerscan getaway
wit
has mal ldefectintheirrhyt
hm oraction,but
i
fyouar etall
,thater r
orwi l
lbemagnifi
ed!

Agai
n,t
hisent
irepar
adoxmayhavenogr
oundi
ng
i
n's
cience'
,buti
fyou ar
eat
allors
hor
tfas
t
bowl
er,youwi
llunder
standwhatt
hisf
eel
sli
ke.

Ont
hatnot
e,Ibel
ievet
hatt
her
eisas
igni
ficant
dispar
itybetweent
hescienceoffastbowli
ngand
theartoffas
tbowli
ng,andthisisthecoreofwhat
Iwi
lldi
vei
nto,i
nthenextchapt
er.

50
ART & SCIENCE
 Art& Sci
ence

Ibel
ievet
hatf
astbowl
ingi
sanar
tandas
cience.

WhatdoImeanbyt
his
?

Well,sciencei
sessent
ial
,yes.Bio-
mechani
csand
f
itness
- basedmet
ricsarevi
talfact
orst
oconsi
der
when you ar
etr
ainingand devel
opi
ngasaf ast
bowl
er – butscience does
n'tal
ways have t
he
ans
wer
.

Bett
erput
,sci
encedoesn'
tal
waysmakesens
e.I
know that may s ound ludi
crous
, but I
whol
ehear
tedl
ybel
ievei
nthi
sphi
los
ophy.

Ar
trequi
resf
reedom,expr
ess
ivenes
sandanopen
mindt obeful
lyappreciat
edandunder
stood.At
t
imes ,i
tcan'
tbedescribedwit
hwords,butonly
f
elt.

ence,on t
Sci he ot
herhand,isveryri
gid.Itis
basedonfact
ualinfor
mat
ion.Ther
eisnostr
aying
f
rom t
hef
act
.

In my opi
nion,fastbowl
ing and fas
tbowling
devel
opmentrequir
eanunders
t andi
ngofs
cience
butan appr
eci
ati
on and r
espectf
ort
hear
tis
try
invol
ved.

52
 Art& Sci
ence

Toputthi
sint
oabi
tmor
econt
ext
,I'
llgi
veyouan
exampl
e:

I have al
ways found i
tfasci
nat
ing how two
i
ndividual
s(Br
ettLee&ShaunTait
)withent
irel
y
di
ffer
entbowl
ingact
ionscanbowls
ofas
t.

Take Br
ettLee,forexampl e,he i
sthe perfect
modeloftechni
calexcel
lence.ButShaun Tai
ti s
t
heoppos
iteands
til
lbowl
sthes
ames
peed.

How?

I
fwegobys
cience,how i
sShaunTai
tabl
etodo
t
hat
?

St
illnotconvi
nced?

Jus
tlookatKagi
soRabada–abowl
erwi
thoneof
the mostdefi
cientbowl
ing acti
onsint er
msof
biomechani
csbutcanbowlat1 45-1
50kph?

Another famous and mindboggl

ing case of
"s
cience gone wr
ong" i
sthe ECB's wor
k with
l
egendar
yfas
tbowl
er,JamesAnder
son.

53
 Art& Sci
ence

AnyonewhohaswatchedJimmybowlwi l
lnot
ice
theobvi
ous'
fl
aws'i
nhi stechni
queyet
,heisthe
mosts ucces
sfulf
ast bowl
er i
nthe hi
stor
y of
cr
icket
.

UnderTroyCooley,t
heECBs etouttorepai
rthe
i
ssuesi
nJimmy' sacti
on;whatt heybel
ievedwas
t
hecauseofhisbackinjur
ies
.

Ironicall
y,theopposi
teofthei
robj
ect
iveiswhat
actuallyoccur
red.TheworkoftheECB'sbowl
ing
coachesresult
edi nJimmyexper i
enci
ngal os
sof
rhythm,s wing and guess what
?A f our
-month
inj
ur yl
ayoffduetoas tres
sf r
act
uretotheback!

I
n an intervi
ew wit
ht heBBC,Ander son s
tated,
"
it'
s diff
icultenough bowli
ng when you're not
t
hinking about your act
ion, but when you're
t
hinki
ng aboutwher
e your ar
ms and l
egs ar
e
goi
ng,i
t'si
mpos
sibl
e".

Funni
lyenough,Ir
ememberbei
ng s
o obs
ess
ed
with my bowli
ng act
ion that I coul
dn't do a
ses
sion wi
thoutmybes tf
riend,rightther
ewi th
me,wat
chi
ngwi
thacr
iti
caleye.

PS:mybes
tfr
iendwasmyvi
deocamer
a.

54
 Art& Sci
ence

Iwouldwatchever
ydr i
llbackstr
aightaf
terIdi
d
i
t. I woul
ds kipt hr
ough f r
ame by frame –
moni
tor
ing,cri
tiqui
ngandi
mpr
ovi
ngeachdr
illI
di
dinasessi
on.

Lookingback,t
hedet
ailIwenti
ntowasnot
hing
shortofcr
azy.

Irememberbei
ngabletoexecut
emyt
echni
que
f
ramebyframetoper
fect
ion.

WhenIl
ookedbackati
t,i
twasf
lawl
ess
!

Butgues
swhat
?

Iwasbowl
ing s
lowert
han Ihave everbowl
ed
bef
ore.

To make matter
s wor
se,Iused t
o bowlf as
ter
when my act
ion wasful
lofapparenttechni
cal
fl
aws.

Why?

Becaus
efas
tbowl
ingi
sanar
taswel
lass
cience.

55
 Art& Sci
ence

Thescience(biomechani
cs)playapar
t,yes
.But
fas
t bowling i
s allabout f
eeland f
eelis not
s
omething which you can dr
aw or des
cr i
be in
s
cient
ifi
cterms– i tisonlys omet
hing you can
f
eelandexperi
ence.

Upon cont
empl at
ion,Igenuinely bel
ievet
hatI
l
ostmy car eerand my nat
ur alabili
tyto bowl
becaus
eIover
-pri
ori
tis
edthescienti
ficas
pectof
mybowl i
ngwit
hcompletedi
sregardoftheartof
f
astbowl
ing.

Si
mpl
yput
,Il
ostt
hear
tis
tryIoncehad.

I
tconcer
nsmegr
eat
lywhen Is
eeand i
nter
act
wit
hbowl erswhoar efall
ingint
ot hesamet r
ap.
AsIment ionedabove,itisnotbecausetheyare
uneducat
ed orstupi
d– i tismerelybecausethe
mindofahungr yfastbowleri
svulnerabl
e.

Thedesi
retowantt
obowlfast
erissost
rongthat
youarehappyt
omakesuchchanges
,andindoing
so,youar
eputti
ngyours
elfathi
ghr
iskofdoi
ng
moreharmthangood.

56
 Art& Sci
ence

Muchofthemotivat
ionbehi
ndwrit
ingt
hisbook
i
stohelp pr
eventmorecareer
sfr
om beinglos
t
becauseoftheover
ambi
tiousmi
ndofmyf
ell
ow
fastbowl
ers
.

Pleasetakemywor dss
eri
ousl
y– t
echniqueand
improvementcan beadanger
ousrabbi
tholeto
getinto.

Being ablet o consume, i

nterpr
et and make
changesbasedont heinf
ormati
onyour ecei
vei
sa
f
ragil
etask,andIspeakaboutt
hisi
nmor
edet
ail
i
nt henextchapt
er.

57
INFORMATION
OVERLOAD
 I
nformat
ionOverl
oad

We live in an era wher

e informati
on is
omni
pr es
ent
.Youngchi
ldr
ennow haveacces
sto
theinter
netand s
oci
almedia– i
tiseasytoget
caughtupinacycl
eofconf
usi
onwhenitcomesto
lear
ning.

In my opi
nion,moreregulati
on isrequir
ed t
o
prot
ectpeoplef
rom mi
sleadi
ngi nf
ormati
on.

Ihavepers
onall
ys eenmor
eandmorecoachesin
theonl
inespacecomeoutwit
hradi
caldri
llsand
t
heor
ies
,andIhavet
oas
kmys
elf
,"why?"
.

I
tseemst
hatf
ors
ome,t
her
atr
acet
o acqui
re
att
ent i
on and f ollowers( especi
ally on social
medi a) ist he priori
ty. Content creator
s ar e
havingt ofindwaysofmaki ngthems el
vess t
and
out.Unf or
tunately,thiscanbeatt heexpenseof
young,vulner
abl
efas
tbowler
sthatar
edi ges
ting
thei
rcontentint
hehopet
hatitwil
lhelp.

Idon'tbelievet
hereisadr il
loutt herewhi ch I
haven'tt
riedatleas
tonce.Infact,Ifi
ndi tfunny
looki
ngats omeoft hedri
llswhichares urf
acing
now,andIr
ememberdoi
ngt
hem overadecade
ago.

59
 I
nformat
ionOverl
oad

WhatdoIt
hinkofdr
ill
sasawhol
e?

Theyhavethei
rplace.Butdr
ill
ingi
sdril
ling,and
bowli
ngisbowling.Iwasunfort
unatet
onotdoa
bet
terjobatseparat
ingthetwoinmyt raini
ng–
wegetint
othi
smor
eint
he'
Techni
cal
'chapt
er
bel
ow.

One oft he pr
imaryfi
lter
swe have wi t
hin The
Pace Journalisthatevery pi
ece ofcontentor
opi
nionmus
tcomef
rom acr
edi
bles
our
ce.

I cannot s
tressthi
s enough – f
ast bowl
ers
underst
andfastbowl
ers
.

Whetheryoubowl1 20kphor1 40kph,ifyouarea

pr
ofessi
onalfastbowlerwhoissharinganinsight
–t her
ei s a high chance t
hat thereiss ome
val
idi
tyt
oyourcl
aim.

Withtheamountofinfor
mationbeingpubli
shed
onl
ine,i
tisi
mpossibletofi
lteral
lthegol
df rom
theclutter
.Stil
l,theclosestwecangeti stomake
suret hatthes ourceoft hei nformati
on wear e
recei
vingi scomingf r
om acr edibl
eindivi
dual
.I
am ver yproudoft hefactthatwehavet hisatt
he
cor
eofThePaceJour
nal
.

60
 I
nformat
ionOverl
oad

Youmustunder
standthatther
ei snoonesizef
its
al
lwhenitcomestofastbowling.Ther
efor
e,you
need t o look i
nto the i
nformation you are
receivi
ngandques t
ionwhetheriti
sr el
evantand
rightforyou.

Itis ver
y easyto getcaughtup i
n a cycl
e of
exper
imentati
on.Although t
ryi
ngthingscan be
usef
ul,you need t
o know when t
osti
ck with
somethi
ngandwhent ogetr
idofi
tandcl
earyour
mi
ndcompl
etel
y.

Oneofthemosts
igni
ficanti
ssuesIhadwit
hmy
bowl
ingwast
heconst
antchoppingandchangi
ng
ofmyact
ion.

I woul
d have one bowl
ing act
ion one week –
anotheract
ion nextweek and back t
o my f
irs
t
act
ioninthethirdweek.

Nol
ies
.

Thi
ssor
tofi
ncons
ist
encyonl
yleadst
ocr
eat
ing
doubtsinyourmindandt aki
ngyoufur
therand
fur
therawayfrom mas
ter
yofyouruni
questyl
eof
bowl
ing.

61
 I
nformat
ionOverl
oad

Regar
dles
sofwhatsortoftrai
ningordril
lsyou
ar
edoingwit
hyourcoach,donotbeafr
aidtoask
why.Donotbescar
edtodosomeresearchbefore
you j
ump i
n and t
rysomethi
ng.Think ofyour
bowli
ngact
ionasacar–youwoul
dn'treplacethe
t
yresanddri
veof
fwi
thoutlooki
ngatt hetyr
est
o
makesuret
heyar
efi
tforpurpose,r
ight?

Ihopef
astbowlerswil
lapplyt
hesames t
rict
nes
s
i
n how they consume inf
ormat
ion and make
changesbas
edoni
nfor
mat
iont
heycomeacr
oss
.

At The Pace Jour

nal,we r
each over 1
00,000
peopl
e with our cont
ent
. One of the bi
gges
t
chal
lenges we face isin maki
ng sure we gi
ve
enoughinformationtohelpever
yone.Butnottoo
muchi nf
ormationt hatweris
kconfusi
ngpeople.

Agai
n, s
peaki
ng f
rom t
he per
spect
ive of an
ambit
iousand hungr
yfastbowl
er– t
hereisno
wors
epl acet
hanhavingaheadful
lofques
tions
andconf
usi
on!

I
tisat
rickydi
lemmaf
orus–asIs
aidabove,one
pieceofinf
ormat
ion can beagame-changerf
or
onepersonandarabbitholef
oranot
her .

62
 I
nformat
ionOverl
oad

We always openlysay t
hatnotevery pi
ece of
cont
entwepubl is
hisgoingtober
elevanttoyou.
That'
snott heaim ofourwork– thepurposei
s
foreach f
astbowlerto(1)br
ows ethepageand
comeacros safew di
amondsthatwillhel
pthem
t
aket heirgamet othenextlevel,(2)entertain
f
ast bowlers wi t
h beautif
ull
y cr af
ted content
s
peciall
y pr oduced for t
hem, i n as t
yle and
l
anguaget heywi llunder
stand and (3)t
ocr eate
the most extensi
ve and most infl
uent
ial
communi
tyoffastbowl
ersi
nthewor
ld.

We strongl
y encourage engagement i
n t
he
commentsofeachofourpost
s.

Ther
eisar
eas
onf
ori
t.

Al
otofat
hlet
es(
notj
ustf
astbowl
ers
)wi
llhave
ques
tions i
nthei
r mi
nds
.By comi
ng outand
communicat
ing wit
h like-mi
nded people who
mayhaveorareexperi
encingt
hesamet hi
ng,you
haveachancet
ofi
nds
omeans
wer
s,comf
ortand
peacef
rom peopl
ejus
tli
keyou.

63
 I
nformat
ionOverl
oad

Thi
nk abouta t
ime when you ar
e consideri
ng
whethert
obuyaproductfr
om thei nt
ernet.You
read an authent
icr eview fr
om a buyer who
alreadyhastheproduct,anditgivesyouasense
ofconfidencei
nthepur chasethatyouareabout
t
omake,r
ight
?

Thi
siswhatcommuni
tyi
sal
labout
!

Ther
ei s no bet
ter f
eel
ing t
han when I
,(as a
moderat
or)fli
ckthroughthecommentsofapost
and see t
wo orthr
ee f
astbowl
ersdi
scus
sing a
topi
camongstthemsel
ves!

Some oft he mostprofound advice Ihave ever

recei
veddi dn’
tevencomef r
om apr ocr i
cket
eror
coach,itcamefrom acl
ubcr icket
er.Hehadbeen
relat
ivel
yunknown on t heclubcircuitand then
outofnowher e,heburs
tbackont hescenewit ha
mas
sivei
ncr
eas
eins
peed.Ias
kedhi
m whathi
s
s
ecr
etwas
.

64
 I
nformat
ionOverl
oad

He told me i
ns tr
aight
for
war
dt er
ms,“over
s.
Shahbaz,Ij
ustpl
ayedasmanygamesasIcoul
d,
andIbowledovers.Themor
eIbowl
ed,t
hemor
e
rhyt
hm Idis
cover
ed” .

Everyone hasan opi

nion,and ever
y coach wi
ll
haveat heoryormethodologythattheypreach.
Respect ever
yone but t
reat i
nfor
mat
ion wi
th
cauti
on.

I
fIcoul
dgetonemes
sageacrossinthi
schapt
er,
i
tistotr
eati
nfor
mati
on del
icat
elyasithasthe
powert
omakeyouorbr
eakyou.

65
THE GOOD COACH
 TheGoodCoach

Ihavebeenveryf
ort
unatet
obecoachedbysome
oft
hemos tpromi
nentandmos
trespect
ednames
i
nthewor
ld.

Therear
et hi
ngst
hatIhavelear
nedfrom eachof
them.St
ill
,thebi
gges
tofallishow i
mpor t
antit
is to be an excell
ent communicat
or and
psychol
ogi
st bef
ore '
knowing how to t
each
s
omeonet
obowlabal
l'
.

Ican'
tst
res
sthi
senough.

Coaches need t
o unders
tand t
hatthey have a
much bigger respons
ibi
lit
ythan j
us t hel
ping
s
tudentswi
tht
hei
rgameonthefi
eld.Theyneed
t
o al
so makes
urethei
rst
udenti
scoping away
f
rom itt
oo.

Agai
n,Iwasf
ort
unat
eto haves
omei
ncr
edi
ble
peopl
earound me.Iam verygratef
ulfort
hem.
The mos
ts i
gnif
icant ment
al suppor
t I ever
r
ecei
ved was f
rom my bes
tfr
iend,Ant
hony (
a
f
ormerf
astbowl
erf
rom t
heCar
ibbean)
.

Wewoul dt al
k aboutf
astbowli
ng forhourson
end.Ti
llthi
sday,Ican'
tthankhi
m enoughforhi
s
unwaveri
ngs upport
.

67
 TheGoodCoach

AsImentionedabove,r
egardi
ngtheregul
ati
onof
cont
ent on fast bowling – I t
hink stri
cter
measuresneedt obeputin placeforcoachesas
well– par t
icul
arl
yint he realm ofemot ional
i
ntell
igence.

Ispeakonbehal
fofal
lambi
tiousandhungryfas
t
bowler
swhen Is ayt
his
.Coaches,you hol
dthe
keyst
oourfut
ureinyourteachings
,acti
onsand
communi
cat
ions. Our passion, car
eers and
ment
als
tabi
lit
yrel
yuponyou.

Thej
obofacoachi
shi
ghpr
ess
ure.Oratl
eas
tit
s
houl
dbe.

Coachi
ngs
houl
d neverbeaboutan exchangeof
ti
meandknowledgeformoneyandever
ythi
ngt
o
dowi
thfor
ginglong-
termrel
ati
onshi
ps.

As the sport
s psychol
ogis
t, Pr
ofess
or Geof
f
Beat
tiebr
ill
iantl
ysaysin W.TimothyGal
lwey'
s
multi-
mi l
lionbes t
sell
erbook,TheI nnerGameof
Tennis,"thebes tcoachesand manager smaybe
bri
lli
antt act
icians,butfirstand foremostthey
are great psychologis
ts. They can read t
heir
player
s,moti
vat
ethem,andmor
ethant
hat
,they
canunders
tandthem".

68
 TheGoodCoach

Lookingback,i
twas
n'tacoach whoIcravedor
needed the most– it was s omeone with
knowl edgewhichIcouldtalkto,l
ear
nf rom and
receiveguidancewhenIneededi t
.Andmaybea
tell
ingof fwhen Istar
ted goi
ngoverboard wi
th
myexper
iment
s.

Iwil
lgoasf arassayi
ngthatamentorisjus
tas
cr
ucialasabowli
ngcoach.Toget
her
,thetwocan
give a pl
ayer the ski
ll-
speci
fic educat
ion and
guidancethatt
heys obadlyneed.

Here’s the cat

ch t hough, t
he ment
alit
y of
cr
icketer
swi l
lvary greatl
y.Wher
eitmi ghtbe
easy for one at hlete to come out and
communicat
e openly withthei
rcoach,another
athl
etemayfinditdif
ficul
ttoputt
heirthought
s,
f
ear
sandanxi
eti
esi
ntowor
ds.

Thi
siswhereIbelievet
hebes
tcoacheswil
lbe
abl
etomakeiteas
yf ort
hei
rat
hlet
estoopenup
ands
peakt
othem.

69
 TheGoodCoach

Ihope we s
tar
tt os ee coachesass
umi ng more
r
espons
ibi
lit
yf or t
he ment alst
abi
lit
y oft hei
r
s
tudent
s–becaus
etheydohaveapar
ttopl
ay.

Whi
ch br
ings me on t
o my next t
opi
c and a
cont
rover
sialone.

I
'dr
atheryous
hootmef
orwr
iti
ngi
t,t
hans
hoot
anot
herunpr
epar
edf
astbowl
erwi
thyourguns
!

SpeedGun

Iunderst
and t
hatthi
stopic may be metwith
r
esi
stancebysome.It
spurposeisnott oat
tack
coaches who adoptthis approach.I
nstead,t o
enli
ghten t
hem from s
omeonewhohasnotonl y
experi
encedthisbutalsol i
stenedtothepain of
manyf as
tbowl er
swhohaveconf idedinmewi t
h
the same doubts and ment
aldi spar
itythatis
causedbythespor adi
cuseofspeedguns.

Moststudentsacceptwhatacoach l aysoutf or
them – sotheymaynots peak outand express
how they trul
yf eel or how s peci
fictraining
measuresmightbeaffect
ingt hem.

70
 TheGoodCoach

Iwil
lneverfor
gett
hedaymyfat
herpurchas
eda
Bus
hnellSpeedGun.Iwasal
waystout
edast he
f
astes
tbowlerformy age group inthe county
sys
tem.Wit
h myf at
herbeings uch as
uppor ti
ve
man–hewant edtokeept
rackofmypr ogres
son
amor
egr
anul
arl
evel
.

Imusthavebeenaround1 6or17year
sol
datthe
ti
me,wewentt ot
hel ocalpar
k,andIbowledmy
hear
t out – t
he gun showed a r
eadi
ng of
somethi
ngi
ntheregi
onof60mph.

Weal
llaughed.

How coul
dthi
sbepos
sibl
e?

We knew t
her
e was s
ome s
ortofdi
scr
epancy
becaus
ethes
peedj
ustdi
dnots
eem r
ightatal
l.

Atthet
ime,Iwaspartofthemai
nbowl i
ngattack
forafi
rst
-team cl
ubinthePremierLeague.We
often had profes
s i
onal cr
icket
ers play i
nt he
leaguewith us!Inf act
,David Gri
ffi
ths( f
ormer
Hamps hir
e openi ng bowler) was one of our
player
s.

71
 TheGoodCoach

Anyway,fastforward,afew year
slater-Ihad
been cl
ocked on ot
her r
adar guns which have
s
hown s peeds1 0mph outfr
om each other.No
j
oke, t
her e were1 0mph dif
fer
ences withthe
r
eadi
ngs on t hese guns
.I remember being s
o
confused about t
he wholet hi
ng. If you ar e
thinki
ng about why I am not discl
osing t he
number s– iti
sbecaus
eIdon' twanttof eedt he
iss
uewhi chIam abouttospeakabout!Its hould
allmake s
ens
e when you r
each t
he end oft
he
chapt
er.

Herei
saqui ckbutfunnystory.Iwaspl
ayi
ngfor
Middl
esexduring2008-2009,andIwassuf
fer
ing
fr
om ar epeat
edankleinjuryonmyl andi
ngf oot
.
Mycoach att hetime,Ian Pont,t
old met hatI
need t
os ee t
he phys
iotherapi
statNor thants
,
Barr
y Goudriaan.So,I made t
he tr
ipt
othe
st
adium atWantageroadt
oseehim.

On mywayout ,Ibumped intoformerEngland

al
l-r
ounder and f
irs
t-t
eam head coach (
atthe
time)ofNort
hant
sCCC,DavidCapel.Hestopped
meandas kedwhoIwastheret
os ee,andwhenI
told hi
m, he immedi
atel
y said, "oh, you'
re
Shahbaz.I
anhastol
dmeaboutyou" .

72
 TheGoodCoach

Me and Davi
d had a chat
,and when Il
eft
,I
r
eceivedacal
lfrom I
anwhot ol
dmet hatDavid
had cal
led hi
m and s
aid,"peopl
el i
ke Shahbaz
don'
tcomear oundveryoft
en.Iwantt oseehim
bowloutsi
deandpotenti
all
ysignhim".

Thedr i
vehomefrom Nor
thantst
omyhometown
isaboutanhourandahal
f.Iremembermyf
ather
andmebei
ngs
oexci
tedaboutt
hewhol
ethi
ng.

Af ew dayslat
er,Ianrangandtoldmet hatDavid
Capelwant smet obowlontheoutfi
eldduringthe
break ofa f i
rst
-clas
s game bet
ween Nor t
hants
andEs
sexatChel
msf
ord.

Ir
ememberar
rivi
ngatt
hes
tadi
um andwai
ting
forallt
he pl
ayerstol
eave t
he f
iel
dforlunch.
Therewasasmallcr
owdatthegr
ound,andIwas
ver
y exci
ted.Davi
d came outwi
th a mi
ttand
as
kedmet
obowlaf
ew over
s.

AsIl
eft
,Ian cal
led meagai
n and t
old met
hat
Davi
d wasextr
emelyimpres
sed and wanted t
o
si
gnme.Ithenwentbackt
othecountygroundto
meet the Chair
man of Nor
thant
s and s
ign a
cont
ractwiththecl
ub.

73
 TheGoodCoach

I
'ms orryforrambli
ngon aboutmysel
f,butit
's
r
elevanttothepoi
ntIam t
r yi
ngtomakehere.

Iremember David'
s pres
ence during bowl
ing
s
essi
onsatNorthants,hewould comeup tome
ands ay,"
wi t
hyourpace,allIwantyout odois
master three del
iver
ies,(1)s tock ball
,(2)
bounceraimedatthethroatand(3)yorker
".

Irememberthes
ewor dssocl
ear
lyf
orareas
on–
becaus
eIcouldneverwrapmyheadar
oundhow
someonewit
hs o much cr
edi
bil
ity wasprai
sing
meformypace,whil
ethegunwass howingupas
somethi
ngs
oaverage.

ItisnotlikeDavi
dCapeli
sanor dinaryplayeror
coach either
; he is a former international
cri
cketer
.A batsman who hasfaced up against
s
omeoft
hef
ast
estt
hegamehasevers
eens
uchas
Mal
col
m Mar
shal
landCur
tlyAmbr
ose.

Ievenr
ememberat
imewher
eIwasi
nvi
tedbymy
ver
y cl
osefri
end and ment
or,Nheem Aminto
bowlatLor
d'sbecausehewanted As
his
h Nehr
a
(who Nheem i
sgood f
riendswi
th)t
o comeand
havealookatme.

74
 TheGoodCoach

You run wi
tht wo legs and t
wo arms,right
?
Imagi
ne,during t
hiss es
sion,Iran i
n wi
th my
bowl i
nghands t
atic–somylegswer
emoving.My
lef
tar m wasmoving,butIkeptmybowl
inghand
low andmot i
onles
sandjustrani
nandhurl
edthe
bal
lasf astasIcould.Youwi l
lfindal i
nkofme
bowling with t
he s t
yle of act
ion that I am
descr
ibinghereinthemember 'ssect
ion.

IrememberAs hi
shleavi
ngNheem f
oras econd,
coming up t
o me and sayi
ng,"
you know you
probablybowlaround140kphbutyoucanbowla
lotf
asterifyoumovebothofyourar
ms "
.Looki
ng
back,itisoneofmymos tembarr
assi
ngmoment s
becauseIam sureevenNheem wasconf
usedast o
whyIwasr andomlybowlingli
kethat.In cas
eI
didn'
ttellyouatthetimeNheem,Iam sorry.

Iwantt
omakeas
ever
epoi
nther
e.Cr
icketi
sa
gamewher
eyouar
ejudgedonhow manywi
cket
s
youtakeandhow manymat
chesyouwi
nforyour
team.

Sur
e,yours
peedcanhel
pfas
ttr
ackyout
hrough
t
hesyst
em – asitdidforme– butyou won'
t
s
urvi
veifyoucan'
tpr
oducer
esul
ts.

75
 TheGoodCoach

Looki
ngback,t
hes peedgunwaslikeavi
rusfor
me,andIknow Is
peakf orawhol
eheapofother
fastbowler
s when Isay thi
s.I
fyou have any
aspir
ati
onsofbowlingfas
t ,t
hesecond t
hatgun
comesout– yourfocusdiver
tsf
rom playingt
he
gamet
opl
ayi
ngt
hegun.

Ifound mys
elflosti
nt hi
strap f
ormany,many
year
swhereallIeverwantedtodowasprovet
he
gunwr
ong.

Earlier
,Is pokeaboutcoachesbasicall
yneedi ng
to acquir
eknowl edgeofemot i
onali ntel
ligence,
andt hisisther
easonwhyIs ayit.

Asacoach,youmayt hi
nkyouaredoingtheri
ght
thingbylet
tingyourstudentknow how f
astor
slow t
heyar
ebowling.

Butther
eisa dar
ksi
det
othi
sinf
ormat
ion as
wel
l.

Wher
ear
eyouwhent
hats
tudenti
sst
ruggl
ingt
o
s
leep atni
ghtbecaus
e allthey keep doi
ng is
t
hinki
ngaboutthespeedstheyhitwhi l
elosi
ng
mot
ivat
ionandl
ovef
ort
hegame?

76
 TheGoodCoach

Whereareyouwhenyours
tudentdoes
n'tact
ual
ly
wanttoplayt
hegameanymore?

Where ar
e you when t
hey go mis
sing f
rom the
game,remodelthe ent
iret
y oftheiracti
on and
come back as a completel
y new bowler – al
l
becausetheywanttoembar konatrai
ningplanto
changethenumbert hatshoweduponyourgun?

Iam f
ortunat
et owor
kclosel
ywithTymalMill
s,
oneofthefastes
tbowler
stoevergraceEngl
ish
soi
l.Ir
ememberseei
ngavideoofhi
m bowling,
andIcoulds
eesomeoneholdi
ngaspeedgun.I
wascur
ioust
oknow whatt
hegunwoulddisplay
forsomeoneli
keTymal .SoIs enthi
mt hevideo
andaskedhim – hisexactr
esponsewas
," Ihave
neverseent
hatvideoinmyl if
e".

I
tbecamecl
eart
o met
hatTymalwast
her
eto
bowl
.What
everdat
athecoachwascol
lect
ingwas
f
orhi
m,t
hecoachandnotTymal
.

ForTymal
,theobj
ect
ivewast
obowlandgett
he
mos
toutoft
hes
ess
ion!

77
 TheGoodCoach

It
'sfunnywhen Il
ook back att
raini
ngdaysat
Nort
hants.Ius
ed t
o bowlalongsideOll
yStone
(Engl
and i
nt er
nationalcricketer
)and t
hecoach
attheti
mewoul dbeholdingt heguntous.Never
once did the coach r eveal our s
peeds – I
remembertheses
ess
ionsbeingtheoneswher
eI
wasmostfocus
edandlessapprehens
ive.

Iwast
her
etobowl
,notbowlf
ort
hegun.

Iti
st he'pri
vat
e'coachi
ng s
ect
orwhich (
in my
opi
nion)needstobemadeawareoft
hepitf
all
sof
s
uchpr
act
ices
.

Havingspokentomanypr of
essionalfastbowlers
,
Ihavefoundthatyes,s
peedi sessenti
al,butthey
focusmoreon playi
ngt hegameand pr oducing
resul
ts–speedisjus
tonepar toft hei
rarsenal.

WhenIi
ndul
gei
nint
ervi
ewswi
thpl
ayer
s,Ihave
fl
ashbacksofmyminds
etwhenIwasgr
owi
ngup
andhow dist
ort
edmythinki
ngwas
.

I have been for

tunateto workint he boxing
i
ndus t
ryf orquit
eaf ew year
s.Oneoft hemos t
i
nteresti
ngt hi
ngsIpickedupishow t
hey'buil
da
f
ighter'
.

78
 TheGoodCoach

Regar
dlessofhow '
tal
ented'aboxermaybe,t
hei
r
car
eersandskil
lsaredevelopedovert
ime.

WhatImeani
s,evenifaf
ighterseemstalent
ed
enough t
o f
ight at a higher level
,t heir
managementandcoachesdon'
tthr
ow thefi
ght
er
i
ntothatchal
lengeunti
ltheyare100% sur
ethe
f
ight
ercanhandleit
.

Iguesst
heclos
es tthingIcan r
elat
et heboxing
anal
ogytoi
ncricketisinthewayplayershaveto
cli
mb t he r anks. For exampl e, pl aying
second-t
eam cr i
cket before bei
ng expos
ed t o
fi
rst-t
eam cr
icket;regardles
sofhow good t hey
ar
e.

Even when t
he mos
t not
abl
e names i
n
i
nter
nat
ionalcr
icketare coming back f
rom an
i
njur
yandhavepr ovedt
hei rf
itnes
s,theyplaya
handf
ulofs
econd-
team gamesorcount
ygames
bef
orej
umpi
ngbacki
ntot
hei
nter
nat
ionalar
ena.

Thi
nkbackt
othevi
deoofJof
raAr
cherbowl
ing
bounceraf
terbounceratas econd-t
eam county
cri
cketgame.In cas
e you haven’
ts een i
t,hop
ontoYouTubeand s
ear
ch,“
Jof
raAr
chers
econd
team”
.

79
 TheGoodCoach

Here,one ofthe f
astestand mostdes
tructi
ve
bowler
sin wor
ld cr
icketispepper
ingpl
ayersin
the second team ci
rcui
t – he even s
cor
ed a
cent
ur yinthatgame.

Why?

It’
snotjustaboutpr oving yourfi
tnes
sbutt o
accumul
ate conf
idence by playi
ng matches as
well
.Regardl
ess ofhow many over
s you s
end
downinthenets
,bowlingt
hoseoversinamat ch
i
swher
ether
ealt
estoccur
s.

Theol
derIget
,themor
eIam madeawar
ethat
true, el
ite perfor
mance is all about minds et
.
When a pl ayer has been out-
of -
acti
on, their
confi
dencei slow.When you thr ow t
hatpl ayer
into a hi gh-pressur
e environment ( such as
int
ernati
onal cri
cket
), you put t
hem i
n a
vulner
ablepos
iti
on.

Essenti
aly,whatIhavel
l earnedi sthattheel i
te
coacheshaveasi
gnif
icant
lybetterunders
t anding
ofhow to'manage't
heirstudentsbothment all
y
andwi
thper
for
mances
.

80
 TheGoodCoach

Whil
st you’
re on YouTube, s
earch, " Shoai
b
Akht
arNewportCri
cketClub"– ifyou comeup
withnothing,Iwi
llli
nkt hevi
deointhemember'
s
sect
ion.Anyway,thecl ipisofShoaibAkht
arin
2006, steaming i
nf r
om hi sful
lr un-
up and
bowlingthes
peedofli
ght
… wai
tfori
t…i
nacl
ub
cri
cketgameinEngl
and!

Idon'tknow t
he backst
ory ofwhy Shoai
b was
pl
ayi
ngleaguecri
cketinEnglandorifitwasj
ust
afew games.St
ill
,Iam goi
ngt
oassumet
hathe
wasreturni
ngfrom i
njur
yandwant
edarunout
i
naver
ylow-
pres
sur
eenvi
ronment
.

Don'
twor
ry.Iwi
llgett
hef
ulls
tor
yfr
om hi
m one
day!

Iknow t
her ewillbeacounter
-ar
gumentherethat
usi
ngas peed gun hel
pstheplayerknow where
they ar
ei nter
msofabi l
ity.Ormaybe anot
her
counter-ar
gument coul
d be that i
fthey can'
t
handl
ethe'
trut
h'aboutt
hei
rspeed,t
heyar
ein
t
hewr
onggameandcan'
ttakepr
ess
ureet
c.

Thati
snott
hepoi
ntIam t
ryi
ngt
omake.

81
 TheGoodCoach

WhatIam tryi
ngt os
ayand t
hemessageIam
t
ryi
ngtogetacros
swit
hmyanalogi
esi
st hatyou
don'texposes
omeonet
osomet
hingt
heyar
enot
readyfor.

Havingspokentoprofes
sionalpl
ayer
swhohave
been invol
ved in the England Perf
ormance
Progr
amme s uch as George Scr
imshaw, Zak
Chappel
l,Tom Barberand Saqi
b Mahmood,it’
s
cl
earthatthereareexcepti
onstothepointIam
making as al
lof those bowler
s were cl
ocked
duri
ngNationaltr
ainingcamps.

RememberwhatIs
aidabove,i
tisaboutexpos
ing
aplayerto acer
tai
n amountofpr
ess
ureatt
he
r
ighttime.

Suppose you ar
e on the Engl
and Perfor
mance
Progr
amme or i nvol
ved with any pr
ofessi
onal
team.Inthatcas
e,therei
sahighchancethatyou
arein averydiff
erentheads
pacethan s
omeone
whoi
san out
-and-
outamat
eurcr
icket
erwhoi
s
looki
ng t
o br
eak i
ntot
he hi
gher l
evel
s oft
he
game.

82
 TheGoodCoach

Themindsetofsomeone'
out
side't
hes ystem i
s
ver
y di
ffer
ent f
rom the mi
ndset of someone
'
ins
ide't
hes
yst
em.

Justli
keme( andmanyother
swhoIknow) ,t
he
secondtheguncameout
,welostourf
ocusont
he
gamei t
sel
fandinst
eadfixatedonthespeedgun
alone.Thi
sis notconducive t
o pr
ogr
es sfora
cri
cket
er and cer
tai
nly not heal
thy f
or a f
ast
bowler
!

Iremember someone sendi

ng me a pos
t on
I
nstagr
am f
rom acoach whojus
tspentaton of
moneyon a new s
peed gun.I
nt hecapt
ion,he
st
ated,"
timetodest
roysomecareer
s".

Atthet
ime,evenIfounditf
unny.Butther
eisa
more serious mess
age that needs to be
communicated t
o coaches si
milar to thi
s
i
ndi
vidual
.Youar
enotdes
troyi
ngacar
eer
.You
aredestr
oyingt
hehopes ,s
piri
tandmor al
eofan
indi
vidualand t
he ef
fectthatcan have i
sway
mor
esi
gni
ficantt
hant
hegame.

83
 TheGoodCoach

Mentalhealt
hissuesi
n cri
cketar
eamongs tt
he
hi
ghestin alls
portsi
nt heworld – oneoft
he
reas
ons why t hi
s is t he case is becaus
e
apparentl
y,cri
cketat
tract
spersonal
iti
eswithan
over-anal
yti
calmind.

Oh,Icanbel
ievet
hat
!

Iur
geallcoachestopr
otectthei
rstudentsfr
om
t
hepit
fal
lsthatcomeinthejourneyofbecoming
acri
cketer
,ands peedgunsatt
hewr
ongt
ime,ar
e
oneofthosepi
tfalls
!

For t
hose who don'
t have a coach and ar
e
des
perat
etoknow how f
astt
heybowl–t hesame
pr
inci
plesappl
y.

Trustme,I
'vebeen ther
e,and Iunder
stand t
he
"need"t
oknow how f
astyouar
eandt hedesi
reto
compare your
s el
fup againstthe prof
ess
ionals
.
You need t
or emembert hatspeed i
sdeveloped
over t
ime. Your j
ob s
houl
d be t
o cont
inue
i
mprovi
ng your
sel
f,pl
ayi
ng and l
ear
ning about
t
hegame.

Af
teral
l,youar
eacr
icket
er,notas
how pony.

84
 TheGoodCoach

Itisso,soi mport
antto keep f
ocus
sed on t
he
chal
lengeaheadofyou.Byopeningupthe's
peed
gun'gate,you ri
sk exter
nalfactor
s di
str
act
ing
youmaj orl
yfr
om t herealworkthatyouhaveto
do;exactl
yasithappenedt ome.

Asafastbowler
,you willal
waysknow whet
her
youar
e'bowl
ingquick'ornot.I
t'ss
omet
hingyou
f
eel
.

Imustals
os t
ressthatthe cauti
on ofusing a
s
peedgundoesnotapplytoeveryone.Ther
ear e
i
ndivi
dual
souttherewho wi
llhavet hemental
f
ort
itudet
odis
mi s
smanyexternalchall
engesi
n
t
hegame.

Iam as
sumi
ng t
hatt
he pr
imar
yreaderoft
his
book i
sthe f
ast bowler who i
s desper
atefor
answer
sanddesperat
et otryt
hingstohelpt
hem
bowlf
ast
er.So,If
elti
twasneces
sar
ytoi
ncl
ude
thi
s chapter t
o deter you from steppi
ng i nt
o
potent
ial
lydangerouster r
itor
yt hatcould harm
youbef
oret
het
imef
ori
tisevenr
equi
red.

85
 TheGoodCoach

One ofthe keysto ourgrowth and communi

ty
st
rengt
h ist he s
imilar
iti
es I have wit
h our
audience.AsIoncesai
dinaninterview,whenwe
create content
, the edit
orial pl anning is
effor
tles
s.I'
m notpr
oduci
ngcont entfor100,000
pl
uspeopl
e.I
'm maki
ngcont
entf
ormys
elf
.

So,t
herewil
lbeexcepti
onst otherule,butf
rom
myexperi
ence,t
heyarefew andfarbetween.

I
nmyopi
nion,t
heonl
yti
meabowl
ers
houl
dbe
concernedwiths peedsiswhen t heypl ayon the
TV.Byt hatpoi
nt,yourconf i
dencel evelshoul
dbe
signi
ficant
lyhighert han when you areclimbing
theranksasanamat eurortrial
ist!

On t
he cont
rar
y,t
he us
e ofs
peed gunscan be
benefi
cialifyou know how to usethem.The
purpose ofthi
schapteristo hel
p bowler
sand
coachess
afel
yus
espeedguns
.

86
 TheGoodCoach

Herearemytopt
ipsforas
pir
ingf
astbowl
erswho
wi
sht ouses
peedguns:

1– Unders
tandt
hatwhatevernumbers
howsup
onyourgunmaynotbet
henumberthatshowsup
i
fyou wer
eto pl
ay i
n a pr
ofes
sionalt
elevi
sed
mat
ch.

2 – Whatever number s
hows up,useit as a
measur
eforyout ot
rackyourown pr
ogr
ess.Do
notconsi
deritt
obet hebe-
all
-end-
allofyourf
ast
bowlingaspi
rat
ions
.

3–Youcanal
wayswor
ktowar
dsi
mpr
ovi
ngyour
speed.Ittakeshardwork,discipl
ine,consis
tency
and patience.So,regar
dlessofwhats peed you
clockont heguntoday,withtime,youcanal ways
increas
ei t.

87
 TheGoodCoach

Donotl
osehope.

IrememberhearingMi chaelHoldingon theTV

once,andhesai
dt hathedoes n'
tevenbelievein
TV speed r
eadi
ngs.He j udges pace by how a
bat
sman i
sres
pondi
ng t
othedel
iver
iesf
rom a
bowler
.

Myuncleoncetoldmes omet
hingsimil
ar– you
don'
tneeda'gun't
otel
lyouifyouhavepace.

88
 HOW TO
BOW L FAST
 How t
oBowlFas
t

Now,ont
othemai
nques
tion,"
how doyoubowl
f
ast?"

EversinceIst
artedbowl
ing,Iwass earchi
ngf or
thesecrett
ospeed.Wasitbiomechanics,f
itness
ors
omet
hingel
se?

In myjour
ney,Idiscover
ed f
asci
nat
ingi
nsight
s
whichcanbepract
icall
yappli
edbyanyone.And
i
tallbegi
nswi th accept
ingthatther
eisnoone
s
ecr
ettos peed.Inmyopi ni
on,gener
ati
ngs
peed
isacombi nati
onoff actor
s,andt heyal lwor kin
unison.Youcanhaveonewi thouttheot her,but
theoverallresultwil
lnotbes ustai
nable.I nthe
int
erestofclar
ity,Ihavecategori
sedt hesefact
ors
i
ntos
ixdi
ffer
entpar
ts:

Beli
ef
Techni
que
Fi
tnes
s
Mentali
ty
Experi
ence
Conf
idence

90
 How t
oBowlFas
t

Thefol
lowi
ngchapter
saimt oel
aborat
eoneach
oft
hesecat
egor
iesandexpl
ainpr
eci
selywhyt
hey
ar
esoimpor
tantandhowt
heyi
nter
linkwi
theach
ot
her
.

Att
heendofthisbook,youwillf
indasummar
y
whi
chconcl
udesthetopi
csIhavedis
cus
sed.

Iwoul
dl i
ket oonceagai
nmakei tclearthatt
he
f
oll
owingviewsarewhatIhaveexper
iencedasan
ambit
iousandhungr
yfas
tbowler.Someonewho
hasconduct
ed t
hous
andsofexperi
mentson hi
s
bowlingact
ion.Travell
edacr osstheothersi
deof
theplanett
os eekinformationandt rai
ningfrom
someoft heleadingaut hor
itiesinfastbowling,
javel
inandstrengthandcondi ti
oning.

My vi
ewsdo notcomef
rom a s
ciencel
ab ora
t
ext
bookwi
thgr
aphsandcal
cul
ati
ons(
alt
houghI
havedonepl
ent
yoft
hataswel
l).

My vi
ews come pr
edomi
nant
ly f
rom bei
ng
pract
ical
.Fr
om put
tinginyear
sofgr
aftandbeing
hands-onwi
thalmostever
ytypeoft
echnicaldr
ill
andf
itnes
sregi
me,t
her
eisavai
labl
e.

91
 How t
oBowlFas
t

I'
m nottalki
ngaboutrandom s
tuff– I
'mtal
king
aboutcar
efull
ycurat
edinfor
mationandrout
ines
which came from the most quali
fied and
i
ntell
igentmi
ndsint
hesport
sindust
ry.

Iam so proud oft

hefactt
hatIhaveachi
eved
many pers
onalgoalsi
n my pur
sui
tofbowl i
ng
f
ast
.I f even one f
ast bowl
er benef
its or is
i
nfl
uenced bywhatIhavet oshare– Iwillfeel
ver
yful
fil
led.

Myaimfort
hefol
lowi
ngchapt er
sistohel
pbr i
ng
cl
ari
tyt
o yourmind – becausethatis whatI
neededwhenIwasgr
owi
ngup.

Myai mforthefollowingchaptersi
stohel pyou
make sense of your doubts and ques
tions –
becaus
ethatisprecisel
ywhatIdi dnothave.

Myaimf orthefol
lowingchapt
ersi
stohelpyou
bet
terunder
s t
andexactl
yhow youcanbowlfas
t
–becaus
ethati
sal
lIhaveeverwant
edt
odo.

92
BELIEF
 Bel
ief

I
tal
lst
art
sinyourmi
nd.

Sor
ry.

Yourmi
nds
et.

AsMarti
n Lutheronces ai
d,"fai
thistaki
ngthe
fi
rsts
tep even when you don'tsee t
he whol
e
s
tai
rcas
e".

Irememberdraf
tingani
nter
view f
oroneofour
gues
tson ThePaceJour
naland Nheem s
aidto
me," as
k,whatdoesittakeforhim(thebowl er
)to
beli
eve t he phil
osophies that the coach i s
suggesti
ng?" I t
hought this was a f
ascinati
ng
ques
tionbecausethi
sist
hes
tar
tingpoi
ntofany
meaningf
ulchange.

Fai
th and bel
iefar
enotaboutt
ryi
ngs
omet
hing
one day and t
hen abandoni
ng i
tthe next.You
havetobeal l
-inwithwhatevers
peci
ficgoalyou
ar
etr
yingt
oachi
eve.Cont
rar
ytowhatyoumay
thi
nk,sti
cki
ngwithsomethi
ngi snotjustabout
dis
cipl
ineandcons
ist
ency– butaboutfai
thand
bel
iefaswel
l.

94
 Bel
ief

Whet
herit'
sali
fes
tyl
echange,at
echni
calchange
oraf
itnes
sgoal
,youhavetobealli
nandbel i
eve
inwhatyouar
edoing.Other
wi s
e,yourchancesof
complet
ionwi
lldi
minishquickly!

Lif
eishar
d,ands
portisnodif
ferent
.Ihavefaced
someofthemostinsurmountablechal
lengesin
mypursui
tofbowl i
ngfas
t;in ever
ysingleway;
ment
all
y,phys
ical
ly,emot
ional
ly,fi
nanci
allyand
evens
pir
itual
ly.

Ihavecomet
oacceptt
hatnogoali
nli
fei
seas
y.

And t
he s
econd you s
ign up t
o become a f
ast
bowl
er,yousignupf oraworldofpai
nandj oy.
Youhavetobewil
lingtoendur
ethepai
nt orel
ish
thej
oyfulmomentsthatcomewiththeskil
lthat
wealll
ove.

ngback,whatIhavel
Looki earnedisthatbel
iefi
s
genui
nel
yoneoft hemostcri
ticalf
act
orsinyour
abil
ityt
obowlfas
t.Andpers
onal
lyspeaki
ng,i
t's
probabl
ysomet
hingIcoul
dhaveimprovedon!

95
 Bel
ief

Cri
cketisat eam s
port,so no mat
terhow har
d
you try; you can't bl
ock out t he nat
ural
compar i
sonsand competit
ive j
ealous
yt hatone
faceswhenplayingi
nateam.Pl eas
enot e,ther
eis
a diff
erence i
n bei
ng jeal
ous ofs omeone and
being competiti
velyjeal
ous of s
omeone. The
for
meri ssini
ster,and t
he l
att
ercan hel
p you
rai
s eyourgame.

Iti
seasyt
odoubtandbeatyours
elfupi fyouare
notper
formi
ng,butyourt eammates are.That
team changing r
oom can f
eell
ike t
he loneli
est
placeontheplanetatti
mes.WhatIhavel ear
ned
isthatthesemoment s(whi
chyouwi l
lfaceal ot
of)arethe ti
mes when a f
astbowl erbecomes
vulner
abl
e.Thesecondyouar eexposedli
kethi
s,
youcanfalli
ntohabit
sofwant i
ngt oconti
nual
ly
changet
hingswhenyoudon'
tneedt
o.

I
tisi
mpor
tantt
oremembert
hatyouar
ehuman.
You areallowed t
ohavebad days.Ther
eason I
am flaggi
ng bel
iefup asacontri
butort
o bei
ng
abl
etobowlf
asti
ssi
mpl
ybecaus
eoft
hement
al
chal
lengesyouwi
llf
acei
nyourj
our
ney.

Ir
epeat
,yourj
our
ney.

96
 Bel
ief

Oneoft hebigges
tmi st
akesayoungfas
tbowler
can make i
st otry and compar
ethemsel
vesto
ot
her
s.

Ever
ysi
ngl
eper
son on t
hepl
anethasauni
que
f
ingerpr
int– t
hinkofourj
our
neysi
nthes
ame
way.

Ihavepersonal
lys
eenbowlers(Iwon'tmenti
on
any names
) who wer
e never cons
ider
ed t
o be
speci
al.Sti
ll,l
ateron,i
nthei
rcareers
,theyhave
doneincredibl
et hi
ngsandplayedatthehighes
t
l
evel
.

On thecontrar
y,Ihaves een bowlerswho were
highl
ight
edast henextbigges
tt hi
ngs,butasti
me
wenton,theylostthatsparkandf adedoutofthe
game.

Bel
ief
,bel
ief
,bel
ief
.

You havet
obel
ievei
n youruni
quej
our
neyand
block outwhati sgoingon around you.I
fyour
peersar eexcel
lingand you ar
enot,don’tleti
t
br
eakyours
pir
itordemot
ivat
eyou.

97
 Bel
ief

Moral
eandconf
idenceares
uchpr eci
oust
hings
,
andashumanbeingsandathl
etes– weal
lneed
meas
ur esi
n pl
acetohel
p usr
emai
nfocus
ed on
t
hethingswecancont
rol
.

Beingsi
ngl
e-mindedandal
mostignor
antofwhat
other
saredoingcanbeaverybenefi
cialt
rai
tto
have.

Her
eist
het
hingt
hough,youcan'
t'f
orge'bel
ief
.

ThisiswhyIs aiditi
ssoimportantt
ocont
inual
ly
ask why and educat
e your
sel
fon whatyou are
doing;nott
obeannoyi ng.Nottoberudeandnot
to undermine your coach – but t
o hel
p you
unders
tand thepath you ar
eaboutt otake.So,
youcanbef ull
yinvestedint hevi
siont
hatyour
coachhasf
oryou.

Ifyou don'
thaveacoach,thest
rengt
h ofyour
bel
iefandthecr
edi
bleknowl
edgeyouhaveacces
s
towil
lhel
preas
sur
eyout
hatyouar
eont
her
ight
pat
h.

Youwi
llbes
urpr
isedhow much eas
iert
hedar
k
daysbecomewhenyourbel
iefi
sst
rong!

98
 Bel
ief

Notjus
tbel
iefi
nyourt
rainingpl
an,butbeli
efi
n
your
sel
faswell.I
fyou arewill
ing t
oinvesti
n
yourcar
eerandwor
khar
dfori
t,whocant
hrow
youofft
rack?

You wi
llbehitwith manydoubt
ersand peopl
e
whowilldi
rect
lyori
ndirect
lyt
ryt
othrow youof
f
cour
se– t hisis why beli
ef i
n your
sel
fiss o
import
ant
.I ti
syourmotivati
onandyourdef
ence
mechani
sm agai
nst negat
ive t
hought
s and
ener
gy.

Thereiss o much inf

ormat
ion outt
here.I
fyou
spend an adequat
eamountoft i
mes t
udyi
ng i
t,
youcanqui t
equickl
ygainabasicunder
standi
ng
ofthefundament
althingsyouneedtoworkonas
afastbowler.

Remember
,tr
aini
ngand i
mpr
ovementi
sn'
tjus
t
aboutt
heworkyoudoont
hef i
eld,i
t'sal
sodown
tothewor
kyoudoofft
hefi
eld.

99
 Bel
ief

Canyoucallyour
sel
fanambiti
ous
,f as
tbowleri
f
youdon'
thavethedi
sci
pli
neanddrivetos
itt
here
ands
tudyyourcr
aft
?

Once your knowl

edge i
ncr
eas
es,your t
rai
ning
wil
lst
arttomakemor esensetoyou,andt
hisi
sa
ver
y,ver
ypowerfulposi
tiontobein.

Iwil
lel
aborat
eont hi
sint henextchapterbutto
summari
se – you need t
o beli
eve thatyou can
becomeabet t
erf
astbowl
ert
o becomeabet
ter
fastbowl
er.

I
fyoudon'
tbel
ievei
t,how wi
llyoubecomei
t?

1
00
TECHNIQUE
 Techni
que

Techni
queissuchanint
eres
tings
ubj
ectwheni
t
comestof
astbowli
ng.

Look,weallknowt
hattherear
ebowlersoutther
e
who are genet
icf
reaks.They ar
e bl
essed wit
h
f
ast-
twit
ch fi
bres and naturalbowli
ng act
ions
t
hatoozetechni
calperfect
ion.Butthatdoesnot
meanthatsomeonewhoi sn'
tbles
sedwiththose
gi
ftscan'
twor
khar
dtoj
oint
hem –orevencome
cl
ose.

Scient
ifi
cal
lys peaking– t
hekeyst o generat
ing
speed ar
er el
ativel
ys i
mple,and oneoft hefirs
t
voicesi
nthiss
pacewasI an Pont
.Hedi
ssect
ed
fas
t bowli
ng techni
que and put i
tinto an
act
ionabl
ef r
amework.In myopinion,the'Four
TentPegs'byIanisacl
assicandgreatmodelf or
anyonewho doesn'
thaveaf rameworkf ortheir
act
ion.

Thi
siswher
ethear
tis
tryoff
astbowl
ingcomes
i
ntoi
t.AsmuchasIbel
ievei
ntheFourTentPegs
andit
suni
vers
alappl
icat
ion–therewi
llbet
imes
whenthef
rameworkcanfai
lyou.

1
02
 Techni
que

TakeShaun Tai
tforexampl
e– someonewit
ha
compl
etel
yflawed(t
echni
cal
lys
peaki
ng)bowl
ing
acti
onbuts t
illoneoft
hef
ast
estbowl
erst
oever
playthegame.

Ir emember s
peaki
ng t o Jock i
n det
ailabout
Shaun.We laughed over a bitofinsi
ghtthat
everyonetalksabout-how Shaunisonebal
laway
from breaki
nghi sback,buttheonlyt
imeheever
fel
t pai
ni s when s
omeone t
ried t
otweak or
changehisact
ion.

Why?

Techniqueisimport
ant– donotforonesecond
assume that I am sayi
ng that t
echni
que is
redundant.Butther
eisabi gdif
fer
encein how
techni
quelooksandhow t
echni
quefeel
s.

And t
hisi
sthepoi
ntIwantt
ohi
ghl
ighti
nthi
s
chapt
er.

Somet
imes
,whatl
ooksgr
eatmi
ghtf
eelhor
ribl
e,
andwhatl
ookshor
ribl
emi ghtf
eelgr
eat
.Igues
s
Shauni
sanexampl
eoft hi
s.

1
03
 Techni
que

I can s
ay t
he same for myself.I remember
br
eakingmyact
ion down and rebui
ldi
ngi tt
oa
poi
ntwhereever
ys i
nglef
ramehadtobeper
fect
–andgues
swhat ,i
tevent
ual
lywas
!

ButIwasbowl i
ngs l
owerthanIhaveeverbowl
ed
i
nmyl if
e.Isimplycouldnotunders
tandwhy.I
thoughtsci
encecouldn'
tfai
lyou?

Onceagai
n,Is t
res
sthei
mport
anceofrespect
ing
t
heartoff as
tbowl i
ngwhi
leunder
standingthe
s
ciencei
nvol
ved.

Locki
e Fer
gus
on i
s anot
her exampl
e, he i
s
someonewho i salwaysbeing cr
iti
cis
ed forthe
extremel at
eralf
lexi
on thathepossessesin hi
s
action. I remember speaki
ng to hi m about
techniqueandhisapproachtomakingchangesto
hisacti
on.Hi sexactwordswere,"
therearealot
ofver ysuccessf
ulf as
tbowlers who have had
bizar
re techniques. With fast bowli
ng, it'
s
howeveryourbodywor kstobowlthatball
".For
mepersonal
ly,Il
ookf
or'
cues
'wi
thi
nabowl
ing
act
ion.

1
04
 Techni
que

Forexample,(1)havi
ngenergy(
momentum f
rom
yourrun-
up) .(
2)havingti
me( t
ogothr
ought he
moti
onsofyourload up and bowli
ngpat hway).
(
3)havingan i
mpactand beingabl etopr oduce
f
orceint
othegroundandbl ockt heener
gyf rom
yourr un-up t
hatistravell
ing li
nearly and (
4)
havingexplosi
vepowerands peed(toexplodeout
ofthecrease)aremorecrit
icalfactor
stof eelf
or
thansearchingforwhatlooksr i
ghtonacamer a
s
creen.

WhenIwat chabowl
ingact
ion,Ili
ter
all
ytr
yto
f
eelwhatt
hebowleri
sexper
ienci
ng.

I
n my opi
nion,t
he mos
tcr
uci
alas
pectoft
he
bowlingact
ionist
hes t
retched-outpos i
tioni
nthe
creas
e,whichIcallt
he'PowerPos i
tion'andwhat
Ianrefer
encesasthe'st
ars hape'
.

Rememberme s peaking abouthei

ghtbeing an
advant
ageand adisadvantage?Well,t
hinkofit
thisway,thepowerposit
ionisyourbodyutil
isi
ng
everysinglebodyparttoit
smaxi malcapaci
tyt o
applyforcetot hebal
l.The'weaker'yourpower
posit
ion,thehigherthelossofpotenti
alenergy.
Forme,thi
spos
iti
oni
sthehear
toft
hebowl
ing
act
ion.

1
05
 Techni
que

How you get i

nto that pos
iti
on, how you
t
rans
iti
ont
hroughitandoutofiti
sworthabook
ofit
sown.Fornow,Iwouldliketohi
ghlighthow
import
anti
tistous eyourbodyeffi
ciently,and
ever
yonewil
luniquel
ydot hi
s;somebet terthan
ot
her
s.

To put thisinto perspecti

ve, s
omebody wi
th
excel
lentphys
icalat
tri
but essuchashei
ghtwhi
ch
cannotus
e hi
sorheradvant
age wi
llf
allshort
agai
nstsomeone s
mal
ler who i
s get
ting t
he
maxi
mum ef
fici
encyoutoft
hei
ract
ion.

Thebes
twayofconcept
ual
isi
ngt
hisi
stot
hinkof
your body and bowl ing acti
on as a human
catapult
.Theseriesofmovement st
hatyourbody
goes through duri
ng your deli
verystri
de will
eit
herhel pyouenhanceormi nimis
etheeffectof
t
hiscat
apul
t.

Ti
mingi
sanot
hercr
iti
calas
pecti
nvol
ved.

Thef
irs
tti
meIeverwentt
oseeI
anPont
.Iwass
o
exci
ted,and Ir
ememberbowli
ng.Nothi
ng f
elt
ri
ght–Iwaswayt oor
ushedinmyproces
s–my
ti
mingwasul
timat
elyoff
.Becaus
eofthi
s,there
wasnowayIwasgett
ingint
omypowerposi
tion!

1
06
 Techni
que

Ianst
oppedme,andhes
aid,"
thel
astt
hingyou
doisbowlt
hebal
l.
"

Thos
ewordshaveres
onated wi
th meeversi
nce
he sai
dthem. I
t'sfunny how a naï
ve mind
operates. As a f ast bowler, your natural
incl
inat i
on usual
lyis,"oh,Ineed to move my
armsr eall
yfastto bowlfas
t".The opposi
tei s
act
ual l
y whatyou wantt o do.By slowing t
he
motions down,you allow your body to gli
de
thr
ought hecr
eas
ewhils
tyourupperbodycr eates
a natural delay and exploits t
he
s
tret
ch-
shor
teni
ng-
cycl
e(s
tret
chr
efl
ex)
.

Bys
lowi
ngdown,Idon'
tmeanyourr
un-
up,Iam
refer
ringtothemoti
onofyourarmsthroughyour
loadupandt hewayyourupperbodysetsupj ust
asyou ar eaboutto del
ivert
heball
.Al loft he
abovei spoi
ntles
sifthemovementswithin your
act
ion donotf
eelcomf
ort
abl
eand r
ightt
oyou.
Your body is your body, and one technical
fr
amewor k wi
llnotguar ant
ee thatyou willbe
abl
etobowlatyourf
ast
est
.

1
07
 Techni
que

I
n myopinion,ther
eares peci
ficcharact
eri
sti
cs
t
hatabowlerneedstohavetogeneratehisorher
topspeed.Themor echaract
eris
ticsyoupos s
ess
,
the hi
gher your consequenti
alt op speed.And
guesswhat,theyareallbasedonf eel
ing.

1-Energy

Somebowlersneedalotofgr
oundspeedwher
eas
otherbowl
ersgenerat
eal otofthei
rpacefrom
sheer br
utest
rength and power
.However,all
bowlerswil
lneed t
o bring s
omes or
tofener
gy
i
ntot
hecr
eas
efr
om t
hei
rrun-
up.

Thekeyher
e,t
houghi
stounder
standwhatyour
opt
imalr
un-
ups
peedi
s.

Forexample,whenIt rytor
unintoofast,Irush
myaction,and ever
ythingj
ustf
eelsbroken and
outofs
ync.IfIrunintoos low,If
eell
ikeIhave
an i
ncredi
ble amount of t
ime in my del
iver
y
s
tri
de(
whi
chi
sagoodt
hing)
.St
ill
,Ihavet
orel
y
heavi
lyonmuscl
ingtheballdownbecaus
ethere'
s
notmuch gr
ound speed ormoment um to pl
ay
wi
th.

1
08
 Techni
que

Whenyouhi
tthatsweetspot
,whereyouarenot
r
unningi
ntoofastbutnottoosl
ow eit
her
.You
wil
ls tri
ke the perf
ectbal ance r
equi
red to go
through your act
ion comfortabl
y whil
e having
enoughmoment um t
ohi tyouroptimum speed.

Remember,the key here i

s to bui
ld your
momentum upasyouappr
oachthecr
eas
e.

Themostcri
ticals
tri
desi
nyourrun-upar
eyour
las
tthr
ee(orone)becauset
hosearethestr
ides
t
hatwilldeterminewhetheryou accel
erat
eint
o
t
hecreaseorjustfl
oati
ntoit.

Run- up s
peed isa s i
gnifi
cantl
yi ndivi
duali
sed
thing,and theonly way you wil
lknow whati s
right f
or you i
st o experiment with dif
fer
ent
temposwhi lerunning.You don'teven need to
bowlwhi l
edoingthesedrill
s.

I
tisal
sowor
thmenti
oningthatrun-
upspeedand
r
hythm go hand-
in-hand. If you are not
comfor
tabl
ewhil
erunningin,youwi
llneverf
ind
rhyt
hm.Trustmeonthat.

1
09
 Techni
que

WhatIhavef ound i
n mybowli
ng i
sthatmos t
days
,Is
truggl
et oat
tackt
hecr
easeandIfal
lint
o
ahabi
tofr
unni
ngi
nwi
tht
hes
amet
empo;s
tuck
i
nonegear
.

However,Iwillr andoml
y have dayswhere my
l
egsfeelul
tra-
light,andIfeell
ikeIam fl
yingin
myrun-up.Thesear
et hedaysIfeelli
keIcan
r
eal
ly att
ack t
he creas
e and not di
stur
b my
r
hyt
hm orcomf
ort
abl
enes
sint
hepr
oces
s.

WhatIhavefound,(
wewi l
lspeakaboutt
hismore
i
ntheFitnes
schapter)i
sthatthefit
terIam,the
bet
terIr un.And the f
ast
erIam – the more
comfor
tableIwi
llf
eelwhenr unni
ngi
natafas
ter
s
peed.

Ihopet
hismakess
ens
e.

I
fyouareunf
it,yourbodyhast
oworkharderto
r
un i
n ata speed of10kph (
I am us
ing t
his
numberasanexampl
e).So,1
0kphwi
llbeamax
ef
for
tforyou.

1
10
 Techni
que

I
fyourrunningmechani
csarecorr
ectandyouare
f
it,r
unningat10kphwil
lthenbecomeanaverage
speedf
oryou– thusmaki
ngiteasi
erforyout
o
att
ackt
hecreas
ewhilemai
ntai
ningrhyt
hm.

Iti
snos ecr
etthatBr
ettLeebowled hi
sfastest
whenhewaschargi
ngi
nandattacki
ngthecrease.
Ial
sor ecallJockoncesayi
ngthatwhenBret
twas
athisabs olut
efastes
t,hewassprint
ing1
00m in
1
1seconds
.

Thepoi
ntIam tr
yingtomakeher
eisthatsome
sor
tofener
gyisrequi
redt
obowlfas
t.Sti
ll,t
he
speed in which you can r
un i
n whil
epreser
ving
otherfactorsbelow i
swhatyouwi l
lneedtofi
gure
outforyour
sel
f,andt
heyar
eimpor
tantt
hingst
o
cons
ider!

1
11
 Techni
que

2-Bal
ance

Iremembers peakingt
o Pet
erMar
casci
ano and
Ruben Tabar
es( t
wo ofthemos
twellrespect
ed
andleadingstr
engthandcondi
tioningcoachesi
n
theworld)aboutfas
tbowli
ng.Mos toftheirwor
k
hasbeenatt hehighes tl
evelinot hersportss
uch
as boxing,athl
etics and football.St
ill
,I have
wit
nes s
ed them breakat hl
eticmovement sdown
andanal ys
ethem likenooneel s
e!

When Is howed them avideo ofaf as

tbowl er
s'
acti
on,thefi
rstthingtheyflaggedupwast hatat
everyst
ageofthebowl ingaction,youareonone
l
eg!

Thi
nkabouti
t.

Whenyour
un,yout
rans
iti
onf
rom onel
egt
othe
ot
her
.

Yout
hent
akeof
ffr
om onel
eg(
yourl
eftl
egi
fyou
ar
ear
ight
-handbowl
er)
.

Yout henl
andi
nthecr
eas
e,ononel
eg(
yourback
leg)
.

1
12
 Techni
que

You t
hen trans
feral
loft hatenergy onto your
fr
ontleg (
yourback leg may s
til
lbe grounded
whilethisishappening).Iam r ef
err
ing tothe
weight dis
tri
bution as al
l of your weight i
s
eventual
lytrans
ferred t
o yourfrontleg asyou
bowl
.

You t
hen exi
tt hecr
ease,l
and on yourbackl eg
af
terithasdri
venoutofthecr
easeandr ecoverin
yourf
oll
ow-
thr
ough.

Ateveryphas
eoft hebowli
ngact
ion,yourbodyis
requir
edtobalanceits
elfononelegandathi gh
speed.

Balancei ssuchacri
ticalaspectofbeingabl
eto
preserve energy and ens ure t hat you ar
e
tr
ans i
tioningsaf
elyt
hr oughthecrease.

1
13
 Techni
que

3– Rel
axat
ion

Eversince Icoul
dr ememberbowl
ing a bal
l,I
have done it with an i
mmense amount of
aggr
ession.

Youarerai
sedt
obeli
evet
hatfastbowl
ersneedt
o
bescar
yandaggres
sive– Iusedtotr
yandhur l
thebal
ldownwi t
hasmuchs
trengt
handpoweras
Ipossi
blycoul
d.

ThenIs tar
tedtos t
udyandlear
nthetr
uthabout
speed and how '
tensi
on'act
ual
lypr
ohibi
tsyour
mus
clesf
rom movi
ngf
reel
y.

Whenwebowl
,weneedourbodyt
ober
elaxedt
o
uti
lise the st
ret
ch-short
ening-
cycl
e ( st
ret
ch
ref
lex) whi
ch i
ss uch an import
ant as
pect of
gener
ati
ngs
peed.

Her
e'st
hef
unnyt
hingt
hough– t
hes
econdyou
t
ens
eup;youki
llormi
nimi
set
heef
fect
soft
he
s
tret
chr
efl
exs
igni
ficant
ly.

Iam embar
ras
s edtosayt
hatt
hisi
ssomet
hingI
f
igur
edoutverylat
einmygame.

1
14
 Techni
que

Themore'r
elaxed'Iwas,themor epowerIcould
gener
ate– i
twass uch a s
trangerevel
ati
on f
or
me!

Growi
ngup,Iusedt ogetyell
edat(
inaposi
tive
way)f
rom Nheem f
ornot'fini
shi
ngmyact
ion'.I
remember him showing me vi
deos of i
tt o
highl
ighthow Iwoul
dj us
tletgo oft
heballat
rel
easeandtheneas
eoutofmyact ionfrom that
pointon.Whathe was sayi
ng to me i
st hatI
wasn'tfi
nis
hing my act
ion wi
thf ul
ls houlder
r
otat
ion.

Themorehewoul dsayit
,themoreIusedt otr
y
and f
ini
sh my acti
on and t
he t
enser I woul
d
become.

Nheem was1
00% r
ighti
nwhathewass
ayi
ng.At
t
het
ime,Ij
ustdi
dn'
tknow how i
mpor
tanti
twas
f
ormetorel
axf
ormybodytocr
eatet
heel
ast
ici
ty
r
equi
redt
oexpl
odeoutofmyacti
onandf
ini
shit!

I
twasonl
ywhen Iwat
chedcl
ipsofMohammad
Amir bowl
ing fr
om one s
tep,t
wo s
teps,three
st
epsandeventuall
ygoi
ngbackt
ohi
sf ul
lrun-
up
thatIrealis
ed how s
moot
h he wasdur
ing t
he
enti
reprocess.

1
15
 Techni
que

Ispeakaboutt
hisi
nal
otmor
edet
aili
nal
ater
chapt
er.

WhetherIwasbowl
ing f
rom one s
tep or1
0,I
woul
dalwayst
ryt
obowlasfastasIcoul
d.

WhatI di
scover
ed when wat
chi
ng Mohammad
Amirwasthatwhen hewasbowli
ngfr
om afew
s
teps
,everyt
hingwassos
moothandnotf
orced.
I
fanythi
ng,hewasseemi
ngl
y'sl
ow'f
rom j
usta
few st
eps.Itwasonl
ywhen hewaschar gi
ngin
from hisful
lrun-
up thatever
ythi
ng s
tart
ed t
o
crankup.

It
hens
ear
chedt
hei
nter
nett
oseemor
ebowl
ers
inthei
rwarm- up,anditseemedli
ketheywer eall
doing t
he same thing.From a shor
terr un-up,
they would '
groove' thei
r way through their
acti
ons,and ast hey s
tart
ed r
unning infrom a
l
onger di
stance,wi
th mor
eint
ent
,ever
ythi
ng
s
tar
tedt
orampupabi
t.

Ir
emembergoi
ng s
trai
ghtt
othenet
sand j
ust
eas
ingmywaythroughmywarm-up,exactl
yli
ke
how Ihads
eent
hem doit
.Icoul
dnotbelievet
he
result
s– If el
tsos
moot
h,s
orhyt
hmi
caland s
o
explosive!

1
16
 Techni
que

Itwasonl
yatthispoi
ntt
hatIst
art
edtodomore
andmoreres
earchonhow t
ens
ionact
ual
lys
tops
youfrom producingspeed,andmyf indingsblew
meaway.I ncredi
bly,Ihadf i
rstcomeacr ossthis
ent
iretheor y whil
e I was bowling! But then,
sci
ence al
so backed up ever
ythi
ng t
hat I was
exper
ienci
ng.

Ifeelembar
rassedtoadmi
tthis– butIact
ual
ly
spentthemajor
ityofmyyoungeryear
stryi
ngto
bowlatmymaximum speedf
rom j
ustafew st
eps.
WhenIs eeot
her
sdoingthesame,Iurgethem t
o
usethei
rrun-upandgiverhyt
hm andmoment
um
achancetocontr
ibut
et ot
heirspeed.

Thisisoneoft
hemai ndi
ffer
encesbetweenf
ast
bowli
ng and basebal
l. They don't get an
opport
unit
ytoruni
nf r
om adist
ance.Wedo!

4-Ti
ming

A concur
rentt
hemei
nthi
sbooki
stheus
eoft
he
wor
d'art'wheni
tcomestofas
tbowli
ng,andthi
s
i
sanotherexample ofi
t.I
n my poi
ntabove,I
menti
onhow importantiti
stokeepyourbodyi n
ar el
axed st
ate during your bowli
ng action.
However,t
hereisastagewhenthe'snap'occurs.

1
17
 Techni
que

Ifyou ar
e notfamil
iarwiththe ki
netic chai
n,
al
low metoquickl
ybreaki
tdownf oryou.

Thi
nk offas
tbowl i
ng as a t
rans
fer ofener
gy
whi
chstar
tsatyourrun-
upandendsatt hepoint
t
hebal
lleavesyourpos
ses
sion.

Yourr
un-
uphel
psyougener
atemoment
um and
ener
gy.

Theobj
ecti
veofyourjumpistothen'carry't
hat
ener
gy f
rom your r
un-up i
nto your back f
oot
contactinthe cr
ease.The more ef
fici
entyour
take-of
fis
,themor eener
gyyoupreserve.

From back foot cont

act,your objecti
ve i
st o
transf
erener
gyup t hebody( f
orces ummation)
,
throught
hekineti
cchai n.Fr
om yourbackfootto
backkneet
obackhi
p,t
hroughyourcor
e,ches
t,
shoul
der,arm,wr i
standthentheballi
sli
ter
all
y
abouttoleaveyourfi
nger
tipsandexi
tyourhand.
Thi
sent
iremot
ionhappensi
nabl
inkofaneye–
i
tisr
api
d!

1
18
 Techni
que

Onceyou arei
nt hepowerposition and certai
n
par
ts ofyourbody ar
e eccent
rical
lys t
ret ched,
your muscles have an enormous pot
ential t
o
producepowert haniftheywereinaconcent ri
c
stat
e. Thi
s power pos i
tion i
st he window of
oppor t
unit
yforyoutoexer
tmaxi malforceinthe
shortestamountoftime to hel
p accel
eratethe
pathofyourarm.ButasIs aidabove,thisent
ire
motionhappenss oqui
ckthat9t imesoutof1 0,
youwi
llnotexecut
eitf
lawl
ess
ly.

In myopi
nion,t
hiscould beoneofther
easons
whywehaven'tseen moredeli
ver
iesat160kph
and above f
rom bowler
s who have al
ready
achi
eved t
he l
andmar
k.Being abl
eto'
execute'
per
fectt
imi
ngi
sanar
t.

Essenti
ally,ti
ming is a cr
ucialaspect of f
ast
bowling and t
he bes
tway t o hel
p you i
mpr ove
yourtimingistofi
ndcuesin youract
ion which
help you separ
atethe r
elaxed st
ate of your
bowl
ingf
rom t
he'
power
'st
ateofyourbowl
ing.

1
19
 Techni
que

Forexample,f
orme,mymos tconsi
stentper
iod
ofi
n-rhyt
hm bowl
inghasbeenwhenIhavehada
longl
oadup.Ther easonf
orthisi
spurelybecaus
e
ofthe cue I was ablet
o use.As soon as my
bowli
ng hand (ri
ghtar m) had tr
avel
led down
from myheadt opastmybackl egandbehindme
– Is ubconsci
ously knew that the moment t
o
applyf orcewasimmi nent.Andt henboom – my
leftl
egwoul dhittheground,andIwoul dexpl
ode
aspower
ful
lyasIcoul
d.

Byusi
ngaf eel
ing-
basedcue,Iwasabletofreemy
mind ofcomplex t
echni
cali
tiesand executemy
deli
veri
esalotmoreconsi
stent
ly.Ihavehear
d
otherbowl
erss
peakaboutt
akingthei
rtimewit
h
thei
rnon-
bowl
ingarm whichwouldgoupsl
owly
andthent
heywoul
dr api
dlypul
litdownasacue.

Somebowl er
shaveacount,so,astheyar
eint he
air,t
heycount(int
heirhead)1 ,2,3,and t
hen
theyexpl
odeoutoft
heiracti
ons.

Eachbowlerwi
llhavethei
rownproces
stotiming
and the more you bowl,the more you wil
l
unders
tand youract
ion and t
he mor
e you wi
ll
fi
gureoutwhatworksbestforyou.

1
20
 Techni
que

5-Fl
ow

One oft
he r
easons why I str
ongl
y encourage
bowl
erst
onotsearchforper
fecti
onisbecaus
eof
the pointIam aboutto make.The mor
e you
practi
cesomet
hing,themoreyouembedit,i
nto
yourmuscl
ememoryandthemor econfi
dentand
comfor
tabl
eyou wi
llbewhen you ar
erepeat
ing
themovement
.

WhenIs ayf
low,Iam r
efer
ringtothepat
hwayof
yourl
egsandarmsduringyourbowli
ngacti
on.
Thefas
tbowlers
'act
ion i
slikepoetr
y– i ti
sa
har
moniousbl
endofsmoothnessandaggr
essi
on.

Sor
ry.

Cont
rol
ledaggr
ess
ion.

Theonl
ywayt
omas
teryouract
ioni
stos
tickwi
th
it
.

Iam avi ct
im ofcont
inuall
yexplori
ngdi f
fer
ent
act
ionsand st
yles.Al
though atti
mes ,i
tcan be
benef
ici
al– you need t
o know when enough i
s
enough.

1
21
 Techni
que

Remember, decis
ions r
egardi
ng your action
shoul
d begover
ned by(1)how you f
eeland (
2)
whether you ares
uff
eri
ng f
rom a s
ever
e and
repeat
edinjury.

I
fyouract
ionfeelsgr
eat
,yourobj
ect
ives
houl
dbe
t
onow masterit.

When Is
ays t
ick wi
thi
t,Iam notrefer
ring t
o
mi
nortweaks– thos
ear
efine.Iam r
eferri
ngto
si
gnif
icantchangesin youracti
on asthese big
movements can dis
turb( i
f not des
troy) your
nat
uralf
lai
rands
tyl
e.

Remember
,fas
tbowl
ing i
saboutbei
ng abl
eto
expr
essyour
sel
f.

I
tisal
laboutconf
idence.

Justtakeyour
selfbackt
oat i
mewhenyouwere
playi
ng a mat ch and took a wi
cket
. Now
r
emembert
hever
ynextbal
laf
tert
hatwi
cket–
ther
ei sa hi
gh chancet hatyou fel
ta lotmor e
energet
ic,al
otstrongerandal otquickerr
ight
?

That'
sal i
ttl
ebitofadr
enal
ineandawhol
eload
ofconfi
dence!

1
22
 Techni
que

Conf
idencecomesf
rom mas
ter
y.

Mas
ter
ycomesf
rom r
epet
iti
on.

I
fyoukeepchangi
ngt
hings
,youwi
llonl
ycr
eat
e
doubtsin yourmi
nd and f
alli
nto bad t
rai
ning
habi
ts!

1
23
EXPERIENCE
 Experi
ence

Iwas1 3 year
sol
d when If
ellinlovewithfas
t
bowl
ing.Iwaswat chi
ngShoai
b Akhtarbowlon
theTV,andIr ememberbeingbl
ownawaybyt he
sightofhisblis
ter
ing s
peed.Thecamera angl
e
wasf r
om afar
,soIcouldn'
tenti
rel
ybreakdown
orgets
uperanal
yti
calwi
thhi
sbowl
ingact
ion.

Al
lIknew i
sthatIwant
edt
obowlj
ustl
ikehi
m.

Thecamerathenswi
tchedt
oacl
os e-
uphighli
ght
ofhim bowl
ingsomeoneout– you know when
theyonl yshow youthetophal foft
hebowl erin
the tel
evis
ion highl
ightreel.Til
lthisday,that
visualisst
ills
tuckinmymi nd.

The way Shoaib's non-bowl

ing hand and ar
m
wrapped acr
os s hi
s body as he t
wis
ted i
ntoa
si
de-on posi
tion tosli
ng theballdown athigh
s
peed.Thi
sscene was al
lIneeded t
o getme
s
tar
tedi
nmy'
bowl
-li
keShoai
b'mi
ssi
on.

Ir
emembergoi
ngt
othenet
sand j
ustt
ryi
ngt
o
mi
micthatexactmot
ionofmynon-
bowl
ingar
m
wr
appi
ngacrossme.

1
25
 Experi
ence

If
eltjus
tlikeShoai
b,andIwasbowl ingfas
t(f
or
my age and multi
ple age gr
oups above me).
Looki
ng back, this was probably t
he mos t
ef
fect
iveIhaveeverbeenasaf astbowleri
nt he
middle, i
n matches. I was abl
et o perf
orm
because,inmymi nd,everythi
ngwasokay.Iwas
confi
dent.Iwass ur
et hatmybowl i
ngactionwas
exactl
yl i
keShoaib Akhtar,so Ihad not
hingto
worry or thi
nk about.I had immens e ment
al
cl
ari
ty,andt
echni
quewasnotaconcer
ntomeat
al
l.

WhenIwas1 4yearsold,Ir
ememberwatchi
ngmy
acti
onf ort
hef i
rsttimeonas cr
een– andIwas
shocked!

I
tlookednot
hingl
ikeShoai
bAkht
ar'
sact
ion!For
t
he past year
,I had f
eltlike my acti
on was
i
dent
icaltohis.Buti
twasthecompleteoppos
ite.

Funnil
yenough,thereasonIwat chedmyact ion
back i
s becaus
e I kept get
ting repeat
ed back
inj
uries
.Ineededtogivemyphysi
o,DrBaj wa,a
cli
p ofmebowl i
ngso hecoul
d deter
minewhat
mighthavebeencaus
ingmetheproblems.

1
26
 Experi
ence

Otherwi
se,Ihad no des
ireto wat
ch my act
ion
back.Hisanal
ysi
swasi nter
est
ing– hetold me
thatIwascros
singovermaj
orl
yinmyl
owerhal
f.
Asar esul
t,Iwasput t
ingi
mmensepr
ess
ureon
myback.

Irememberhim refer
encing Ri
chard Hadl
eet
o
measagreatt
echnicalbowli
ngr ol
emodel.

I wal
ked away from that t
reat
ment s
es s
ion
t
hinki
ng,"
Idon'tknow t
oomuchaboutHadleeor
how fas
thebowl ed,butIdo know aboutBret
t
Lee,and his acti
on looks l
ess
...wi
ldthan my
curr
entacti
on" .

So,Ibegan s
couri
ngtheinter
net,t
ryingtofind
cli
psofBrettLee,which Icoul
d use asvi
sual
exampl
esandguidest
ohelpmet r
yandmi michis
act
ion. I
t was one of t
he mos
t exhi
lar
ati
ng
moment
sofmyl
ife.

AsmuchasIwass
hockedanddi
sgus
tedt
hatmy
act
ionlookednothi
nglikeShoaib'
s,Iwasexci
ted
attheprospectofwhatImi ghtbowlli
keonceI
haveanact
ionl
ikeBr
ettLee.

1
27
 Experi
ence

Thereason Iam tel

lingyout
hisst
oryistogi
ve
you some context on wherethe sear
ch f
or
perf
ectionbeganf orme.Iam surethatmanyof
you readi
ng thiswi l
lgo thr
ough (
orare goi
ng
thr
ough)t heexactproces
s.

Fastfor
ward,Ir ememberbeing abl
eto break
bowli
ngact
ionsdownandbeingabletodr
illt
hem
unt
ilIhadnai
leds
omethi
ngclosetot
heor i
ginal
.
Icl
assthi
sasoneofmybigges
tstr
engths
.

Itwasn’
tthateas
ythough.Theact
ionthatIhad
beendri
lli
ngandworkingonformonthsonend
wouldfallapar
t as s
oon as I wal
ked i
ntoa
compet
iti
vematchandbowled.

Ir
ememberatthetimet
hinking,"oh,Ineedtodo
moredr
ill
sbecaus
eIhaven'tnail
edi tyet
".

Buti
nthenet
s,i
twoul
dbeper
fect– abs
olut
ely
nopr
obl
ems.

Irememberski
ppingentir
es easonst
operfectmy
bowli
ng act
ion because of the way i
t would
crumblei
nthegames .

1
28
 Experi
ence

Iwasonly17yearsoldt
hef i
rstti
meithappened.
Iwasplayi
ngfirs
t-t
eam cl
ubcr i
cketi
ntheHome
CountiesPremierLeagueforHenleyCricketCl
ub.
Henley,t othis day,is a ver
ys uccessfuland
pres
tigiousclub.Playing f
orHenl ey wasa big
deal,especi
allyfors
omeoneasyoungasIwas .I
remembercal l
ingBjor
n Mordt ,mycapt ai
n,and
tel
ling him thatIcouldn'tplay the r
estofthe
season – he i mmediat
ely as ked to see me
f
ace-
to-f
acet
ofindoutwhatwaswrong.Hewas
s
hockedandannoyed,t
osayt
heleas
t.

Bjorn was ver

ysuppor
tive ofme,and I can'
t
thank him enough f or givi
ng me s uch
oppor
tuniti
es,beingpat
ientandput
tingupwi
th
myludicr
ousi deas.

Atthetime,Iwassofocused on s
teppi
ngback
fr
om thegametofocussol
elyon improvingmy
bowl
ingact
ionunt
ili
twas
… per
fect
.

Whenyou'
repl
ayi
ngcl
ubcr
icket
,yout
rai
ntwi
ce
aweek(TuesdayandThur
sday)andthen pl
aya
l
eaguematchonSatur
dayandoccas
ional
lyacup
gameonSunday.

1
29
 Experi
ence

Iwanted t
ospend ever
ys ingl
edaydril
lingand
i
mprovingmyacti
on.Us ingaTues
day,Thursday,
Satur
day and Sunday,forcl
ub cr
ickett
raining
andmatches,tome,f el
tli
keawas t
eofprecious
ti
me.

Whyam Ibowl
ingwithanimperf
ectact
iononal
l
of t
hes
e days when I can s
pend that t
ime
per
fect
ingmyact
ion?I
swhatIt
hought
.

Ir emember my fat
her, my uncle and cl
ub
captai
nshoundi
ngmet opl
ay.Ther
ewass omuch
excit
ementandexpect
ation f
rom measayoung
fastbowler
,itwas nonsensi
caltothem thatI
wasn'touti
nthemiddle,pl
ayingthegame.

Ir
emembert
hos
eti
mess
ovi
vidl
y.

Iwoul
dn'
tbeabl
etos
leepatni
ghtbecaus
eIwas
s
oconfus
edastowhymyact i
onwoul
dbeper
fect
i
nthenetsbutf
allapar
tint
hegames
.

Thi
sis one oft
he mos
tpai
nfuland val
uabl
e
l
ess
onsthatIhavelear
ned.Icoul
d nevermake
s
enseofwhyitwoul
dhappen–untilIhadachat
wit
h my f
irs
t ever condi
tioni
ng coach,Roddy
Sl
ater
.

1
30
 Experi
ence

Hetol
dmei ns t
rai
ghtfor
wardter
mst hatt
hereis
abi
gdiff
erencein'pr
acti
ce'and'
per
formance'
.

Essent
ial
ly,whatyoudoinpract
icei
snotal
ways
thesameaswhen you 'per
for
m',and t
hisi
sthe
t
hingIneverunder
stoodgr
owi
ngup.

Why?

Becausei
n pract
ice,you haveno pr
essur
e.You
arefreet
o bowland executeyourtechni
queas
youwi
sh.

Nof
earofano-
bal
l.Nof
earofl
osi
ngamat
chand
nofearofembar
rassi
nglys
endi
ngabal
ldownt
he
legsi
deforfi
vewides.

Thes econd you wal

ki nt
oamat ch s
cenar
io,t
he
pres
sur einstant
lykicksin.Youhaveadaunti
ng
umpirest
andi
ngt
her
e.Twobat
smen.Abi
g,open
out
fiel
d.

Youar
esur
roundedbyt
enot
heri
ndi
vidual
swho
ar
eal ll
ooki
ngatyoutodoajob.Thisi
saver
y
di
ffer
entenvir
onmentt
owhatyouareus
edt
oin
pr
act
ice.

1
31
 Experi
ence

IrememberRoddyt
ell
ingmet hatther
ear etwo
waysofover
comi
ngthechal
lengesyoufacewhen
s
wit
chi
ngf
rom pr
act
icet
oper
for
mancemode:

1– I
ntr
oducepr
ess
urei
nyourpr
act
ices
ess
ions
tohel
pyoumi nimiseandmanagei
tbet
terwhen
youencount
eritingames.

2–Pl
aymor
emat
ches
.

Unfor
tunat
ely, I had t
his conver
sati
on with
Roddyin2018–i fonl
yIhadit11yearspri
or!

To ver
ifywhatRoddys ai
d,Iwascommit
ted t
o
pl
ayingasmanymat chesasIcoul
dinthe2018
seas
on andwit
heachgamet
hatwentby,t
hings
didstar
ttof
eelbet
ter
.

Suppos
eyouar
ewonder
ingwhyIam s
har
ingt
his
exper
iencewi
thyou.I
nthatcas
e,iti
sbecaus
eI
know thatan i
ncr
edi
blylar
ge number off
ast
bowl
erswi
llgot
hrought
hes
amet
hing!

Theywi
llmaket
echni
calchanges
,andt
hes
econd
theygointoagame;i
twil
lfal
lapart,andt
heywi
ll
beleftcl
ueles
sastowhyithappened.

1
32
 Experi
ence

Andjus
tli
keme,theywil
lgobackt
ot hedrawing
boar
dandgot
hroughthecycl
eofdr
ill
s,dri
llsand
mor
edr
ill
s.Al
loveragai
n.

Iwanttostr
essthatdri
llsdo havethei
rplace;
t
heyarevi
tal
.Ifyou'
regoingt
ol earnanew ski
ll
or movementpatt
ern,the s
tar
ting poi
ntisto
br
eakt hemovementsdownandperformthem i
n
apr
ogr
ess
ivemanner(
dri
lls
).

However
,t o be abl
e to execute the s
ame
movementsi
namatchscenar
iorequi
resti
meand
wai
tfori
t..exper
ience.

Youcan'
tdo1
0,000 dr
ill
sandwal
kint
oagame
and expect yours el
ft o repl
icat
e the same
movementswi t
ht hes amepreci
sioninyourfi
rst
game.Thistr
ans i
tioncantaketime,andthi
s,(in
myopinion)wast hemi ssi
ngpieceofthepuzzle
f
orme.Had Ibal
anced myt
imedoi
ngt
rai
ning
and dri
llsequal
ly wi
th my t
ime pl
ayi
ng act
ual
matches,theoutcomeofmycareerwould have
been s
igni
ficant
lydi
ffer
ent
.Oratl
eas
tIwoul
d
havehoped.

1
33
 Experi
ence

Iknow whatyou ar
et hi
nkingr
ightnow – how
l
ong it wil
lt ake to lear
n a new bowl i
ng
t
echni
que?

I
'm s
orr
y,butt
her
eisno def
ini
tive ans
wert
o
that
.I talldependson youandt
hechangesyou
aretryingtomake.

AllIwillsaythough i
sthatyou can'
tf as
t-t
rack
exper
ience.Ihavepersonal
lygonet hrough thi
s
proces
smys el
f– the mor
e Iplayed,the more
comfortabl
eIbecameinthosematchscenari
os.

10,
000hour
sofdr
ill
si nt
henet
swi
llnotcompet
e
wit
h10over
sinamat ch.

I r emember r eading Shoai b Akht ar'

s
autobiogr
aphy, '
Controversi
ally Yours'and in
that,hestat
es,"netpracti
cei sb******t
,playas
manymat
chesasyoucan"
.

I
n my opi
nion,mat
ches ar
ethe r
ealt
rai
ning
gr
oundf
oranyat
hlet
etomas
tert
hei
rcr
aft
.

1
34
 Experi
ence

Unf
ort
unatel
yf or me,Ist
ayed away from the
mat
chesbecaus
eever yt
imeIwoul d pl
ayt hem,
thi
ngswoul dn'
tf eelr
ightforme( technical
ly)
.I
would go back t
ot he drawing boardf ora few
months and then returnt othe games and go
t
hrought
hes
amecycl
eagai
nandagai
n.

ThemoreIdidthis,themores
easonspassedme
and t
he ol
der I gotand t
he more pres
sureI
st
arted t o f
eel wit
h how my car eer was
progres
sing–itisavici
ouscycl
eandt
raptofal
l
i
nto.

No mat
terhow manydr
ill
syou do – unt
ilyou
play as many matches as you can – you wi
ll
st
r uggl
etomaket het r
ansition f
rom pract
icet
o
performance.

Simil
ar t
othe poi
nt I made above regar
ding
exposi
ngbowl
erstospeed gunsbefor
et heyare
r
eadyf
ori
t–t
hes
amepr
inci
pleappl
iesher
e.

1
35
 Experi
ence

Ifyouareplayingcompeti
tivecr
icket
,ther
ei sa
verysl
im chancethatyouaregoingtobeableto
f
ocusonyourt
echni
quedur
ingt
hes
egames
.

Thi
nkbackt
owhatJamesAnder
son s
aid above
r
egarding execut
ing del
iver
ies i
n games whi
lst
t
hinkingaboutyourbowl i
ngaction.

Ruben,whowasaprofes
sional400m Hurdl
erfor
GreatBri
tai
n,oncet
oldmet ofi
ndas mal
lvill
age
cri
cketleaguewher
enobodyknew whoIwasand
jus
t play as many l
ow-
pres
sure matches as I
pos
sibl
ycoul
d.

Now,thisisnottos uggestt
hatyoushoul
dplaya
l
owerl evelofcricketforthesakeofit– t
here
shoul
dbeal ogicalreason.

I
fyou ar
emaki
ngs
igni
ficantt
echni
calchanges
.
Anexcel
lentf
ramewor
ktof
oll
ow woul
dbe:

1–Doyourt
echni
caldr
ill
sini
sol
ati
onunt
ilyou
ar
ecomf
ort
abl
ewi
tht
hem.

2 – Tr y and bowlin a compet

iti
ve net
-bas
ed
environment( agai
nsta bats
man)and focuson
executingyourtechni
calcues.

1
36
 Experi
ence

3 – Fi
nd s
omel ow-
pr ess
urematchesto pl
ayi n
and usethos
e as '
traini
ng'games where your
f
ocusi
spur
elyonyourt
echni
que.

Remember
,thi
sisgoi
ngtogowr
ongforyoualot
oft
imessoyouneedtopl
ayasmanymatchesas
youcan.Thepur
poseofthesematchesisnotf
or
out
comes such as accur
acy, vari
ati
ons and
devel
opingbowli
ngskil
ls.It'
satechni
caltr
aining
match.Yourobj
ecti
veint hesegamesistobridge
thegapbetweendoingtechnicalworkinanett o
executi
ngyournew techniquei
nagame,wi
thout
thinki
ngabouttechnique.

4–Themor
eyoupl
ayandt
hemor
ecomf
ort
abl
e
youstar
ttofeelwi t
hyournew technicalchanges,
begintoincr eas
et he l
evelofcr icketyou ar e
playi
ng.Dot hisslowl
yand maket het r
ansiti
on
backtothestandardofcricketwhereyoubel ong.

Whi
lst you ar
e playi
ng these matches,i t
’s
i
mperat
ive t
oletgo ofyourcomplex techni
cal
t
hought
sandinsteadusecuestohel
pyouachi
eve
t
hesametechni
calobject
ives
.

1
37
 Experi
ence

An example of t
hisis an excer
pt f
rom Tom
Bar
ber’si
ntervi
ew wi
thThePaceJournal.Tom i
s
alef
t-ar
mf astbowlerfr
om Nottinghamshir
eCCC
who isthefastes
tbowl erevert o bet
racked at
England Cri
cket’
s High-Per
formance Center in
Loughbor
ough. Accor
ding t
o Kevi
n Shi
ne, he
wouldcomeupas94mphont heTV.

When Tom spoketo ThePaceJour

nal
,hes ai
d
abouta t
echni
calchangethathewastryi
ng t
o
make; goi
ng f
rom mid-
on toaf ul
ls i
de-
on
pos
iti
on.Thecuethatheus
ed wastothi
nk of
f
aci
ngt
heot
hernetwhi
lsthewasbowl
ing.

Think about it. You have mul t

ipl
e lanes
si
de-by-s
idein atrai
ning ground.ForTom,he
wouldtryandfacet
heneti nthelanenextt
ohi m
asacuet ohel
phimt wisthisbodyintoasi
de-on
posit
ion.

Cues l
ike this are br
ill
iant as they hel
p you
si
mplif
yat echnicalobj
ective.ForTom toachi
eve
hisside-on posi
tion,he does
n’tneed t
ot hi
nk
speci
fical
lyabouttheposi
t i
onsofhi
sfoot,l
egor
body.

1
38
 Experi
ence

Allheistr
yingtodois“f
acetheothernet”,andin
doing so,he can nat
ural
ly achieve a si
de-on
pos
iti
on.Thi
siscal
ledaf
eel
ing-
bas
edcue.

I
t'svi
talt
o di
scoverf
eel
ing bas
ed cuesast
hey
willtake t
he mentalload of
fofyou when you
eventual
ly let go of your speci
fict
echnical
thoughts
.

5 – When you s
tar
tplaying mor
e competi
tive
cr
icket
,tr
ustthatyourtechni
queisholdi
ngup
and wherei tneeds to be.When you ar eina
match,focusonpr oducingres
ultsforyourteam
(doi
ngyourj ob)andleaveanytechnicalt
hought
s
t
othenet
sand'
techni
calt
rai
ningmat
ches
'.

Unt
ilyou "
letgo"
,you wi
llnevers
etyourmi
nd
f
ree.

Remembermes
peaki
ngabouthow i
mpor
tanti
tis
f
oryout
oident
ifyyour'
feel
ing-
bas
ed'cues
?

Thi
sis why i
tiss
o i
mpor
tant – becaus
e,
eventual
ly,in matches,your focus should be
solel
y on the game and how you can produce
r
esul
tsf
oryourt
eam.

1
39
 Experi
ence

Your f
eeling-bas
ed cues wil
lhelp you execut
e
yourskil
lwi t
houtdistract
ingyoufr
om thes tat
e
oft
hegame.

Ican'
tst
res
senoughhow i
mpor
tanti
tist
olear
n
how t
omaket hement
als
hif
tfr
om '
pract
ice't
o
'
perf
ormance'
.

Youarenotj
udgedonhow wel
lyouexecut
eyour
techni
que–youarej
udgedonhow manywicket
s
youtakeandhow muchpos
iti
vei
mpactyouhad
inagame.

I
fyou have any as
pir
ati
ons t
o pl
ay hi
gh-
level
cri
cket,justimaginewhats ortofpr essureyou
willbeunder.Thousandsofpeopleinat tendance
andTV camer aseverywherebroadcas
t i
ngevent s
totheent i
reworldinr eal
-ti
me.Youar eplaying
againstsomeoft hemos ts
kill
edopponentsinthe
sport.Expectat
ionsand pr essur
efrom a whole
team (orcountr
y)r es
tinguponyours houl
ders
.

Areyous
ur eyouwanttobet hi
nki
ngabouts
hin
l
eadandfrontfootbl
ockatt
hismoment?

1
40
FITNESS
 Fi
tnes
s

Bowling f
astis an extremel
y unnatural and
expl
os i
vemovement
.Ir ecal
lmyphysiotherapis
t
tel
lingme,"thehuman bodyi
snotdes
ignedf
or
bowl i
ngacr
icketbal
l".

I
thasbeeni nteres
tingtositbackandobs
ervethe
s
hi f
tin percept
ionsr egar
ding f
astbowli
ng and
f
itnessoverthelast15years.

I
fyoulookathi
stor
iccr
icketi
mages,youcansee
i
nter
nati
onalpl
ayer
sinthechangi
ngroom af
tera
gamewi t
h acigarinthei
rmout h and apintof
beer i
nt hei
r hand.Now,changing rooms are
packed with mas s
age tabl
es,f oam r ol
ler
s,
mas
sageguns
,suppl
ementbot
tlesandi
cepacks
.

Fi
tnes
s has not onl
y ent
ered t
he s
por
t but
r
evol
uti
oni
sedi
t.

However
,fi
tnes
sin cr
ickethasr
ecei
ved al
otof
cr
iti
cis
mint
hepr
oces
s.

Look,t
her
eisf
itnes
s,andt
her
eisbowl
ingf
itnes
s
– I under
stand t
hat.No amount of r
unning,
s
printi
ng,orres
ist
ancet
rai
ningwil
lrepli
cat
et he
s
heerdemandsofbowl
ingacr
icketbal
l.

1
42
 Fi
tnes
s

However,it'
squiteconf
usi
ngt os
eepeopl
ecome
outand labelf
itnessasan al
mostt
ime-was
ting
andi r
relevantt
ypeoftrai
ningforfastbowler
s.I
should probabl
y be morespeci
fic her
e – Iam
speakingaboutthegym morethananythingelse.

Theolds choolmethodologyisthatyou shoul

d
run, s
pri
nt ,str
etch and bowl fas
t. That
'sit.
Str
ength and conditi
oning coaches have
int
roducedawhol
epl
ethoraofconcept
s,r
out
ines
and st
ylesoft
raini
ng whi
ch appar
ent
lyhaven'
t
proventhei
rwort
hyet.

Idi
sagr
eewi
tht
hiss
ent
iment–It
hinkf
itnes
sis
an i
ncredi
blyimport
antpar
toff
astbowli
ng.I
n
thi
schapter,Itr
ytoshar
emorei
nsi
ghtint
owhy
Ibeli
evethis.

Pl
aceboEf
fect

Growing up,Mike Tyson (f

ormer heavywei
ght
boxi
ng champion) had al
ways been a massi
ve
inspir
ationtome.Hes ti
lli
s .Il
ovewat chinghis
trai
ningcompi l
ati
onvideos.Inanoldint ervi
ew,
hewasas kedwhyhegoesjoggingat4am i nthe
mor ning.Hesai
d,"ifmyopponenti
ssleepi ngand
Iam r
unni
ng,i
tgi
vesmeaps
ychol
ogi
caledge"
.

1
43
 Fi
tnes
s

Putres
ultsasi
deforasecond,isn'
titanobrai
ner
thatcr
icket
ersshould bein bett
erathl
eti
cand
phys
icalcondi
tiont
hannot
?

Agai
n,If
eell
ike emot
ionali
ntel
ligence,and a
bas
icunder
standi
ngofps
ychol
ogyi
sal
somi
ssi
ng
her
e.

Bret
tLeehadopenl
yst
atedthathequitdr
inki
ng
al
cohol12 mont
hsbef
orethe 2003 Worl
d Cup
(wher
ehecr os
sedt
he160kphmark)
.Ir
emember
Jockrecal
linghow muchworkheandBret
thad
puti n behind cl
osed doorsto prepareBret
tfor
thatWor l
d Cup.I 'm sure Brettisnota seri
al
alcoholic – s o what ever quantit
ies he was
drinking,itmus tnothavebeenhuge.

Even i
fhehad an occas
ionaldr
ink i
nthos
e12
mont
hs, woul
d i
treal
ly have af
fect
ed hi
m?
Pr
obabl
ynot
.

Butt
heps
ychol
ogi
caladvant
aget
hathi
ssacr
ifi
ce
had gi
ven him hasstuck wi
th hi
m tillt
hisday
which is why he f
lags i
t up in al
most ever
y
int
ervi
ew when s
peaking aboutt
hatWor
ld Cup
and160kphdel
ivery.

1
44
 Fi
tnes
s

Sel
f-W ort
h & Presence

IremembermeetingRubenafternotseei
nghim
foralmostayear
.Itwasatat imewhen Iwas
over
weight.He l
ooked at me and s
aid,"your
physi
calcondi
tioni
sar
efl
ect
ionofyourment
al
st
ate".

Thatcommenthasneverl
eftmymi
ndbecaus
ehe
issori
ght
.

Iam l
uckyi
nthes
ens
ethatIhaveexper
ienced
li
feasaveryf i
tandaveryunfiti
ndi
vidual.Ican
honestl
ysaythatther
eissuchabigdiff
erencein
how youpercei
veyoursel
f-wor
thandhow others
per
cei
veandt
reatyou.

Whenyouareunfi
t,youar
econs i
deredlazy.You
ar
e vi
ewed ass
omeone with no di
sci
pline who
does
n't hol
d t hemsel
ves to high personal
st
andards
.It'
s almos
ta refl
ect
ion ofyou as a
per
son.I have f
eltt
hisj
udgement (
not i
na
s
ini
sterway)i
nmyi
nter
act
ionswi
thpeopl
e.

WhenIwasover
wei
ght
,Icoul
dfeelt
hei
rpi
ty.

1
45
 Fi
tnes
s

Ihadal
sos eenthewaypeopl
einter
act
edwithme
when I was fi
t.Itwas a worl
d ofdif
fer
ence;
becauseyou lookathl
eticand i
ns hape,you ar
e
automatical
ly percei
ved as s omeone mor e
succes
sfulandmor edisci
pli
nedinlife.

Cr
azy,Iknow.

Yourpresencehass
uch asi
gnif
icanti
mpacton
yourener
gyandaurawit
hinateam aswel
l.

I was l
ucky enough t
o be coached by f
ormer
England al
l-r
ounder
,Chr
isLewi
sfr
om ayoung
age.

Chrisis a man who takes gr

eat pri
de i
n his
appear
anceand fit
ness– coupled wit
hthefact
that I don'
t ever r
emember s eeing hi
m i n
anyt
hing ot
her t
han mus
clef
it compr
ess
ion
l
ayer
s–hewasqui
teas
peci
men!

Ir
emembert
urni
ngupt
oat
rai
nings
ess
ionone
morni
ng,andChri
saskedi
fIwant
edtobowlor
bat
.Isai
dIwantedtobowl
,sohet
oldmetoput
mypadson.

1
46
 Fi
tnes
s

Thefi
rstball
,hepinned meri
ghtint hehel
met
wit
has ear
ingbouncer
.Hedidn'tevenrunin;i
t
wasof
fones
tep.Hegr
unt
edvi
cious
lywhenhel
et
gooft
hebal
l.

Aft
erhepinnedme,hecameupt omel aughi
ng
andsai
d,"
doyouknow whatmi
stakeyoumade?

You didn'
ts ee t
he ball. You saw t
he bi
g
muscl
e-boundmant hatwaslooki
ngatyouwit
h
bad int
enti
ons.Nexttime,ignor
ethe man and
focusontheball
.It
'snotyouagai
nstme.It
'syou
agai
nstt
hiss
mal
l,5-
and-
a-hal
f-ouncebal
l".

The princi
pl e ofwhatChr i
ss ai
di s powerful
.
When you s eea fastbowler
,who looksf i
tand
athl
eti
c–t heyj usts
eem tohaveabitmor eabout
them.

WhatmadeShoai
bAkht
ars
oint
imi
dat
ing?

I
twas
n'tj
ustt
hes
peed.I
twas
n'tj
ustt
heact
ion.
Therearealotofbowler
si ntheworldwhohave
producedhi
gh speedswit
h unusualact
ions
.But
how manyoft
hem char
ged i
nfr
om al
mos
tthe
boundar
y?

1
47
 Fi
tnes
s

This has not

hing t
o do wit
h perfor
mance and
ever
ythingtodowi t
hpsychology.

For Shoai
b,it was a s
igni
ficant as
set in hi
s
armourytogeton t
opoft hebatsman beforehe
hadevenar
rivedatt
hecr
eas
e!

Ispeakaboutconfi
dencebei
ngs uchanessent
ial
f
actor i
n bowling fas
t,and your f
itnes
si sa
mas
sivepar
toft
hatt
oo.

Asaf as
tbowler,youneedal
loft
headvantages
thatyoucangetandwhenyouarefi
t– youwi l
l
s
ubcons
cious
lyknow t
hatyouhaveputt
hework
i
nandhavemoreinthetank–andthatwil
lhel
p
youcr
ankt
hingsup.

Havingconf
idenceandpeaceofmi
ndcanl
iter
all
y
pushyoutothenextlevel
.

Jus
tthinkbacktoat i
mewhenyouwer einjur
ed.
Now t
hink aboutyourfi
rstbal
lsback af
terthe
i
njur
yl ayoff
.Therei
sahighchancethatyouwere
r
eserved,cauti
ousandbowli
ngwi t
hinyoursel
f.

Why?

1
48
 Fi
tnes
s

Becauseyouhaven'
tgott
heconfi
denceorment
al
abil
itytol
etloos
eandbowlatful
ltil
tyet
.

Remember,f
astbowlingisallaboutexpres
sing
your
sel
f,and you can'
t expr
ess your
sel
f with
boundar
ies
.

Youneedt
ober
elaxedandment
all
yfr
eet
otr
uly
expr
essyour
sel
fmaxi
mal
ly.

Irememberat
imewhenIbowledaft
erabitofa
l
ayoff
,Ihadn'
tbeen t
rai
ning,and Iwas ver
y
unfit
.Iwaspumped to bowlagainthough,and
adrenali
neli
ter
all
ygotmet hrough i
t.Aft
ermy
ext
ens i
vewarm-up,Iwasgas
pingforair–Ihad
notevenbowl
edabal
lyet
!

Iquiet
lythoughtt
omyself
,"thi
sisgoi
ngt obe
embarras
sing"asIwassureIonlyhad enough
ener
gy f
or an over. Coinci
dent
ally, I star
t ed
mixi
ng my del
iver
ies (s
lowerballs and cutters
mi
xed i
n wi
th my f
ull paced del
iver
ies
) and
managedt
obowlt
hreeover
sbef
oreIcal
ledi
ta
day.

1
49
 Fi
tnes
s

Agai
n,t hereas
onIam sharingt
hes
es tor
iesi
sto
hi
ghlighthow much ofan i
mpactf
itnesshason
yourapproacht
othegameandabi
lit
ytoper
for
m
atyourbest.

We have al
l been t
her
e and exper
ienced t
he
f
eel
ingofguil
twhenyouhavei
ndulgedinonetoo
manydesser
tsandjunkfood.Nomatt
erhowhar
d
yout
ry,youcannottri
ckyourmind!

Thes ameappli
estotheintens
ityyoubr
ingt
othe
tabl
easaf astbowler– whenyouhavemadethe
s
acri
fices and put t he wor
k i n, you
s
ubcons ci
ous
lyf
eell
ikeyouar
eunt
ouchabl
e.

Thi
sgoesal
ongway.

When you have been l

azy and cutcorner
si n
t
rai
ning - your mi ndset
, energy, and body
l
anguagewillal
lref
lecti
t.Onceagai
n,youwi
llbe
i
navul ner
ableposi
tion.

Ihave been f
ort
unat
etol
ear
nso much about
f
itnes
s.

However
,I want t
o highl
ight j
usta f
ew key
f
act
orswhichIt
hinkareess
ential
.

1
50
 Fi
tnes
s

Uni
lat
eralSt
rengt
h

Earlier,Idescr
ibedhow fastbowler
sar eonone
legfort hemajorit
yofthebowl ingact
ion – t
his
call
sf orhighunil
ater
alst
r engt
hands t
abil
ity.

There ar
es o many exer
cises and pieces of
equi
pment now t
hat can help you t
rain and
devel
opyouruni
lat
eralat
tri
but
es.

Speaki
ng on s
trengt
h,If i
nd i
ti ncredibl
et hat
st
rengthworkinthegym asabeneficialtr
aining
methodforf
astbowlingi
smetwi t
hcr iti
cism.

Pr
oduci
ng s
peed and peak per
for
mance i
n any
spor
ting f i
eld r equi
res a diver
se t r
aining
approach.WhatImeani s
,tobowlabal
lfastis
n’t
assimpleaswor kingon speedandspeedalone.
Toimpr ovespeed,youmus timpr
oveeveryother
at
hlet
icat
tri
but
ewhi
chs
uppor
tst
hepr
oduct
ion
ofspeed.Strengt
h,flexi
bili
ty,mobil
ity,power
andenduranceareal
lindivi
dualat
tri
buteswhich
mus tbe devel
oped t
o gi
ve t
he body the bes
t
chanceofproduci
ngit
smaximum speed.

1
51
 Fi
tnes
s

The t
ime you s
pend wor
king on each oft
hes
e
at
tri
butes
,how youworkonthem andwhenyou
workont
hem ar
eal
ldet
ermi
nedbyyourt
rai
ning
pr
ogramme.

It
’sessenti
alt
os tr
uct
ureyourt r
ainingi
n away
which al
lowsyou to‘
peak’formaxi mum speed
whenyouneedi t
,thecri
cketseason.

Byneglect
ingot
herathlet
icatt
ributes
,you wil
l
onl
ylimityourful
lpotenti
aland causeat
hlet
ic
def
ici
enci
es.

Fas
tbowl
ing i
sa hi
ghl
y expl
osi
ve and at
hlet
ic
movement
.Tr
ainl
ikeanat
hlet
e!

PowerEndurance

You can'
tint
ervi
ew as
trengt
h and condi
tioni
ng
coach who i
sknown forhel
pingBrettLeebowl
100mph withoutas
kinghim how and whatt
hey
di
dtohel
pachi
eves
uchaf
eat
!

When Ias
ked Jock abouthow he gotBr
ettt
o
crank i
tup tot hats
peed,Iwasshocked athi
s
response,buti
tmadecomplet
esense.

1
52
 Fi
tnes
s

He tol
d me t
hat t
hey di
d not t
rai
nto bowl
100mph.

Theyt
rainedt
omakebowlingat95mpheas ier
.
So,on t
he day wher
e Br
ettwas fi
ring and in
rhyt
hm,hecouldpushhisl
imitsbyaf ur
ther1
0%
andr eachat
opspeed(whichcoinci
dental
lywas
100mph) .

Ifound thi
ssof as
cinat
ing as i
t once agai
n
hi
ghli
ght
show necessaryf
itnes
sisinyourabil
ity
t
obowlf
ast
.

I
fyourmaxef
for
tis70mph.Fi
tnes
scanhel
pyou
(
1)make i
teasierforyou t
o generatet
hattop
s
peedand(2)helpyousus
tainthathighs
peed.

Sust
ainabl
eSpeed

I
t'seasyt
obowlones
pellathighs
peed,buttodo
i
ts pel
laft
ers
pell
,matchaftermatchrequi
resa
l
otmor
ethannat
uralat
tri
but
esal
one.

I
trequi
resf
itnes
s.

1
53
 Fi
tnes
s

Oneoft
hemostdemandingchall
engesasafast
bowl
eri
ssus
tai
ning yourspeed,and f
ew have
managedt
odoi
tatevent
hehi
ghes
tlevel
.

Thi
s r
equi
res a bi
g hear
t and even mor
e
di
sci
pli
ne.

Anot
herf
act
orwor
th hi
ghl
ight
ing her
eisyour
i
ntens
ityandwi
llt
obowlf
ast
.

I
thast ocomefr
om wi
thin,buti
fyourbodyand
f
itnes
sdon'ts
uppor
tyourwill
,youwil
lfaceal
ot
ofs
etbacks
.

I
njuryPrevent
ion

Ir
ememberbowl
ingwhen Iwasover
wei
ght
,my
bodywasabl
etoholdandmaintai
nabracedfr
ont
legpos
iti
on f
orabout2 t
o 3 overs
.Thesecond
f
ati
gue s
tar
ted t
o ki
ck i
n,ever
ythi
ng aboutmy
bowlingst
artedt
of eelcl
ums y.Iwasst
arti
ngt o
col
lapseatfr
ontfootcontact
.Iwasfal
lingaway.
Icouldn'
tdri
veoutofthecreasewith asmuch
f
orce,and my f
oll
ow-
through was di
mi ni
shi
ng
wi
theachbal
lthatIdel
iver
ed.

1
54
 Fi
tnes
s

Thereissomethi
ng more dangerous goi
ng on
here,t
hough.Themoreyou fat
igue– t hemore
your techni
que star
tstos uff
er.And t
he more
yourtechniques t
artstosuff
er,thehi
gheryour
chancesofinjur
y.Fitnes
splayssuchabigpar
tin
the l
ife ofa fastbowler
.I tnotonly hel
psyou
generatespeed,butitenablesyoutomai ntai
nit
andalsor educesyourchancesofi
njury.

WhenLockieFer
guson,New Zeal
andfastbowl
er
and cur
rentl
y one of the quickes
ti n the
Int
ernat
ionalarenaspoketoThePaceJour nal,he
sai
dofthebenef i
tst
hatstrengt
hwor kinthegym
hashad on hisgame.“ I
’vebeen doing a l
otof
st
rengt
hwor k,andit’
scutoutalotofmyniggl
es.
Ofcourse,you’r
egoingtohavei nj
uri
esbutjust
daytodayni ggl
eshavereal
lybeencutdownand
keptmeont
hepar
kforl
ongper
iods
”.

Over
all
,fi
tnes
sof
fer
sexcel
lentphys
ical
,ment
al
andl
ifes
tylebenef
itst
oaf
astbowl
erands
houl
d
bepr
iorit
ised.

As t
he l
egendar
y Aus
tral
ian f
astbowl
er,Br
ett
Lee,oncesai
d,"t
obeagoodfastbowl
er,f
irs
tof
al
l,youneedtobeagr
eatat
hlet
e".

1
55
MINDSET
 Mi
nds
et

Shoai
bAkht
aroncefamousl
ysai
d,“
you havet
o
bemadtobeaf
astbowler
”.

This can mean di

ffer
ent t
hings to di
ffer
ent
peopl
e.All
ow metosharewhatitmeanstome.

Torun i
n,jump,t wis
tand s
lam yourbodyinto
thegr
ound and hurlabal
lasfastasyou can i
s
abs
olut
elycr
azy!

I
fyou jus
tbreak down t
he sci
ence behi
nd t
he
much-
desir
edhip-
shoul
derseparat
ionthatweall
crave f
or,the i
nformat i
on i
s qui
tei nt
erest
ing.
Themai nreason fas
tbowl er
saimt ocreatethis
separat
ion i
s because ofthe way i
tallows the
body to ut ili
se the s
t r
etch-
shortening-
cycle
(st
ret
chr ef
lex).Bydoi
ngso,wear eabletoaccess
a‘super
nat ural
’typeofforceto hel
ps peed our
ar
m upwhenwebowl
.

1
57
 Mi
nds
et

Ir ememberTer seusLiebenberg,oneoft
hefi
nest
technical Javel
in coaches in the worl
d once
descr
ibi
ngi tto mel i
kethis
,“ you ar
et r
yingto
produce a s
eparat
ion bet
ween the axisofyour
hipsandyours houlderssothatwhen youplant
yourf rontleg,thebodyhastwo choices,(1
)to
disl
ocat ethes houl
deror(2)rapi
dly accel
erat
e
thes houlderand bringi
tbackinlines othatit
doesn’tdislocat
e”.

Thi
nkaboutt
hisf
oras
econd,ever
yti
meaf
ast
bowl
err unsi
ntobowl,theyar
ees
sent
ial
lyt
ryi
ng
todi
slocatet
hei
rshoulder!

Soundcr
azyt
oyou?

Overt
heyear
s,i
t’sbeen i
nter
est
ingt
oseewel
l
knownf as
tbowlersreceiveani ncr
edibl
eamount
of cr
iti
cism becaus
et heir pace had dr
opped
s
igni
ficant
ly f
rom when t
hey bur
st on t
he
i
nter
nati
onalscenein compari
son t
othespeeds
t
heybowledatduri
ngthemi ddleandendoft
heir
car
eer
s.

EvenIam gui
ltyofj
udgi
ngthesebowl
ers
.Iwould
quest
ionwhyt heyhadl
ostpaceoraretheyj
ust
bei
ngl az
y?

1
58
 Mi
nds
et

Butyoumus
treal
ise,f
astbowl
ingi
shar
dwor
k.

The lifes
pan of a fas
t bowler can reduce
si
gni
ficantlyift
hei
rbodiesgetputthr
ough too
mucht urmoil
.

Notj
ustt
hei
rbodi
es,butt
hei
rmi
ndsaswel
l.

Idon’
tnecessar
ilyagr
eewit
hit
,butIals
ocan’t
bl
ames omeoneformakingt
hesens
ibl
edeci
sion
tocompromis
eonthei
rspeedi
nordert
oremai
n
eff
ect
iveort
oprol
ongthei
rcar
eer
s.

AsShoai
b Akhtars
aid,you have t
o be mad t
o
wantt
odothis.

Thisisoneoft hereasonswhyIappl aud gr

eat
s
li
ke Bret
t Lee and Shoaib Akht
ar s
o much –
becaus
et hey ar
etwo exampl esofexpressfas
t
bowl
erswhomai
ntai
nedt
hei
rspeedst
hroughout
thecour
seoft hei
rcar
eer
swhi
cheas
ilys
panned
overadecadeeach!

When Icompar ethemi nds

etofan 18-year-
old
me vers
us a 28-year
-ol
d me,the di
fference i
s
huge!

1
59
 Mi
nds
et

Irememberbeingyoung,r
aw and nothavinga
car
eintheworl
dabouthow f
astIwasrunningin,
what sort of f
ootwear I had on or what t
he
condi
tion ofthe pit
ch wast hatIwasaboutt o
bowlon.

Fastf
orwar
dadecade,I’
m notevenabletoeven
rol
l my arm over wi
thout making sur
e my
pre-
bowli
ng mealis on point
,my war
m-up i
s
thor
ough and l i
ttl
e t hings s
uch as the
temperat
ureofmybodyandtheconditionoft
he
creas
eareinmyfavour
.Al
lofthes
et hi
ngswould
playahugeparti
nmydesir
etoletloose.

You need t
ofi
nd or keep a bal
ance i
n bei
ng
disci
plinedwi thyourr
outinesandr i
tual
sbutat
thes amet ime– donotlos
et hatraw f
astbowl
er
in you t hatjustwantstot ear i
n and gi
ve i
t
everything.

Mindsetpl
ayss
uch ahugepar
tinf
astbowl
ing
and al
lofthet
hingsIref
ertoint
heprevi
ous
cat
egor
iescont
ribut
etoyourmi
nds
et.

Whenyouhavebel
iefi
nyourabil
ity,youwi
llbe
abl
etost
aystr
ongduri
ngtoughdays.

1
60
 Mi
nds
et

When your techni

que i
ss ound,you wi
llhave
conf
idencei
nyouraction.

Whenyou’
ref
it,youwi
llhaveconf
idencei
nyour
body.

When you’ve gotmat ch exper

ience underyour
bel
t,you willhave confidence i
n youron-fi
eld
per
for
mances
.

Whenyou’r
eintheri
ghtstat
eofmind,youwillbe
abl
etoletl
ooseandreal
lyexpr
essyoursel
f.

Fas
tbowl
ingi
snotf
ort
het
imi
d.

Oneofthemoststri
kingcommentsthatTi
noBes
t
madeduringourchatwasthat
,“f
astbowli
ngi
san
at
tit
ude”.

Al
thoughsimpl
e,thi
squotehasbecomeiconi
cfor
meandf orThePaceJour
nalbecauseitcapt
ures
exact
lywhatf
astbowl
ingi
s;anat
tit
ude.

You have t
o be char
ged up and wi
lli
ng t
oface
pai
n,dayin,dayoutwhenyouchoos et obeaf
ast
bowl
er.

1
61
 Mi
nds
et

Ifyoudon’
thavet
her
ightmi
nds
et,youwi
llgi
ve
upveryqui
ckl
y!

KemarRoach i
saf i
neexampl eofsomeonewho
bur
stontheinter
nationals
cenebei
ngabletohi
t
t
he95mphmar
k.

I
nthel
ast5or6year
sthough,Kemar
’spacehas
bar
elycr
oss
ed85mph.

Thisishi ghl
y unusual
.A 10mph dipins peed,
especi
all
y at i nt
ernati
onal l
evel does
n’t go
unnoti
ced. Kemar had been asked a lot of
quest
ionsont hi
stopi
candIr ememberlis
tening
tohims peakonanInstagr
am Li
veinres
pons eto
someonewhoaskedhimi
fandwhenhe’
sgoi
ngt
o
beback,bowl
ingathi
ghspeeds
.

Kemarputi
tbl
unt
lyt
hathi
sambi
tion t
o bowl
f
asti
sbehi
ndhi
m.

As i
t t
urns out
,in 201
4, he s
uff
ered a
l
ife-t
hreat
eni
ng car acci
denti
n hi
s homet
own,
Bridget
own,Bar
bados .

1
62
 Mi
nds
et

Thefol
lowi
ngyear
saf
tertheacci
dentweres
ome
oft
hetoughes
tKemarhashad.Heopenlyst
ated
thathi
sbodydoes
n’tal
low hi
mt obowlasf as
tas
heoncedidandthathe’
shavingtointent
ionall
y
compromis
eonhisspeedinordertosurvi
ve.

Irepeat,youhavet
ohavethedes
ireandmi
nds
et
toactuall
ywanttobowlf
ast.

I
’ve been l
ucky t
o notbe pl
agued wi
th many
i
njuries
.

One i
njury Ir
ecallvivi
dlyiswhen Ipull
ed an
i
nter
costalmuscl
e( s
ides t
rai
n)f
rom sl
ippi
ngon
an indoormat.Itwasone ofthe mostpai
nful
inj
ur i
esIhaveeverhad.Thi
ngsl
iketur
ningover
inbedorcoughingwouldcauses
omuchpai n–I
remembert
hinki
ngatt
het
ime,“
how onear
tham
Igoingt
obowlagai
n?”

Iwasverylucky to be putback t
ogetherby a
wor
ld cl
ass exper
tl ike Ruben who used s
oft
tis
sue mass age, nut
riti
on, acupunct
ure and a
bunchofot herstuffthathedoest ohealmeand
thenIstar
tedonmyr ehabprogramme.

1
63
 Mi
nds
et

Funnil
y enough,the rehab or get
ting back t
o
fi
tnes
swas n’tthe gr
eatestchal
lenge f
orme,i t
wasbei
ngabl
etobowlwi
thf
ulli
ntens
ityagai
n!

Irememberbeingsoscar
ed and hesi
tantabout
l
etti
ngl
oose,“
wi l
lmyi
ntercos
talgoagain,maybe
iti
sn’theal
edyet
,maybeIshouldjustpl
ayi
tsafe
and bowlwi t
hin mys
elf
” were al
lunanswered
ques
tionsi
nmymi
nd.

Thisiswhy i
tiss oi
mportantt
ot r
eati
njur
ies
wit
h car
eand res
pect
.Becauseit
’snotj
ustthe
physi
calthatyouaretr
yingt
ohealfrom,itist
he
mentalaswel l
.Ifyoupushthr
oughani nj
uryor
rush t hrough a r ehab pr ogr
amme, t he
psychologi
caldamage you can cr
eat
eis car
eer
threat
ening.

Notj
ustme,buteven f
astbowl
erst
hatIknow
havesuf
fer
edwit
hthement
als
trai
nthatcomes
witht
hecraft
.

Ibel
ievet
hatf
astbowl
ershavean‘
ins
tinct
’about
t
hem,and you need t
o makesur
ethatyou ar
e
t
icki
ngal
ltherightboxestogi
veyourmindand
yourbodythebestchanceofpr
eser
vingt
hatf
ast
bowler
s’i
nsti
nct.

1
64
CONFIDENCE
 Conf
idence

Over the year

s,I have bowl
ed wi
ths
o many
di
ffer
entbowl i
ngacti
ons.

At t
he star
t of t
his book,I spoke about t
he
mountai
nt hatIhad t o cl
imb in 2017 when I
deci
dedt
ost
artpl
ayi
ngcr
icketagai
n.

Tor
ecap,Ihadt
olos
eover30kgsandl
ear
nhow
t
obowlagai
n.

Ist
ar t
edmytr ai
ninginJune2017butdidn'
tst
art
any bowl
ing untilAugustorSeptemberofthat
year.Thefastbowlingact
ionproducesenormous
amount soffor
ceont hebody.Iwasverycauti
ous
aboutmaki ng sur
eIdi dn'tdo anyhigh-i
mpact
t
rai
ningunt
ilIhadlos
tquit
eabitofwei
ght
,and
mybodywasusedtoexer
cis
eagai
n.

WhenIf
elt'
ready'
,It
ookbabys
teps
.Ibr
okemy
bowli
ngpl andownint
obits
.Iwoul
dstar
tstat
ic,
wit
hdr i
llsandthenpr
ogr
essint
obowl
ingfr
om a
f
ew pacesandt
henevent
ual
lyt
akei
tbackt
omy
ful
lrun-up.Ever
ythingwasgoi
ngsmoot
hly.Iwas
hit
tingallofmytarget
sandwasinagoodplace.

1
66
 Conf
idence

InSeptember,j
ustaf
termybi
rthday,Ideci
dedto
doat estdaywhereIwasgoingtoletlooseand
bowlf
rom myf
ullr
un-
up.

Iar
rived att
he net
s,ni
ce and f
res
h.Idi
d my
warmup and went t
hrough my t
echni
cal
checkpoi
nts
.

Thenitwasti
met obowl.Istoodatmymarkand
rant
hroughalloft
hetechni
calcuest
hatIneeded
t
ohi
t.

"OkayShahbaz,run in har
d,dr
ivef
orward wi
th
yourshi
n(shi
nl ead)
,keepyourbowl
ingar
m back
aslong asposs
ible,pullyourfrontarm down
hard,s
lam yourleftleg i
ntothe gr
ound,dri
ve
yourri
ghthipforward,dragyourbackfootand
f
ini
shs
trong"
.

Befor
er eadi
nganyf
urt
her
,can you gues
swhat
theoutcomewas?

Yep.Tot
aldi
sas
ter
.

1
67
 Conf
idence

Ir emember feeli
ng li
ke absol
ute crap. My
bowli
ng act
ion j
ustfel
lapart
.The funny thi
ng
though,isthatmyact i
onwastechnical
lygr
eat.I
t
even looked great on camera, but i
tfeltso
disj
ointed and uncomf ort
able. I i nst
antl
y
t
hought
,"t
hisi
sn'
tgoi
ngt
owor
k".

Iwashear
tbr
oken.Agai
n.

Itri
edafew moreball
s.Thenmoreball
s.Not
hing
changedt
hef eel
ingIwasexper
ienci
ng.

Ithen goti
ntopani
cmode.A modeIwasohso
f
ami l
iarwit
hovertheyear
s."
Maybei
fIrunina
bi
ts l
ower,thi
ngs wil
lfeel bet
ter agai
n".Or
maybeIshouldjump abi
thigher,perhapsthat
wil
lwork"
.

It
riedever
ythi
ng.

Att
hatmoment
,Is
lumpedt
othegr
ound,l
aymy
headbackont
henetandj
ustbur
sti
ntot
ear
s.

I
t'sover
,iswhatIt
hought
.

1
68
 Conf
idence

Alloftheef
for
tovert
hel as
tfew mont
hst
olose
weight
.Allofthes
acr
ifi
cesImadewi t
hmydiet
and l
ifes
tyl
e.Al
loft hemethodicalplanning of
how Iwasgoingtor et
urnto bowlingagain.At
thatmoment,If
elti
thadallgonet owaste.
Imusthave satt
hereforatl
eas
t30 mi
nut
es
f
eel
ings
orryformysel
f.

Ievent
ual
lygotup,wal
kedhomeandwasgreeted
bymymum.Sheas kedmehow t
rai
ninghadgone.
Ilooked ather
,smi
led and s
aid ever
ythi
ngwas
f
ine.

I had become s
o us
ed t
o mas
king my r
eal
emotionsand putti
ngabravefaceon fort
hose
around me.I didn'twantthem to know how
brokenIwasinside.

Ilieddownont hesofa,f
eeli
nglif
eles
s .Allsorts
ofthought
swererunningthroughmymi nd.Iwas
los
i ng moti
vat
ion fast and fel
tl ike di vi
ng
f
ace-
fir
sti
ntoapi
zzaandeat
ingi
t.

Iwast
rai
ningt
wiceaday,di
eti
nghar
dandhad
noener
gyordes i
ret
ogetupandgot
othegym f
or
myeveningf
itnesss
ess
ion.

1
69
 Conf
idence

But I knew i
fI s
tayed at home,I would be
bombardedbymyfamilyaboutwhyIhadn'tgone
tot
rai
n– sotoavoi
dthequest
ions
,Ideci
dedt
o
gotot
hegym.Butnott
otrai
n.

Whenthi
ngsdon'
tgorightf
orme,Il
iket
osi
tand
cont
empl
ate.Andthat
'swhatIpl
annedondoi
ng
t
hateveni
ng.Iwenttothegym,s t
rai
ghttothe
s
tudi
oandj us
tsatont
hefl
oor,ononeoft
hegym
mats. I opened YouTube on my phone and
wat
chedr andom fas
tbowlingvideos
.That'swhen
Ist
umbl ed acrossthevi
deo ofPaki s
tanipacer
,
MohammadAmi rwhichItouchedonear l
ier
.

I
twasoneoft
hos
eamat
eurvi
deos
,shotf
rom a
phone.Amirwaswarmingupandgoi ngthrough
themot i
ons.Thevi
deogri
pped me.Ihaveonl y
ever s
een Mohammad Ami r char
ging i
n and
bowli
ng rocket
sthati
twas an almosts t
range
exper
ience t
osee hi
m bowl
ing f
rom a s
hor
t
run-up.I cont
inued watchi
ng and pai
d cl
ose
att
ention t
o the fl
uidit
y of his movements
.
Not
hingwasr
igi
dorf
orced;i
tseemedef
for
tles
s.

Iwatchedhi
m bowlfr
om afew pacesal
ltheway
backunti
lhewascomingi
nfrom hisful
lrun-
up.

1
70
 Conf
idence

I coul
d notbel
ieve t
he way the int
ensity and
s
peed ofhisdel
iver
iesst
arted toincreas
eashe
char
gedi
nfr
om mor
epaces
.

Thepennydr
opped.Al
lthi
sti
me,Iwast
ryi
ngt
o
bowlfastf
rom ashor
trun-up,l
iteral
ly,maxi
mum
eff
ortbowlingf
rom t
wot ofi
vest r
ides.

Irememberbeing s
o per
plexed by whatIhad
s
een i
nthe vi
deo ofAmi rbowling f
rom a f
ew
s
tri
des.Ithenscr
ambledaroundt
hegym st
udio
t
ofindsomethi
ngthatIcoul
dusetobowlwi
th.I
f
oundar
ollofs
ell
otapeandpi
ckedi
tup.

Ist
oodattheendoft hest
udiowit
honethi
ngi n
mymi nd:thevisualofAmirbowl
ingwi
ths uch
f
lui
dit
yi nhisact
ion.

Ipr
oceeded t
o bowland gues
s what
?Itf
elt
…
i
ncr
edi
ble.

Myt
imi
ngf
eltgr
eat
.Idi
dn'
tneedt
othi
nkabout
i
t.

Myfrontf
ootbl
ockwasexpl
osi
ve.Idi
dn'
tneedt
o
t
hinkabouti
t.

1
71
 Conf
idence

My ar
m s peed was good.Ifeltwhippy,and I
was
n'teven tr
ying.Butmos timport
antly,Idi
d
notneedt
othi
nkabouti
t.

Ever
ythi
ngwas'
cli
cki
ng'
,ast
heys
ay.

"
Wasi
taf
luke?"It
hought
.

Ibowl
edagai
n;i
tfel
tevenbet
ter
.

Icoul
dn'
tbel
ievewhatwashappening.I
twasa
eur
eka moment f
or me. They s
ay a leopar
d
does
n't change i
tss pots – well
,I guesst he
anal
ogyisaccurat
einmycas e.Iwasdes
perateto
seehow thisnew approach tobowli
ng( wi
th no
t
hought
sinmymi
nd)l
ookedt
otheeye.

Ileftt
hegym studioandgrabbedthef
irs
tpers
on
I coul
ds ee and asked i
fthey woul
d be ki
nd
enought
oholdthecamer
aformewhi
lstIbowled.
ItwasaladywhoIhadseenint
hegym foryears
–s
hef
oll
owedmei
ntot
hes
tudi
o,andIdi
rect
ed
heronwheret
ost
andandhow t
opant
hes
hotas
Ibowled.

1
72
 Conf
idence

I
nside,Iwassoexci
ted becausebowli
nghadn't
f
eltthi
sgr
eatf
orsolong.Stil
l,ontheot
herhand,
Ifeltembarrassedbecauseofhow l
udi
crousthis
enti
re thing was . What mus tthislady be
thi
nking? I don’tthink s
he knew much about
cri
cket.Butthes
ightofmebowl
ingwitharol
lof
sel
lotape,i
nagym studi
o?Ohwell,noneoft
hat
matteredtome!

Ibowl
edwit
hthesel
lot
apei
nmyhand,wat ched
i
tbackandwasbl
ownawaybyhow beaut
ifulmy
act
ionl
ookedoncamer
a.

It
hankedher
,ands
hel
eft
.Iwat
chedt
hevi
deo
again,about1 00timesmor ebeforebowlingwit
h
the sellotape another 1 00 times. My wor st
nightmar ewouldbel eavingthegym thateveni
ng
and forgetti
ng absolutel
yever ythi
ng abouthow
that i
mpr ompt u bowl i
ng ses
sion jus
t went .I
power wal ked s
traighthome,pr ayed and rang
Jahngir.It ol
dhim weneededt ogettoapr oper
netas s oon as possibleso Ican bowlwi tha
cricketbal
l."IthinkI
'vej
ustst
umbledacros
sthe
secrettounlockingmymind",iswhatIt
oldhim.

Ical
ledBr
adf
iel
dCol
legeandbookedanetf
ort
he
f
oll
owi
ngeveni
ng.

1
73
 Conf
idence

Thenextday,Idi
dalightses
siondur
ingtheday,
warmed up and j
ustprimed my body f
or t
he
evening s
essi
on t
hatwas comi
ng up.Iwas so
anxiousaboutit
.Twenty-
fourhoursago,Ifel
t
thatmyj our
neyhadcomet oanend,andher
eI
am,24 hour
slat
erwi
th anot
herl
ifel
ine i
n my
hands
.

Theeveningcame,andwetr
avell
edtoBradfi
eld.
Iwentt hrough my war
mup asusualand t
hen
s
tar
ted bowli
ng from a f
ew paces.Dur
ing t
his
t
ime,Ithoughtofonethi
ng:bes moot
h.

That
'si
t-not
hing el
se.Jus
tbe s
moot
h.Ihad
confi
dence in my mind that 24 hour s ago,I
bowled and bl
ocked my f
rontl eg har
d wi thout
thi
nkingaboutit.

Ihad confidence i
n my mind t
hatIhad done
enoughtechnicalworkovert
heyear
s.

AsIstart
edtoruninhar
der
,thi
ngswer
efeel
ing
bet
terandbet
ter.

Ineededtopushmys el
f.Theprobl
em wit
hindoor
netsi
ntheUKi sthatthesport
shalli
srarel
ylong
enoughforyoutofityourent
irerun-
up.

1
74
 Conf
idence

So,Ideci
ded toshor
ten t
he pi
tch and us
ethe
spacef
ormyr un-
up.Therewasn'tabatsman at
t
heot
herendaf
teral
l.

Thiswasthefi
rstt
imeIwasr unni
nginfrom a
longerr
un-up t
han f
ive s
tri
des,and Ij
ustlet
loos
e.Mymindwascl
ear,andever
ythi
ngfelts
pot
on.Itur
nedt
oJahngi
r,andhegavemet henodof
approval
.Het
oldmethatitwast
hebes
thehad
seenmebowlforal
ong,l
ongti
me.

Thebookingforournets
essionfi
nis
hedat9pm
intheevening.Itwas9:20 pm,and Iwass
til
l
t
her
ebowl
ing.Idi
dn'
twanti
ttoend.

Igotbackhomeandwents tr
aightt
omyf ather
's
room andshowedhi
m avideoofmybowl i
ng.He
i
mmedi atel
ygotupfrom t
hef l
oorwher
ehewas
l
ayi
ng,put hi
s gl
ass
es on,wat
ched t
he vi
deo
agai
nands
aid,"
wel
ldone"
.

Myf
atherwasandi
sat
oughmant
opl
eas
e.He
wasal
waysver
ycr
iti
calandfortherightr
easons
.
Winni
ng pr
ais
efrom him usual
ly meantthatI
had done s
omet hing r
ight.Overthe year
s ,my
fat
herhads een mebowl ingwiths
uchl udicrous
acti
onsands t
yles.

1
75
 Conf
idence

Wheneverhequest
ionedmeaboutthem,Iwould
gi
vehims omes pi
eltoins
tilconf
idencei
n hi
m
thatIknew whatIwast al
kingabout.Hetrus
ted
me, but deep down, I knew he di dn'
tf eel
complet
ely comfor
tabl
ei nt he way t
hatI was
bowli
ng.On thi
soccasi
on,however,hemadei t
cl
ear to me that my bowl
ing acti
on looked
normal,andhewasthr
ill
edwit
hwhathes aw.

Thatnight,Iwenttobedwi t
habi gsmi
leonmy
face.ButIals
ofeltannoyed.Al
lthes
eyears
,my
mind was s o fixat
ed on t echni
cal thi
s and
t
echnicalthat– Ihadcompl etel
yforgot
tenwhat
i
twasl iket obowlwi t
h confi
denceand expres
s
mysel
ff r
eely.

Ihadal
wayss
truggl
edwi
thi
ncons
ist
enci
eswi
th
mybowl
ing.Myacti
onwoul
dchange,myrhythm
woul
dshow up r
andoml
y,and myspeed woul
d
di
fferwi
ldl
y.Somedays
,Iwoul
dbeonf
ire,and
otherdays
,mybowl
ingwoul
dbeunr
ecogni
sabl
e
(i
nabadway).

Aft
ert hi
sbowlingses
sion atBr adfiel
d,wit
h my
new approach(
don’
toverthink,jus tbowl
),about
99% ofmybowl i
ngsessi
onsf el
tgr eat.

1
76
 Conf
idence

Ihad s
upremeconfidencei
n myabi
lit
ytorock
up,onanygivendayandbeablet
obowlwit
hout
wor
ryi
ngaboutmyact
ion.

Iwanttomakeapointher
e;I'
m nots
ayi
ngthat
youshoul
dn'
tthi
nkaboutt
echni
queorpr
ior
iti
se
it
.AsIhaves ai
d bef
ore,t
echniquei
sessenti
al,
and dr
ill
s ar
ei mportantas t
hey al
low you t
o
embedamovementi nt
oyourmus cl
ememor y.I
fir
mly bel
ieve that had I not done those
thous
andsofdri
lls;Iwouldn'
tbeablet
oexecute
my techni
que wi
thout thi
nki ng.However
,the
mos
tcr uci
altr
ansit
ion you can makei
sfli
cki
ng
t
hes wi
tch f
rom t
echni
calmodet
o per
for
mance
mode.

In my opi ni
on, thisist he s i
ngle great
est
chall
engethatever
yf as
tbowl erwi l
lfacewhen
theyareworki
ngont hei
rtechnique.

The reas
on Ihave s
hared t
hiss
t or
y undert
he
conf
idence chapt
erist
hatbowling wit
h afr
ee
mi nd, in my opi nion, i
s t he pinnacle of
confidence in your bowli
ng action. Wi thout
confidence,you wi
llbestuck i
n anever -
endi ng
trailofthoughtsaboutyourbowl ing acti
on.I t
wi
llonl
yleadt
oas
tat
eofconf
usi
on.

1
77
 Conf
idence

Wher
edoesconf
idencecomef
rom?

Inmyopi ni
on,i
tcomesf rom remindi
ngyours
elf
aboutal
lofthecheckpoi
ntsthatyouhaveti
cked.
I
fyou havedonethedr i
llsand devel
oped your
t
echni
que pr
ogres
sivel
y and been patientwith
your progr es
s ,you need t o keep thisi nthe
for
efrontofyourmi nd.Thi
nkaboutdr ivi
ngacar.
You takel essonswi t
h an inst
ructors atnextto
you.Yout hent akeyourtestand( hopefull
y)pass
.
Atsomes tage,youhavet ogetbehi ndt hewheel
anddrivebyyours
elf
.Forthemajori
tyofpeople,
thi
sisanentir
elynew anddaunt
ingexper
ience.

Whathel
psyougett
hrought
his
?

Yous
ubcons
cious
lyr
emi
ndyour
sel
fofal
loft
he
pract
ice you have al
ready done. You gain
confi
dence f
rom act
ual
ly pas
sing yourt
estand
bei
ng gi
ven a dr
ivi
ng l
icens
e.You know you
bel
ongont her
oad,anditmakesiteasi
erforyou
togetoutandst
artdri
vingi
ndependentl
y.

1
78
 Conf
idence

Ihearsomanybowler
st el
lingmet hatt
heyare
des
perat
elyt
ryi
ng t
oj ump higher
,j ump l
ower
,
bowlwithashinlead,dragtheirbackfootandall
sor
ts.Icanfeelt
hewei ghtofthebaggageintheir
mindsastheyarebowling.Notonl ycanIfeelt
he
wei
ght,Iunderst
andwhatt
heyar
egoi
ngt
hrough
asIwentthroughthes
amethi
ng.

Being abl
et o'l
etgo'requires conf
idence and
confi
dence r
equir
espract
ice.Thi siswheret he
dri
llshavetheirplace.Bydoingt hem,you will
develop t
he f
eeli
ng ofexecut
ing yourtechnical
goal. But t
hat does
n't guar
ant
ee a s
moot
h
trans
iti
on.

Technicalbowlings
es s
ionsareprobablymor eof
ament alchal
lenget
hant heyarephysi
cal.Inever
thoughtIwoul d be ableto bl
ock my frontleg
expl
osi
vel
ywi
thoutt
hinki
ngabouti
tunt
ilIl
etgo
andj
ustbowl
ed… wi
thoutt
hinki
ngabouti
t!

Ther
eisaf
inel
ineher
ebecaus
eyouneedt
odo
enough t
echni
calwork and dr
ill
stolear
nt he
movement,butyoudon'
twanttodosomuchthat
youf
orgetwhatbowl
ingi
sli
kewi
thacl
earmi
nd.

1
79
 Conf
idence

Ifeelt
hatIs pents omucht
imebowli
ngwi thal
l
sort
softechnicalcuesi
nmyhead,t
hatitbecame
t
he new normalf or me.Bowl
ing wi
thoutany
t
echnicalt
hought
si nmymi ndwasanabnormal
f
eeli
ng.

I
twasonl ywhen Iwasin a des
perat
es t
ateof
mindandhadnot
hingtol
osethatIbowledwitha
complet
elycl
earmi
nd,andi
twast
hebes
tthi
ngI
did.

Is ometimes s i
t back and laugh. Had that
September evening,inthe gym wher e I was
bowl
ingwitharol
lofsell
otapei
nmyhandcome
ei
ghtyear
sago,whatcoul
dhavebeen?

1
80
FINAL THOUGHTS
 Fi
nalThought
s

Ihavelos
tcountoft
henumberoftimespeopl e
haveas
ked metheques
tion,"
how do you bowl
f
ast
?".

Gr
owi
ngup,Ihadt
hes
ameques
tionci
rcul
ati
ng
inmymind,andt hes
heeramountofdemandf
or
anans
werplayedabi gparti
nmot i
vati
ngmeto
wri
tet
hisshortbook.

Whetheri
tisi
nper son,i
napr i
vatemessage,i
na
comment on soci
almedi a or by emai
l– my
answertothi
squestion i
sal
waysthesame:fast
bowli
ng and i ncreas
ing speed requir
es a
combinat
ionoff
actorssuchas(1)t
echni
que,(2)
f
itnes
s,( 3) experi
ence and ( 4) confi
dence.
Geneti
csplayapart,yes,butt
her eisnor eason
whyyou cannotincreas
eyours peed wit
hs heer
di
sci
pli
ne,har
dwor
kandpat
ience.

Regar
dles
soft
hedept
h Ihavegonei
ntowi
thi
n
t
hisbook,Ist
illf
eelt
hatIhaveonl
yscr
atchedthe
s
urface wi
ththe amountofinfor
mation Ihave
di
scover
edi
nmyj
our
neyofpur
sui
ngs
peed.

However,Ihopeyoucanappreci
atet
hes t
artt
hat
I have made i
n document
ing my jour
ney and
f
indingsinthi
sproject
.

1
82
 Fi
nalThought
s

I
nt hewor
dsofar eader
,"thisi
sagr eati
nsi
ght
i
ntothemindf
ulnes
soffastbowl
ing"
.

Ifeelthatthi
sbookcont
ainsmanygr
eatgui
ding
pr
i nci
ples.

If you l
ist
en t
o a newcomer in prof
ess
ional
cri
cket,t
heywillof
ten t
ellyou t
hatoneoft he
mosteff
ect
ive f
orms oflearni
ng for t
hem has
mer
elybeenshari
ngachangingroom withamore
exper
iencedpl
ayer
.

Just bei
ng ar ound and l is
tening to other
high-
qual
ity pl
ayers can have such a mas
sive
i
mpactonyou.

Theor
ies come and go, but exper
ience l
ast
s
f
orever – and t
hisis pr
eci
sel
y whatI bel
ieve
makesourwor ksouni
queands opower
ful
.

ThePaceJour
nalisl
ikeshar
ingachangingr oom
wit
hawhol ehostofprof
essi
onalcr
icketer
sand
coachesf
rom ar
oundt
hewor
ld.

The only diff

erence i
sthatwe ask al
lofthe
ques
tionst hatyou mightnothavet
hecourage,
t
imeoroppor
tuni
tyt
oas
k!

1
83
 Fi
nalThought
s

AsImentioned ear
lier
,If
eela gr
eats ense of
res
pons
ibi
lit
yin usingmyper
sonalexperiences
andjourneytohelpprotectf
astbowl
erswhof
ind
themsel
vesinas i
milarposit
iontome.

Although someofmyviewsmaybecons i
der ed
controver
sial to s
ome – I bel
ieve i
n t hem
wholeheartedl
y.

My int
enti
on is nott o cr
iti
cis
e or of
fend any
pl
ayer,person or coach.But s i
mplyt oraise
awar
eness of mat
ters whi
ch are of
ten miss
ed
when s
peakingaboutfastbowl
ingand coachi
ng
asawhole.

Iwil
lclosethi
sbookwi
tht
hef
oll
owi
ngf
ourt
ake
awaypoints
.

1–St
ayi
nthegame.

WhenIwas1
5year
sol
d,myf
atheror
gani
sedf
or
myuncl
e,Shahi
dtocomeand l
ivewi
th us
.Hi
s
pri
mar yrol
ewastotr
ainmeandmakes ur
ethatI
was eati
ng cl
ean.At t
he t
ime,I never r
eal
ly
appreci
ated how much ofa pr
ivi
lege i
twast
o
havesuchlevelofcar
eandsupport.

1
84
 Fi
nalThought
s

Iam for
evergr
atef
ultomyf at
her
,myuncleand
ever
yonewhohaspl ayed apart(
nomatt
erhow
bi
gors
mal
l)i
nmydevel
opment
.

Onedayaf
teraj
ogi
nthecri
cketcl
ub,Shahi
dwas
st
ret
chi
ngme,andhesai
d,"rememberonethi
ng,
youcan'
twalkawayf
rom t
hegame.Thegamewil
l
walkawayfr
om you"
.Iaskedhi
m whathemeant
bythis
,andhes
aid,"ifyoumissadayoftrai
ning,
you wil
lbedoi
ngt oday'swork,tomorrow.And
tomorrow'
swor
k,thedayaf ter.You wi
llalways
bepl
ayi
ngcat
chup"
.

Now,don'tt
akeitt
ooser i
ousl
y.It’
saquote.For
t
he right r
eas
ons, of cour
se, you wi
ll miss
tr
aini
ng sessions.The deeper meaning behi
nd
whatShahid wass ayi
ngist ojuststi
ckint here
anddon'
tt akelongbreaksfrom t
hesport.

Cri
cketi
safunnygame.Infact
,lif
ei safunny
game.Irememberwhen Iwas1 9 year
sold.I
couldtrainf orhourson end,dayaf t
erdaywi th
minimals leep and f
eelnothi ng!Iwasf r
es h,fi
t
and ful
lofener gy.Fastforwar d,at29,I'm not
ableto getawaywi th even 20% oft heteenage
l
ifes
tyl
ethatIhad!

1
85
 Fi
nalThought
s

Why?

I
nmyopini
on,asyougetolder
,thebodyr
equir
es
mor
ecar
eandattent
ion.I
'veheardt
hisal
otfr
om
ot
her
saswell
.At19,Inevert
houghtt
her
ewould
beadaywher
esleepwouldplays
uchahuger
ole
inmyt r
ainingandr ecover
y.At29,I'm payingfor
premium subscri
ption appsto hel
p memoni tor
thequali
tyofmys leep,andI'
mi nvesti
ngi nsleep
hygi
enehacks .

Thepoi
ntI'mtryi
ngt
omakeherei
st hatyoucan
make incr
edi
ble pr
ogr
ess by simply being
cons
istentands
ticki
ngtoyourgoals.Ther
ewi l
l
be ti
mes when t hi
ngs get t
ough, emot
ional
,
overwhelmingandugl y–butjuststi
ckinthere.If
you star
ttakingbreaksf r
om thegame,you wi ll
revers
e allofthe progressand confi
dence that
youaccumul at
edovert heyear
s.Don'tendupi na
posi
tion where you ar
etryi
ng t
orewi
nd t
ime.
Trustme,it'
snotaneas yt
ask!

Oneofmybigges
tregret
sisthef
actt
hatIdidn'
t
ret
urnt
ocri
cketsoonerthan201
7.Iknow many
ofyououtther
ewi l
lhavealove-hater
elat
ionshi
p
withthegamelikeIdid.Becarefulwi
ththis.

1
86
 Fi
nalThought
s

Becar
efulwi
ththi
s.It'
sactual
lyquiteannoying
whentaki
ngthi
ngstooser
iously,cansometi
mes
backf
ireon you.Everyonehasbad days
,weeks
,
monthsandevens eas
ons .Youar
enotimmuneto
thi
s.Ifyou fi
nd your
s el
fgoingthr
ough ar
ough
pat ch,j
ustri
dei toutandwhat everyoudo,don't
makeal ong-t
erm decis
ionbasedonat emporary
feeling.Thebr eak orrel
iefyou arelooki
ng for
mi ghtjustbeonegameaway.

2–Succes
sisamar
athon,notas
pri
nt.

I'
veneverbeen onef
ors hort
cut
s.Ihavealways
dedi
cat
ed myselfwholehear
tedl
yto what
everI
putmymi nd to.Oneoft hekeyl es
sonsIhave
lear
ned i
st hatsucces
s( in anyas
pectoflif
e)is
notaspri
nt,itisamar at
hon.Earli
erinthi
sbook,
Is poke ofan excit
ing peri
od ofmy chil
dhood
whenIwasayoungt eenagerabouttoembarkon
a new action change.Mi s
sion Bret
t+ Shoaib,
remember ?Wel l
,ascr az
yast hi
ssounds,atthat
ti
me,Ihonestl
yt houghtthatass oon asIhad
madethechanges
,I '
d beup there,bowlingfas
t
andknocki
ngonthedoorofpr ofess
ionalcri
cket
.

I
t'snott
hats
impl
e!

1
87
 Fi
nalThought
s

Lear
ning t
akesti
me,and s
uccesstakesti
me.I
know whatit
'sl
iket
o beso hungr
yf ors
ucces
s
thatyou'r
ewil
lingtodoanyt
hingandeveryt
hing
togetit.Andyouwantitfas
t.Butdon'
tletyour
passi
on burn you.You must be r
eal
ist
ic and
acceptthatmaki ngprogressisaj ourney,andi t
takes ti
me to achieve t
hoser esult
s.The mor e
irrat
ionalyour expectati
ons,t he quicker your
heartwi l
lbr
eak,andyourl oveforthegamewi l
l
dr
op.

3–Bepr
epar
edt
ofi
ght
.

Notj
ustinthephys
icals
ens
e,butal
sot
hement
al
si
deofthi
ngs.

Ioncewr
otean ar
ticl
eabouta par
adox wi
thi
n
cricket; how a changing room wi t
h over 10
individualscan f
eellike t
he lonel
iestpl
ace on
ear
thwhent
hingsar
enotgoi
ngyourway.

I
'm wel
lawar
ethatmanyofyou wi
llnotbeas
l
ucky as I was t
o have i
ncr
edi
blys
uppor
tive
peopl
ear
oundyou.

1
88
 Fi
nalThought
s

Letmetellyousomet
hing.WhenImadearetur
n
tocri
cketin 201
7,Iwasoverwei
ghtandhadno
cl
uehow Iwasgoingtobowlorwhatact
ionIwas
goi
ngt obowlwi
th,Idecidedt
hatIwasgoingto
doitenti
rel
ybymys el
f.

Ihadacces
stos
omeofthegr
eat
estcoachesi
nthe
game,butIdidn'
ttel
la si
ngl
es oulaboutmy
pl
ansori
ntenti
ons.Ievenhadanar
gumentwith
myfat
heraboutthi
s–hekeptpushingmetoget
s
uppor
tfr
om t
hem,butIs
aidno.

Why?

Becaus
eIknew t
hatt
hist
imear
ound,at27,Ihad
tof i
ght.It was my bat
tle,and although the
supportwouldhavebeenni ce,Iknew thatdeep
down,Ihadt odothi
sbymys elf
.

Looking back,itwasthe bes

tdeci
sion Imade
becausei
tr eveal
edt
hingst
omeaboutmys el
fthat
I di
dn't know bef
ore. I l
ear
ned s o much.
Someti
mes,itt
akesi
solat
iont
orevealt
hings
.

1
89
 Fi
nalThought
s

Itwasonlyaft
erIhad lostcons
ider
ablewei
ght
andwantedt
os tar
tthebowli
ngphaseofmyplan
thatIr eached outt
o my good f
riend,Jahngi
r.
Together,wef oll
owed a pr
ogr
am Ihad s etout
reli
giousl
y.

Thereas
on I
'mf l
aggingthi
sup toyou i
sthatI
wantyoutoals
opr epar
eyours
elffort
hemental
batt
le.Iwantyou to devel
op the s
ame ment
al
for
titude.Somet
hing Isuff
ered f
rom a l
otbut
event
ual
lyachi
eved.

Cri
cketi
salonel
ygame,andyouneedt
ohavethe
abi
lit
ytofi
ndpeaceandsol
acef
rom wi
thi
nifyou
wantt
osur
viveandmai
ntai
nyourment
alheal
th.

Li
ttl
e t
hings hel
ped me al
ong t
he way. I
st
rengthened my f
ait
h.Isurrounded my mi
nd
with pos
iti
vethought
s.Idi
str
acted mysel
fwit
h
act
ivi
ties t
hatdi
dn'
tincl
ude bowl
ing a cr
icket
bal
l.

You wi
llbe s
urpr
ised athow ef
fect
ive a l
itt
le
break can be.Ifyou're conti
nuall
yl ooki
ng at
cr
icket,pl
ayingcri
cketandt hi
nkingaboutcricket
–you'
regoi
ngt
oment
all
yfat
igue,f
ast
!

1
90
 Fi
nalThought
s

It
'sgood t
obepassionate.I
t'sgood t
obecr az
y
aboutbowli
ngf
astbutfindbalancei
nyourl
ife.It
wi
lldoyouawor
ldofgood,t
rus
tme!

Cr
icketi
sli
fe.Butt
her
eis mor
etol
ifet
han
cr
icket
.

4–Doyou.

Final
ly,my l as
t pi
ece of advi
ce i
s a plea t
o
bull
etproofyourmind.Inyourjourney,youwill
meetmanypeople.Somewi llstay,andsomewi l
l
go.Some wi
llfil
lyourl if
e wi th pos
iti
vit
y and
happi
nes
s,whereasother
swi llpullyoudownand
cr
ushyourambi
tions
.

Letme t
ellyou s
omet
hing,t
her
eisnota s
oul
al
ivewhocan t
ellyou how yourcareerwi
llpan
out.No mat
terhow greatthe coach i
sorhow
many r
ecor
ds t
he pl
ayer has s
et,no one can
di
ctat
eyourdes
tiny.

I
fyouwantt
obowlf
ast
...bowlf
ast
.

Donotl ett
heopi ni
on ofanotherperson t
hrow
you of
fcourse and st
ray you away f
rom your
pass
ion.

1
91
 Fi
nalThought
s

Thereisonepers
onintheworl
dwhoyouneedto
sat
isf
y.Itistheper
soninthemir
ror
.Aslongas
you can l
ook atyours
elfand acknowl
edge t
hat
yougaveyourcareeranhones
tandwhol ehear
ted
opportuni
ty,beproud.

Ther
e ar
e mi l
lionsofpeopl
e around t
he world
whoaretryi
ngt omakeitint
heirsport
,notallof
them wi
llachi
evethei
rgoal– t
hatdoes
n'tmake
you a fail
ure. I
t makes you a brave and
courageousindividualforchasing yourdr
eams
whilst other
ss at back, wat
ched and easil
y
cri
tici
sedpeoplel i
keyou.

Rememberal
loft
heexampl
esIgaveyouatt
he
s
tar
toft hisbook?Aboutt
hebowl
erswhowent
f
rom medium tofas
t.

1
92
 Fi
nalThought
s

Remembert heexampl
esIhavegiven youabout
mysel
f? Fr
om being s
lumped on t
he side ofa
cri
cketnet,cr
ying to bei
ng f
ill
ed wi
thj
oy and
opti
mism 24hourslater?

Youdon'
tknow whati
sar
oundt
hecor
ner
.

Noonedoes
.

So,keepmovi
ng,andnevergi
veup.

Thankyouf
orr
eadi
ng.

1
93
OTHER W ORKS
 Ot
herWorks

KeepBal
anced– FastBowl
ingMot
ivat
ion

In caseyou haven'tchecked i
toutyet,i
n 2019,
ThePaceJour nalcreat
edt heWor l
d'sFi
rstFast
Bowl i
ngAnthem,KeepBal anced.

Youcanwatchthevideoandli
stentothesongby
doi
ng a quick YouTube s
ear
ch (Pace Jour
nal
,
KeepBal
anced)
.

Asyou can probabl

ytellbynow,Ibelievethat
psychol
ogy and mentalhealt
hi ssuch a vi
tal
as
pectofli
feands port
sespeci
all
y.

Thes
ongandvi
deower
edes
igned,di
rect
edand
publi
shedenti
rel
yi n-
hous
ebyThePaceJournal
team and has been a mas
sive hi
t wi
th our
communitysofar.

TheUnt
oldTrut
h – Li
feMot
ivat
ion

For our s
econd bi
rthday, we chos
e agai
nst
produci
ngas econdanthem.Ins
tead,wecreat
eda
raw moti
vat
ionalspeechwhichcommunicatesthe
mentaland emot
ionalchall
enges t
hatamat
eur
cr
icket
ersf
aceinthei
rjourney.

1
95
 Ot
herWorks

Usingr
eal-
lifeexper
iences
,thevideotoucheson
car
eer anxieti
es as wel l as pres
sure t hat
cr
icket
er’
sfacef
rom f
ami
lymember
s.

TheUnt
oldTr
uthi
sapower
fulvi
deowhi
chhas
helped bri
ng comfor
t and cl
osur
et ot
ens of
thousandsofpeopl
earoundtheworl
d.

The f
ullvideo can be f
ound on Pace Jour
nal
's
YouTubechannel.

1
96
JOCK CAMPBELL
 JockCampbel
l

The Aus
tral
ian cri
cketteam hasal
waysbeen a
for
cetobereckonedwith.Thei
rdominancei
nthe
mil
lennium,however ,isatest
amentt oarguably
t
he gr eates
t Aus t
rali
an team t hat has ever
r
epresented the Nati
on.They conquered t
eams
al
lovertheglobeandwer ecrowned,t
r i
pleWorld
CupWi nner
swi th cons
ecuti
vetrophiesin1999,
2003and2007.

It
’snotj
usttheplayer
swhohel
pteamswi n,but
al
sothesupports
taffwhopl
ayasigni
ficantrole
behi
ndt
hes
cenes
.

If
irs
tcame acr
ossJock Campbel
lon YouTube
whenIwasj ust1 4orsoyearsol
d.Iwass earchi
ng
forinf
ormat i
onwhi chcouldhelpmeandl anded
on avideo ofJock imparti
nghi swisdom about
fit
nessandfas tbowli
ngwi t
hthegreatBr et
tLee.

Ti
llt
hisday,i
tiss
til
loneofmyf
avour
itevi
deos
ever
.

Overt
enyear
saf
terIf
irs
tcamet
oknow ofJock,
If
inal
lyhadthehonourt
ospeaktohi
m andpick
hi
sbrains
.Icans
eewhyhisef
fort
sandworkhave
beens
osucces
sfuloverhi
slongcar
eers
pan.

1
98
 JockCampbel
l

I
tisnotonlyanachi
evement
,butanhonourfor
metostandher
etodaywithabodyofworkthat
i
ncl
udeswor
dsf
rom Jock.

I
nthi
s book,I t
alk about at
tri
but
es whi
ch I
believe,makeagr eatcoach,suchasknowledge,
exper i
ence,empathyand emot i
onali
ntel
ligence
beingt hegreat
estofthem al
l.

Notonlyishea phenomenalcoach,butal
soa
genui
nel
ynicehumanbeing.

Therei
sanenor
mousnumberoftheor
iesi
nevery
spor
t.Iwhol
ehear
tedl
ybel
ievet
hatJock’swor
k
andmet
hodol
ogi
esar
eri
ghtupt
her
eamongt
he
bes
t.

n201
I 7,helaunchedafi
tnes
strai
ningappwith
l
egendary Austral
ian f
ast bowler, Mi
tchel
l
Johnson.Theappi sdesignedforf
astbowler
sto
recei
ve per
sonal
ised exerci
sesand pr
ogrammes
t
osuppor
tthem i
nthei
ras
pir
ati
onst
obowlf
ast
.
Iwasimmediat
elyexci
tedbyt heconceptoft he
app.Knowi
ngthatever
yr ecommendation,every
exerci
se,andever yprogram isfil
ter
edbyJock’
s
knowledge,givesmegr eatconfi
denceint
heapps
abil
itytohelpfastbowlers.

1
99
 JockCampbel
l

IfIlear
nedsomuchf r
om a20-minuteYouTube
videofr
om Jock,j
usti
maginehow i
mpactfulan
appl
ikeBowl
fitcanbe.

It
hank Jock f
or hi
s ki
ndnes
s, wi
sdom and
never
-endi
ngs
tream ofpos
iti
vit
y.

Bowl
fiti
savai
labl
ear
oundt
hewor
ldoni
OSand
Andr
oiddevi
ces
.

200
ACKNOW LEDGEMENTS
 Acknowl
edgement
s

Onethi
ngyouwi
llneverhearmes
ayi
sthatIam
"s
elf
-made"
.

Ihave been ver

yf or
tunatetorecei
ve a l
otof
s
upport.Iwouldneedanother1
0pagestolistout
alloft he peopl
e who have contri
buted t
o my
journeyanddevelopment.Iwoul dl
iketomention
af ew i
ndividual
swhohavepl ayed abigpartin
hel
pingt
hisbookcomei
ntoexi
stence.

Vignesh,fortheuncondi
tionals
upportandhel
p
i
npr oofreadi
ngandpushingmet omakesur
ethi
s
pr
ojectmetahi
ghs
tandar
d.

MrBar
row (
Rus
sel
lPr
est
on)
,fort
hel
ong-
ter
m
s
upportofPaceJournalandinhel
pingmemake
s
urethi
sprojectwasreadyt
opubli
sh.

Nheem Ami
n,f
orbei
ngt
her
eformeevers
inceI
wasayoungteenager
;provi
dingcons
tantsupport
andguidancewheneverIhaveneededit.A tr
ue
uns
ungher
o.

Jahngi
r Zaman, f
or hel
ping me whenever I
needed it duri
ng my comeback and
tr
ansfor
mat
ioni
n2017.I
twasonehel
lofar
ide.

202
 Acknowl
edgement
s

Allofthe coaches who have pl

ayed a par
tin
hel
ping me understand t
he game and whatit
takestobowlfast
:IanPont ,Zahi
dSaeed,Nheem
Ami n, Chr
is Lewis, Ter
seus Liebenberg, Jef
f
Gor s
ki,Pet
erMar cas
ciano,RubenTabar es,Jock
Campbel
l, Davi
d Capel
, Davi
d Ri
pley, Roddy
Sl
ater
.

Mybes tf
riends
,Ant
honyandFar
hanforal
ways
bel
ievi
nginmeandencouragi
ngmetopushthe
boundar
iesofwhatIt
hinki
spos
sibl
e.

Tomyi ncr
edi
bleteam whosti
ckbyme(orshoul
d
Isayputupwithme),suppor
tmeandconti
nueto
hel
p us bui
ld a br
and whi
ch i
s having s
uch a
posi
tivei
mpacton theworl
d ofcri
cketand f
ast
bowli
ng.

To ever
ysi
ngl
e per
son who has ever l
iked,
commented or s
har
ed any of our cont
ent
.I
bel
ievet
hatourcommunityisoneoft hemajor
t
hingst
hats
epar
ateusf
rom mos
tmedi
a-r
elat
ed
cr
icketcompani
es.

Wi
thoutyou,noneoft
hiswoul
dbepos
sibl
e.

203
 Acknowl
edgement
s

To my f ami
ly, f
or thei
r uncondit
ional l
ove,
pat
ienceandsupport
.Mymot her,f
orherprayers
and support. My br
other,for being such a
pos
iti
ver ol
emodeland alwayshavingmyback.
Mys i
ster
,forherunwaveri
ngsupport,bel
iefand
cons
tant
...

And l
astl
y,my fat
her,for st
icki
ng by me
when at t
imes,I di
dn’
t even deserve i
t.
Thank you f
or showing me what ittrul
y
means to be a leader, f
ather and rol
e
model
.

#WeAr
eOne

204
Wor
dsbyShahbazChoudhr
y
 @pacej
ournal
www.
thepacej
ournal
.com
“SHAHBA
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PHYS
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trume
ntali
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pingBret
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s e
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linwor
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