da cassino： NAIROBI – After 70,727 deliveries bowled metronomically off the samerun-up in top-class cricket, Glenn McGrath decided it was time for achange.
Michael Donaldson03-Sep-2002NAIROBI – After 70,727 deliveries bowled metronomically off the samerun-up in top-class cricket, Glenn McGrath decided it was time for achange.Unfortunately for Kenya, the decision to shorten his run-up workedperfectly.McGrath was sensational as he took 3-8 off eight overs against thestartled Kenyans and was primarily responsible for their lowest total(84) since being allowed to play full one-day internationals.For years – in Tests, first-class matches, one-day internationals andlimited overs matches for NSW – McGrath has run in from his standardmark of 27 metres.That equates to almost 20,000 kilometres of running, not to mention theequivalent 20,000km of walking back to the top of his run.So it’s little wonder the world’s premier pace bowler was a bit tired ofit all and decided to shorten his run to 17 metres.”To be honest I haven’t been overly impressed with my run-up over thelast 12 months or so … I wasn’t hitting the crease as well as I havedone,” McGrath said after Australia made 2-85 to win the triangularseries match by eight wickets here on Monday.”I’ve had the same run-up since I started playing and I thought it wasabout time I had a change.”I didn’t expect to be trialling it in a match so soon but there was agreat opportunity in this game. I’d felt comfortable in the nets so awayI went.”My follow-through was much better and I had much more in reserve -hopefully as time goes by I’ll now be able to bowl longer spells.”Bowling off a shorter run also speeds up play in the one-day arena -especially with Australia currently using four pacemen – which will helpavoid problems with slow over rates.”With the shorter run-up in one-day game we get through our overs morequickly which gives us a bit more time (to make decisions) which isbetter for us,” he said.”This is something I’ve wanted to do for a while and I think I’ll stickat now and see how it goes.”While fast bowlers often shorten their runs towards the end of theircareers, young Aussie quick Brett Lee has also been cutting down whileJason Gillespie has been the prime mover to a more economical approachto the crease.”I thought it may have been a tad long for the last couple of seasons,and I’ve found I can get the same amount of pace and rhythm and alsomomentum off a shorter run,” Lee said.”Growing up, like a lot of young kids I probably thought – like a lot ofkids still do – that the faster you wanted to bowl, the longer yourrun-up had to be.”That’s totally not true, and Jason Gillespie’s proved that – he’s got avery short run and bowls at very good pace.”