"I'm not a big fan of the Kookaburra." -Kemar Roach

[Line and Length]

jimmy 'i average 33 with a kookaburra' anderson

That's wearing a little thin now Flem.

Why not call him Jimmy 'I average 24 with a kookaburra at the MCG' Anderson?

 

[Line and Length]

Is there really such a thing as a good 2 piece ball? I've only come across truly dire specimens that do swing a lot but don't last very long at all.

True, but with a good one it never needed to last too long at lower club cricket level.

 

[SteveNZ]

Is there really such a thing as a good 2 piece ball? I've only come across truly dire specimens that do swing a lot but don't last very long at all.

Memory tells me that the 2-piece Red King used to destroy opposition line-ups. It was barely usable at training on Tuesday, but by god it had done its job by then.

 

[SteveNZ]

For me (and I think someone said this) the biggest issue with the Kookaburra is its consistency, or lack thereof. We used to spend copious amounts of time looking through the box for the right ball to use. They'd be different colours, some seams would be considerably more proud than others, even the shape seemed to lack consistency. In the couple of years I played with Dukes, there was never any thought of having to rifle through a box to pick the right one.

So to me it's not that Kookaburras are bowler killers, it's just that they can't sometimes tell which ones are going to be and which aren't. Look back at the McCullum (c) days in NZ, when his sides used to regularly get umpires to put the balls through the ring, because they knew that if this one wasn't swinging, there might be one in the box that could. I don't know the exact ins and outs of ball manufacturing but that's an issue I'm not sure why becomes such a considerable issue in the modern age. Presumably balls have a hand-made element to them?

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

One of my favorite types of club cricketer are the middle-aged fast bowlers who are really concerned about what type of ball would be used and keeping it in good shape but then would inevitably always end up with like 1-58 off 8 overs.

 

[Starfighter]

That's wearing a little thin now Flem.

Why not call him Jimmy 'I average 24 with a kookaburra at the MCG' Anderson?

There are more grounds in Australia than Melbourne.

 

[SteveNZ]

One of my favorite types of club cricketer are the middle-aged fast bowlers who are really concerned about what type of ball would be used and keeping it in good shape but then would inevitably always end up with like 1-58 off 8 overs.

I'll chalk this one up to completely coincidental timing that it came after my post

 

[Line and Length]

One of my favorite types of club cricketer are the middle-aged fast bowlers who are really concerned about what type of ball would be used and keeping it in good shape but then would inevitably always end up with like 1-58 off 8 overs.

My last game, played when I was 49 and a middle-aged medium-fast bowler, I ended up with 6-44 off 22.3 overs. I had retired 2 years earlier but was acting as a "fill-in" when the numbers were down. I am able to retrieve such information as I kept copies of the scorebooks over the years in the capacity of the Club's statistician and custodian of records.

 

[TheJediBrah]

That's wearing a little thin now Flem.

Why not call him Jimmy 'I average 24 with a kookaburra at the MCG' Anderson?

because that would be weird

what's he played 2 games there?

 

[SteveNZ]

Ah, the lazy 'Jimmy Anderson is no good with a Kookaburra' discussion.

In Australia:
2006/07 - 5 wickets at 82.
2010/11 - 24 at 26
2013/14 - 14 at 43
2017/17 - 17 at 27

So really, isn't it best to say he's been inconsistent, has got a lot better as his career has progressed (this applies around the world) and has half the time proven he is a top level bowler in Australia? Because those wickets at >27 makes you top class.

I get the Jimmy Anderson criticism, that he takes his wickets at 30+ overseas. But what motivation did he have to change the way he bowled? He is a consistent match winner in England and any conditions around the world that suit. You turn him into a back of a length bang in it in bowler, and you negate the advantages he brings as one of the rare bowlers in the world who gets guys out swinging it with a full length. He has no desire to be the back of a length guy, and he shouldn't. You talk about the guys with >25 averages, the Hadlees, the McGraths, the Marshalls etc, they were back of a length guys. No one is going to take wickets at >30 bowling forward of a length around the world.

The 'look at his average, he's not world class/an ATG' take is pretty limited, I reckon. Anderson was exactly what he needed to be with the guys around him and with his unique skill set, and in the country he plays half his cricket in

 

[honestbharani]

Don't forget he is one of the few fast bowlers who have been instrumental in winning a series in India.

 

[Daemon]

Ah, the lazy 'Jimmy Anderson is no good with a Kookaburra' discussion.

In Australia:
2006/07 - 5 wickets at 82.
2010/11 - 24 at 26
2013/14 - 14 at 43
2017/17 - 17 at 27

So really, isn't it best to say he's been inconsistent, has got a lot better as his career has progressed (this applies around the world) and has half the time proven he is a top level bowler in Australia? Because those wickets at >27 makes you top class.

I get the Jimmy Anderson criticism, that he takes his wickets at 30+ overseas. But what motivation did he have to change the way he bowled? He is a consistent match winner in England and any conditions around the world that suit. You turn him into a back of a length bang in it in bowler, and you negate the advantages he brings as one of the rare bowlers in the world who gets guys out swinging it with a full length. He has no desire to be the back of a length guy, and he shouldn't. You talk about the guys with >25 averages, the Hadlees, the McGraths, the Marshalls etc, they were back of a length guys. No one is going to take wickets at >30 bowling forward of a length around the world.

The 'look at his average, he's not world class/an ATG' take is pretty limited, I reckon. Anderson was exactly what he needed to be with the guys around him and with his unique skill set, and in the country he plays half his cricket in

Ok

 

[stephen]

Ah, the lazy 'Jimmy Anderson is no good with a Kookaburra' discussion.

In Australia:
2006/07 - 5 wickets at 82.
2010/11 - 24 at 26
2013/14 - 14 at 43
2017/17 - 17 at 27

So really, isn't it best to say he's been inconsistent, has got a lot better as his career has progressed (this applies around the world) and has half the time proven he is a top level bowler in Australia? Because those wickets at >27 makes you top class.

I get the Jimmy Anderson criticism, that he takes his wickets at 30+ overseas. But what motivation did he have to change the way he bowled? He is a consistent match winner in England and any conditions around the world that suit. You turn him into a back of a length bang in it in bowler, and you negate the advantages he brings as one of the rare bowlers in the world who gets guys out swinging it with a full length. He has no desire to be the back of a length guy, and he shouldn't. You talk about the guys with >25 averages, the Hadlees, the McGraths, the Marshalls etc, they were back of a length guys. No one is going to take wickets at >30 bowling forward of a length around the world.

The 'look at his average, he's not world class/an ATG' take is pretty limited, I reckon. Anderson was exactly what he needed to be with the guys around him and with his unique skill set, and in the country he plays half his cricket in

Your > signs should be <

 

[SteveNZ]

Your > signs should be <

Oh yeah. Thanks for making your reply more valuable than the one above.

 

[TheJediBrah]

A good way to remember it is to pretend they are hungry crocodiles and if you are a hungry crocodile then you're going to want to eat the bigger number aren't you? So the jaws (>) open at the bigger number.

hope this helps

 

[StephenZA]

I will say that Anderson has also not been great in SA over his career. And Its not like the ball does not swing here.

 

[Flem274*]

Ah, the lazy 'Jimmy Anderson is no good with a Kookaburra' discussion.

In Australia:
2006/07 - 5 wickets at 82.
2010/11 - 24 at 26
2013/14 - 14 at 43
2017/17 - 17 at 27

So really, isn't it best to say he's been inconsistent, has got a lot better as his career has progressed (this applies around the world) and has half the time proven he is a top level bowler in Australia? Because those wickets at >27 makes you top class.

I get the Jimmy Anderson criticism, that he takes his wickets at 30+ overseas. But what motivation did he have to change the way he bowled? He is a consistent match winner in England and any conditions around the world that suit. You turn him into a back of a length bang in it in bowler, and you negate the advantages he brings as one of the rare bowlers in the world who gets guys out swinging it with a full length. He has no desire to be the back of a length guy, and he shouldn't. You talk about the guys with >25 averages, the Hadlees, the McGraths, the Marshalls etc, they were back of a length guys. No one is going to take wickets at >30 bowling forward of a length around the world.

The 'look at his average, he's not world class/an ATG' take is pretty limited, I reckon. Anderson was exactly what he needed to be with the guys around him and with his unique skill set, and in the country he plays half his cricket in

nah

he's had some isolated excellent series, but micro-focusing on the ashes to support bowling with the kookaburra when he sucks with the thing overall..yea i see what you're doing and it still doesn't work, especially since he's 2/2 in aus.

it's also not the point.

the point is england are world class with a duke and middling at best with a kookaburra, and growing up with a more difficult ball to use creates better bowlers. giving away that advantage is stupid.

i quite enjoy england coming here for three series in a row and crying the pitches are too flat and the ball doesn't swing while getting skittled every other innings. this is natural order asserting itself, and i do not want it to change.

i know you're a bowler and just wanna see that ***y swing, but i like it better when my team swings the ball and the other one can't because they're used to a duke doing everything for them.

 

[CodeOfWisden]

James Anderson is the Anil Kumble of fast bowling.

 

[CodeOfWisden]

Ah, the lazy 'Jimmy Anderson is no good with a Kookaburra' discussion.

In Australia:
2006/07 - 5 wickets at 82.
2010/11 - 24 at 26
2013/14 - 14 at 43
2017/17 - 17 at 27

So really, isn't it best to say he's been inconsistent, has got a lot better as his career has progressed (this applies around the world) and has half the time proven he is a top level bowler in Australia? Because those wickets at >27 makes you top class.

I get the Jimmy Anderson criticism, that he takes his wickets at 30+ overseas. But what motivation did he have to change the way he bowled? He is a consistent match winner in England and any conditions around the world that suit. You turn him into a back of a length bang in it in bowler, and you negate the advantages he brings as one of the rare bowlers in the world who gets guys out swinging it with a full length. He has no desire to be the back of a length guy, and he shouldn't. You talk about the guys with >25 averages, the Hadlees, the McGraths, the Marshalls etc, they were back of a length guys. No one is going to take wickets at >30 bowling forward of a length around the world.

The 'look at his average, he's not world class/an ATG' take is pretty limited, I reckon. Anderson was exactly what he needed to be with the guys around him and with his unique skill set, and in the country he plays half his cricket in

Remove pink ball stats. That ball is tailor made for someone like him
He was good in 2010/11 but apart from that he has been a total failure, no impactful performances.
That avg in 17 ashes looks good but remove those pink ball wickets and he you ll see he was his usual self.
11 wkts in 4 test at 32

 

[Flem274*]

also

no one is going to take wickets at >30 bowling forward of a length around the world.

a) anderson does settle into the corridor and pulls his length back when conditions demand it, he's a smart bowler
b) dale steyn loves throwing it up. the kookaburra doesn't seem to prevent starc or our guys hucking it up full either