Tucker: Blewett prepares for Akram. (Oct 95)

Title: Leader of The Pack! - Blewett`s plan to hold off rivals... Author: Jim Tucker Source: Inside Edge (October 1995)

Jim Tucker Quizzes Greg Blewett about the Caribbean...and lifting the tempo against Wasim and Waqar

Test tyro Greg Blewett will maximise his time in the nets against South Australian team-mate Mark Harrity to help prepare for the threat posed by Pakistan`s Wasim Akram this summer.

Like Akram, Harrity bowls left-arm and at a pace. Any practice against the laft-armer`s different angles can only be of value, according to Australia`s rising star.

"Mark obviously had a different action, but he is quite sharp and can swing the ball in like Akram," Blewett says. "As much practice as I can get against his bowling will hold me in good stead."

Blewett`s reasoning is similar to that employed by Test team-mate Michael Slater last year for the tour of Pakistan.

He rigged a bowling machine on the laft-arm bowler`s angle, studied video of his footwork and found two eager second-grade lefties for the indoor nets to give him that little extra edge.

Last summer, Blewett burst onto the Test scene with back-to-back hundreds against England, yet his follow-up series against the West Indies (132 runs at 22) was "ordinary" by his own rating.

The fact Slater, Mark Taylor and David Boon also averaged in the 20s in a Carribean series largely dominated by bowlers makes Blewett`s results look less fragile.

Still, he hardly wants his Test position left to the judging of such modest figures, especially with Michael Bevan back in form after a hot season with Yorkshire. Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer also enter the new season with a flying start after their healthy run streaks on the Young Australia tour.

"It boils down to making runs yourself, not worrying about who else in the pack might be scoring them," Blewett says wisely.

"Good luck to the others. I hope they keep scoring runs, but as long as I`m making them I don`t give anyone a reason for the other guys to get in.

"For me, it`s a matter of knuckling down and having as good a season as last year...or better."

Blewett has already experienced how quickly fortunes change in Test cricket. When his heroics against England were followed by scores of 14, 11, 19, 17 and 2 in the West Indies, his position in the Test side was suddenly questioned.

"There was a lot of talk about me being dropped for the last Test (in Jamaica) but, thankfully, faith was shown in me," Blewett recounts.

Blewett responded with the innings the Australian camp had waited all series to see. His 69 dominated an invaluable 113-run stand with double-century hero Steve Waugh on the pivotal third morning when Australia needed to surge.

The runs were all hard-earned against the second new ball and the pull shot which had failed him earlier in the tour was also back in sync.

One crashing pull to the boundary off Curtley Ambrose was as good as any stroke played in that deciding Test.

Blewett felt the flow of confidence, too.

"I like to think when the pressure is on I can respond. I think that 69 helped me turn the corner a bit after a few frustrating innings," he says.

"I had thought about putting away the pull shot earlier in the series.

"On a pitch as two-paced as the on we struck in Antigua, it was {probably the most dangerous shot you could play.

"At Sabina Park, the bounce was a lot more even. If you were going to pull and play it well, it was going to be there.

"Besides, if I didn`t start playing it I wasn`t going to have any fingrs left because Ambrose was really getting the new ball to jump into the gloves." Frustrated though he might have been with his Caribbean results, Blewett believes he is now a tougher cricketer for those 10 weeks abroad.

"You hear about the Sabina Park wicket being like polished glass and you think it`s rubbish until you see it for yourself," he explains.

"Just about every wicket we played on was totally different and the West Indian-style of attack is something you have to get used to. Akram and Waqar pose anotherchallenge again because they will bowl fuller and swing it more."

The 23-year-old right-hander starts the new season refreshed after taking a total break upon his return from the West Indies and Bermuda.

For his first month back in Adelaide, he did little more than concentrate on trimming his golf handicap from five to four at the Tea Tree Gully club.

Former Test batsman-cum-commentator David Hookes has been a regular partner and Blewett draws great benefit from their chats up the fairways of Adelaide.

His burgeoning profile has also meant a sharp rise in promotional activities. Speaking at sportsmen`s dinners, making supermarket appearances and responding to fan mail is all par for the course these days.

The fanfare hasn`t affected Blewett, nor does he find it a drag.

"I`m recognised a lot more around Adelaide now, although I`m definately not at the Tony Modra levek," he says with a grin.

"If it stays how it is, it`ll be fantastic. At the moment, it`s people offering me congratulations or `well done` to the team on the West Indies tour."

Among his fan mail, he has received perfumed letters from young admirers, but the one which sticks boldest in his memory is one from Bangladesh.

"This kid wrote, `I play cricket and one day want to play in my national team`," Blewett relates.

"`It would be good if you could send me your autograph...along with two bats, a pair of pads and a couple of pair of gloves`. He was after the full kit!"

Blewett is eager to build on his six Tests and play a major role in South Australia`s continued rebirth as a state power. To that end, off-season weight training has bulit his upper body strength which he hopes will correlate to extra zip in his bowling.

"I found my pace dropped off a little last summer when I went off the weights, so I`m conscious of staying stronger throughout this summer," he adds.

A Shield match against champions Queensland and a tour game against Pakistan will hopefully have his batting in the groove for his next Test challenge.

Source :: Inside Edge