Finally, Wright8217;s plan bears fruit

The great teams in history, apart from the West Indies in the 1970s and 1980s, have all relied on swing bowlers for their success. So too with England in the Caribbean, the selectors going for Steve Harmison instead of James Anderson. The result was a major revelation, as Hoggard and Flintoff did much to help Harmison, named man of the series.

Sir Leonard Hutton, when interviewed in 1961, remarked how the guile of swing bowling was far more difficult to handle than brute pace. Half a century ago, the England opener shaped up to Ray Lindwall, the Brett Lee of his era, and found him a tougher proposition when he dropped his pace and allowed the ball to 8216;8216;move about in the air8217;8217;.

Lateral movement is a tough concept and has won more Tests than has sheer pace. Sir Richard Hadlee, Kapil Dev, Imran Khan and Ian Botham were big names of the 1970s and 1980s; so was Clive Rice. Although not a Test player, it was the skill of Rice8217;s out-swing which enabled him to successfully hunt down the opposition in rebel series. Malcolm Marshall was another who was a clever swing bowler who mixed pace with subtle variation for his results.

New Zealand8217;s great era from 1978 to 1992 revolved mainly around the skills and swing technique of Hadlee. The first man to take 400 Test wickets, he had excellent support from Ewan Chatfield and Lance Cairns. They were also quality swing bowlers and played a major role in the Kiwis emerging from their semi-amateur status.

John Wright, when captain of New Zealand, had much admiration for Hadlee8217;s meticulous bowling ethic. In his autobiography Christmas in Rarotonga Wright explains the philosophy behind the value of a bowling attack based on swing bowling. Even then, at the end of his career, you could see how far he was thinking ahead.

Wright played for Derbyshire, and Hadlee for Nottinghamshire and the two often got together to discuss tactics. It was this county association that fostered such relationships as that between Hadlee and Kapil Dev. The two great all-rounders developed a firm friendship: good enough to spend evenings together during a series.

It had long been Wright8217;s philosophy to develop a bowling attack to suit India8217;s needs. During the unhappy 2001 tour of South Africa he lamented over the lack of penetration and argued in Bloemfontein how India needed to develop a bowling attack similar to that New Zealand had during the 70s and 80s. He had it in mind then to work for an attack that would be competitive in all conditions.

What he needed was time to find the bowlers and develop their skills and ability and in this sense create a culture of modern swing bowling if India were going to become a world class team. His years with Derbyshire and the New Zealand team taught him the value of how quality swing bowlers will eventually create a climate of success. What is needed here though are pitch conditions which give the bowlers an opportunity to utilise their skills.

There was cause for concern before the Australian tour when, in September and October, India played New Zealand on surfaces that did little to turn the Tests into the type of challenging games they have become. If India8217;s home venue authorities persist in this policy, they are going to destroy months of hard work to get Team India to a position where they can challenge South Africa for second place and then Australia as the leading country.

It is going to be interesting to see what surfaces are produced for the South African tour. What is the use of creating a quality bowling attack if home authorities fail to create the right conditions? It is going to be interesting to see how they meet the challenge.