Ferley: I'll remember this day for a long while
The day before the England Under-19 team took on their Indian counterparts at the Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation Ground at Vijayawada, the two teams had to endure a seven hour long ride by bus from Hyderabad
Anand Vasu
08-Feb-2001
The day before the England Under-19 team took on their Indian counterparts
at the Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation Ground at Vijayawada, the two
teams had to endure a seven hour long ride by bus from Hyderabad. Just half
an hour after the bus left Hyderabad, the air conditioner sputtered, hissed
and completely stopped working. Sitting in a rather stuffy and
uncomfortable bus, I found myself sitting next to Kent left arm spinner
Robert Ferley. When the going gets tough, the tough often get cranky. On
this occasion however, Ferley was at his charming best, spinning tales
about the adventures he and his mates had had back home. The one thing he
let slip however, was the fact that he did not look forward to bowling left
arm spin on flat Indian wickets and following that up with another long bus
ride on his 19th birthday.
As it turned out, the 4th of February 2001, Ferley's 19th birthday turned
out to be a memorable one as he picked up 4/32 and spun England to a good
win. Speaking to CricInfo soon after his effort, the chirpy lad was
excitement personified.
"I'm sure I'm going to remember this birthday for a long while to come.
Mind you, I still don't fancy the seven hour journey back to Hyderabad. But
yes, it was a good day on the field for England. For me personally too, it
was good to make a contribution," began Ferley.
Although he bowled with tremendous confidence and control, at times it
looked like England's score of 249 was not going to be enough. "We thought
250 was 10 or 20 short. But even with 250 on the board we knew we had a
good chance of winning. It's not that easy to chase a target if the bowlers
keep the ball on a good line and length," admitted Ferley.
Although Ferley was easily the pick of the England spinners on the tour, he
was picked to play just one `Test' and did not even get a bowl in the first
One-Dayer. Was he nervous that he might once again be relegated to the
outfield? "I spoke to the captain, Ian Bell, and he said he'd probably bowl
me through for ten overs. All I was trying to do really was create a bit of
pressure. If I bowled full, I could only be hit straight down the ground.
That's exactly what I did."
In fact, Ferley managed to create enough pressure to snare two batsmen in
as many deliveries. On a hat-trick, Ferley did not get excited in the
least. Even the customary crowding of batsmen with close in fielders was
not resorted to. "Hat-trick balls in One-Day matches are not really
relevant at all. I was just trying to bowl another dot ball. We didn't want
to give away runs and so I couldn't really change my field too much,"
Ferley explained, displaying a great deal of maturity for a lad of his years.
Having proven his worth amply in all departments of the game on this
gruelling tour of India, Ferley will return to Kent with a wealth of
experience. However, the lad is not resting on his laurels. On his return,
Ferley is keen to spend time talking spin bowling with one of his idols.
"Derek Underwood is definitely a hero of mine although I bowl a bit
differently. He bowled it a bit quicker. He's someone who I haven't really
had the opportunity to speak with that much. Perhaps in the next year I'll
get a chance to speak to him a bit more about the art of spin bowling."
Armed with the experience gained from the tour of India, an extremely
healthy attitude to the game and no doubt words of wisdom from Underwood,
this young man is bound to make waves for Kent, and hopefully for Ferley,
England as well, in the years to come.