Hunting in pairs
Two things make Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel such a lethal new-ball duo, says S Ram Mahesh in the latest edition of Sportstar
Dustin Silgardo
25-Feb-2013
Two things make Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel such a lethal new-ball duo, says S Ram Mahesh in the latest edition of Sportstar. Firstly, their styles complement each other, and secondly, they are individually “physical freaks.” Steyn’s endurance is tremendous considering how fast he bowls, while very few tall men bowl as fast as Morkel does.
Steyn and Morkel have the natural chemistry every successful partnership has. Sir Len Hutton once said of Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller that you couldn't pick a fight with one of them, for you'd have both at your throat. There's a similar sense to how Steyn and Morkel operate. Not only do their methods complement each other — Steyn's skiddy pace and late swing and Morkel's sheer speed and abrupt lift — they work on batsmen together. You need look only at how they roughed up and removed Michael Hussey in concert to understand this.
Dustin Silgardo is a former sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo