'Frontline fast bowlers in fine fettle' - Lillee

Dennis Lillee, the former Australian fast bowler who was present at the recently concluded fast bowlers' training camp in Bangalore, has said that the top Indian medium-pacers are in fine fettle ahead of the new season.

This will come as welcome news to the Indian team after a season when many of their frontline bowlers- Zaheer Khan, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Irfan Pathan and Ashish Nehra - were rendered ineffective through fatigue and varied injuries.

Lillee, who interacted with Greg Chappell and the players, said that both he and TA Sekhar, the chief coach of the MRF Pace Foundation, had analysed video footage of all the 15 bowlers. Chappell had also been told of the adjustments that each bowler had to make. "Remember they have come out of the off season," said Lillee. "So they are just trying to bowl a line and length. It is good that I had the chance to see them just before they start a new season."

Lillee felt that the players were doing the right things and said he had made corrections wherever necessary. "After all, all of them had been with me earlier at different times. I only needed to make slight adjustments," he said after analysing the video footage that was sent to him by Chappell. Sekhar also added that there would be frequent sessions analysing the bowlers' progress and that the players were happy with the opportunity to be monitored under Lillee at the start of a new season.

Lillee felt that today's budding fast bowlers understood the rigours of the trade and were genuinely interested in developing their fast-bowling skills. Lillee said that in 1987, he had trouble finding fast bowlers in the 14-17 age group and attributed this to a lack of fast-bowling role models in India. Lillee was optimistic about the current batch of young fast bowlers and added that "some 'Sikh boys' and a few others are really good and look to be long-term future prospects".

He agreed with Javagal Srinath's view that fast bowlers could win matches for India and cited instances in the past when fast-bowling combinations had proved to be matchwinning in most conditions. "History also proves that Australian and West Indian fast bowlers have won matches for their teams during their visits to India." Lillee also added that a pitch that assisted quick bowling would provide for more entertainment as a spinning track might hinder fluent strokeplay. "Wickets in Australia and the West Indies do help fast bowlers and the batsmen," he said. "A fast wicket will be interesting for the paying public as solid stroke makers could keep fast bowlers at bay."