Fred Trueman – England's greatest-ever fast bowler
«Posted on: October 13, 2013, 01:05:07 PM »
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Fred Trueman in his delivery stride © Getty Images
Fred Trueman, born February 6, 1931, was arguably the greatest fast bowler and undeniably the most colourful character produced by England. Let's looks back at his fascinating career.
When Fred Trueman burst into the international scene breathing fire and scorching Indian batsmen with his pace in 1952, reducing them to 0 for four and then picking up eight for 31, he walked right into the English imagination.
The country had hoped, prayed and hankered for a bowler of searing pace who could do unto the Australian batsmen what Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller had done unto their own. And when this earthy Yorkshire youth ran in to bowl, he emerged as an answer to their ardent prayers.
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Trueman and Sobers
After the game, he would hold his session over beer, where each dismissal would be explained with colour and imagination, and no one could book him for being overly modest. That one was an in-swinging yorker, the other one a late out-swinger, the third one deceived by a slower one. A cheeky young Richard Hutton, son of Trueman’s first Test captain Len Hutton and a teammate of his last Yorkshire years, once asked him, “Did you ever bowl a plain straight ball?” Trueman replied quick as a flash, “Aye, I did - and it went straight through like a stream of piss and flattened all three.”
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A lot of the remarks were meant just for good humour. When the MCC team was presented to the Bishop of Perth, Trueman turned to Sheppard and asked, “I suppose he’s your senior pro.” And once exhausted and asked by Peter May to bowl yet another because “England expects”, he shot back, “England always expects, doesn’t she? No wonder she’s called the Mother Country.”
Often the lightning wit was laced with ribaldry. When someone in Aden pointed out a local Sikh saying, “He has 196 wives,” Trueman shot back, “Does he know that with another four he can have a new ball?”
complete story here
