'If you go for 12 off three balls, don't let the over cost 20'
Kane Richardson looks back at his stop-start international career and talks about bringing T20 skills and strategy to ODIs
"I won't look at stats or how I go on the scoreboard. It's all going to be about: what was my preparation like, what was my execution like?" • Getty Images
I guess you almost go into a T20 mindset and try and restrict the damage in the Powerplay. I think the Powerplay over here [in India] is such a huge part. But in saying that, having Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood fit and firing at the top, hopefully we get them 20 for 3 or whatever.
I think the sequence of your over is so important, whether that be going for a yorker at the start of the over and not going for a boundary in your first couple of overs, or if it's on a wicket that's conducive to bowling a slower ball, going to that. So it's thinking on your feet - what's working on the day, what's working for the other boys, what isn't working as well. It's crucial in that time when the ball is flying around, if you do go for 12 off three balls, to not go for 20 off the over. And the same in the spell. If you've gone for a big first over, make sure the next over you pull it back, so you can still influence the game in three of your last ten overs or get back in the game. We all know it is hard for bowlers over here, but if you can impact the game, then try to come back and do that.
It probably does [change] because of the ground size, which over here is a lot smaller. Your tools are probably your yorker a lot more here because you don't want the blokes getting under you and hitting you for a six that way, whereas off slower balls, top edges can fly. It is a lot less bounce [in India] so slower balls don't bounce as much, but they can grip more. You just turn up, see what's working well and go with that. You can have all the plans in the world and all the best intentions, but they can go out of the window pretty quick.
It's a hard thing to do. It's unnerving as a bowler knowing that the ball can slip out and be a beamer or a full toss, and even on the pitch it can slip around. It is really uncomfortable and you can train all you want, but it all depends on the game. That moment right there when you have the ball, that's when it matters. It's nothing new to us - back home we get dew as well, the Gabba gets quite dewy. It's something as a modern-day cricketer you just have to turn up and do your best with.
If that's the case, it's nothing new to me. I'm always ready and willing to go when picked. I'm happy to be around this team and to be involved. But I won't look at stats or how I go on the scoreboard. It's all going to be about: what was my preparation like, what was my execution like? And if that means going for 80 off ten but we win, if that means going for 75 but I influence the game at the back end, so be it.
"Once you go vegetarian for a certain period of time, you feel good. I mean, I lost some weight, but I also haven't been injured since I've done it. I've definitely got leaner"
Well, in seven years I think I've played only 20 games [22 ODIs at the time of this interview], so maths tells you that's three games a year! Probably shows that when I started, I wasn't ready. I was picked on potential. I don't think I was even meant to play that debut game, but an injury happened the night before. I battled for probably two or three years at the start to nail down a spot. I didn't feel like I was good enough.
Well, I think just moving teams - at the start I was with Adelaide [Strikers] for a while, and then moving to Melbourne under Andrew McDonald was something I wanted to do just to grow as a cricketer and to get out of Adelaide, which is the place I'd been in since I started playing professionally.
I had experience there in 2016. I didn't play a whole lot but it is a franchise I'm familiar with, and I remember turning up and hearing all the things about how the bowling's been the issue. We actually made the final that year and got beaten by [Sunrisers] Hyderabad.
Well, he did originally. I remember being at Bangalore and I was vegetarian. I think it was a day off and I watched a documentary on Netflix - I think it's called Conspiracy. My wife watched it and she showed it to me. I got through the tour and then got home and she said, "We're going vegan." It wasn't that big a thing. We were vegetarians for about six months before that. Obviously in India, being vegetarian is quite an easy thing to do, but [for vegans] it can be a bit of a challenge now, considering most things have cheese or butter or cream, but that's getting better as well. Virat's a big hand with that - he always gives out some tips about where to go or even passes on some food or breakfast.
(Laughs) Maybe that's why! He actually did send me a message when I got picked [in the auction]. He said, "Welcome back and make sure the super foods are ready", and I said, "I'm looking forward to breakfast time already."
We drove past a farm or something and there were some lambs and my partner was like, "They actually remind me of our dog." From that day on, we stopped eating lamb, and once you make a justification of one thing, it's like we probably shouldn't eat beef either, and then it's pork, fish, chicken. And then you go vegetarian and a natural progression of that is to not eat dairy or eggs either.
Yeah, that was how it started. There were little baby lambs running around and we thought, "That looks like our dog at home." And when we went to dinner that night, we were like, "We probably shouldn't eat that." I don't know how other people have done it, but for us that was what it was. But it has been quite easy.
Vishal Dikshit is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo