CHARNEY HALL A Bullseye at Cricket

         Bernard Swift

Bernard Swift, true to his name, was a very fast bowler. His run up was almost as long as the pitch. I recalled in an earlier post that he was regarded as our secret weapon…when he was bowling nothing could survive the onslaught that was unleashed at the other end. Unfortunately having to play in-house cricket against him, even on a wet day, was a frightening experience. Come rain or shine his pace never changed and the ball appeared at waist height with monotonous regularity - that is if you glimpsed it at all winging its way down the pitch on its curved trajectory. 

His run-up mirrored the flight of the ball and the consistency of his delivery, combined with the dynamic force of his feet on the grass, eventually wore a track beyond the white crease line. Like all of our bowlers his white cotton trousers worn on match days acquired a red stain down the groin area, created by the regular polishing of the red leather of a new ball on the way back to the start of each run. Index and middle fingers were then precisely aligned either side of the sized stitching which on the down stroke of his delivery imparted a spin on the ball so strong that a fluttering sound similar to a bird in flight could be heard at its release.

In 1950s Charney cricket there was little protection - just pads and gloves. Later at public school I was introduced to a ‘jock strap’ and a ‘box’ which surprisingly was made out of plastic and not wood or cardboard as I had at first imagined. When I worked out its use, I immediately understood why but I could never quite make sense of the fact that these essential accoutrements were not on a CH newbie boy’s list.

Today even face guards are ‘de rigueur’ and without doubt, now that I am aware of the risks, should have been made freely available at Charney….

I wasn’t a cricketer by choice. Yes I could bowl - I was a spinner and bowled with twisted overhand wrist in a feeble attempt to make the ball jump sideways just before or after the batsman. ‘Before’ to set up a catch for the slips and ‘after’ to knock off the bails. And yes I could bat after a fashion…Maxwell Duncan once made a comment in the CH Notes that I must have studied the classic form of Tom Graveney - which I hadn’t. But batting is not about style but about making runs and that I found very difficult to achieve. Even Lennox Aitchison - our cricket guru - was known to wring his hands at Smith’s inability to hit to the leg side which he maintained was how the runs in schoolboy cricket were made. 

So whilst in my own eyes I had failed on two counts at the noble art of cricket, I determined to make my mark as a wicket keeper… 

Protected by large rubber and cow hide gloves with rubber ‘thimbles’ to protect the ends of the digits, large oversized pads and the poor wretched batsman, all I had to do was catch the ball if he missed it. My reactions were good and to increase the chance of catching the ball I would form a conical funnel with the gloves and hold that in line with my chin. This plan of action worked well with spin bowlers and the returns from accurate fielding near the boundaries. What I hadn’t thought through was how to deal with a fast bowler and in particular Bernard Swift.

Everything was going fine that day, two full paces back from the stumps. There was a split second more to focus on the ball as it was propelled down the pitch. If the batsman was slow off the mark it could hit him on the pad, the leg or somewhere else… lbw being a distinct possibility. If it missed the batsman and bounced wide there was no chance that I could catch it. That ball would be left and would have to be fielded by the poor boys in the slips with nimble fingers.

However the next ball bounced higher than anticipated, caught the upper edge of the horizontal bat and hit me dead centre on the forehead. They say in times like these one’s whole life flashes past in slow motion. I don’t remember that but what I do remember is feeling a lump the size and texture of a hard boiled egg appearing almost instantly on my head. Thereafter I remember nothing. There must have been some concern as I had to retire, probably to see the matron but shock must have mercifully eradicated all memory of the event….

It was not much more than a day later that I was blessed with two enormous black eyes and a very sore head.

Thereafter I dreaded fast bowlers, wished I was somewhere else when I had to face them, breathed a sigh of relief when I found myself at the other end of the pitch but enjoyed immensely watching them perform from the comfort of the pavillion. 

AI’s Overview on Fast Bowling! :

A fast bowler's run-up should be controlled and repeatable, and should help them gain momentum and direction. Here are some tips for a fast bowler's run-up: 

Speed and length: Try to find a speed and length that suits you. Run at about 70% of your top speed to optimize momentum without using too much force.

Don't slow down: Keep running without slowing down at any point. 

Angle: Change your angle when bowling to a left or right-handed batsman. 

Consistency: Try to group your runs and bowl consistently. You can mark your front foot landing to help with consistency.

Drills: Try drills like line sprints, progressions, and under runs. 

The art of fast bowling has now become a science!