Bodyline 2.0: Why Jofra Archer, Jasprit Bumrah Are 'Freaks' On The Expressway

In a throwback to when fierce fast bowlers bestrode the cricketing scene, intimidating entire line-ups of cowering batsmen, cricket has been all fire and brimstone ever since the first ICC World Test Championship started with the Ashes. Even as England found a new talisman in Jofra Archer, it was Ben Stokes바카라�s once-in-a-generation heroics (a calculated, yet devil-may-care, unbeaten 135) that scripted England바카라�s series-levelling victory in the third Test at Headingley, Leeds.

Stokes바카라�s grit with the bat and Steve Smith바카라�s Bradmanesque consistency have enlivened the Ashes, but what바카라�s given it a definite spring are the pacers on both sides who have spewed venom in conditions favouring seam and swing. The tall, lithe Archer, loose of limb and run-up, has everyone in awe of his skills, unexpectedly raw pace and the ability to attack the body. The 바카라�Bodyline바카라� series of 1932-33 in Australia has slipped beyond living memory, but comparisons are inevitably made. Eighty-seven summers back, Nottinghamshire바카라�s Harold Larwood, assisted by Bill Voce, led a pack of pace bowlers primarily to keep Donald Bradman in check. With the series tied at 1-1, the fuse was lit at the third Test in Adelaide. Larwood hit Bill Woodfull over the heart and fractured Bert Oldfield바카라�s skull. Wisden said 바카라�the whole atmosphere was a disgrace to cricket바카라� as Douglas Jardine바카라�s speed demons bowled to his infamous 바카라�leg theory바카라�바카라�a leg-stump line with a packed leg-side field, meant not only to contain but also to intimidate and maim. Jardine바카라�s bloody-mindedness put diplomatic ties between UK and Australia under threat.

From the days of just an abdominal box as protection for a batsman, virtually every vulnerable bone and muscle is safeguarded now. And with the game바카라�s governing body limiting the number of short-pitched deliveries, cricket should have been only about sparkling cover drives, wristy late cuts, and gentle swing and seam beating batsmen by guile, not force. But Phil Hughes바카라�s death during a Sheffield Shield match in Sydney in November 2014 delivered a rude shock. Hughes was killed by a bouncer that struck him in the neck바카라�the first death due to haemorrhage of a vertebral artery caused by a cricket ball.

On his Test debut at Lord바카라�s, Archer dealt a telling body blow to Australia. Born in Barbados to a British father, Archer바카라�s 91-mile per hour (146.45 kmph) bouncer floored Australia바카라�s former captain. Smith, unorthodox in his feet movement and often fidgety with eye-shoulder-bat lift coordination, was struck in the neck below the left ear. Earlier on, he had taken a blow on his left forearm trying to fend off a 96.1 mph (154.65 kmph) delivery aimed at his ribs. Although Smith came out to bat and made 92, the injury led to a piece of cricket history바카라�introduction of the first concussion substitute in Tests.

The blistering pace of Jofra Archer has singed Australia in the Ashes.

Photograph by Getty Images

Marnus Labuschagne, Smith바카라�s replacement, was felled by Archer with a bumper at Lord바카라�s, but the Aussie was up on his feet before the start of the proverbial count. Labuschagne took another whack from Archer in Leeds and received his second concussion test of the series.

Archer바카라�s pace also recalled Mitchell Johnson바카라�s aggression in the 2013-14 Ashes series where the left-arm Aussie pacer got 11 of his 37 wickets off bouncers and clocked an average speed of 140.8 kmph. According to cricket data analysts CricViz, Archer바카라�s spell at Lord바카라�s was England바카라�s third fastest on record (reliable stats, however, are available only after 2005), and contained the fastest recorded over by an England bowler at an average of 149.33 kmph.

Forty per cent of the balls bowled at the Lord바카라�s Test (696 of 1741) were bouncers; the average in Tests is 33 per cent. CricViz shows 22 of Archer바카라�s 42 balls to Smith were short. Archer바카라�s bouncers are extremely effective and that comes from how close he gets to the stumps in his delivery stride. It means Archer is constantly attacking batsmen바카라�s bodies. His relaxed approach to the crease, belying the terrific pace, brings to mind 바카라�whispering death바카라� Michael Holding himself.

Indeed, Holding has been watching Archer keenly. 바카라�I바카라�m happy to see Archer showing what real fast bowling in Test cricket is all about. For a long time, we바카라�ve been watching batsmen striding forward바카라�. Well, let them try to do that against Archer,바카라� Holding wrote in the Sunday Times.

At Leeds, Archer reduced his pace, rarely clocking 90 mph (144.8 kmph), consciously trying to put the ball in the right areas on a wicket soft at the top and nipping around. His heavy workload at Lord바카라�s was criticised too. Holding advised England against burning him out: 바카라�If you keep bowling him like this you will lose the 96 mph delivery. He바카라�ll still bowl fast, 90 mph, but do you want to lose express pace? It is not just about this match or the next, but next year and the one after that.바카라� Holding also pointed out the burn-out, and slowdown, of Proteas quick Kagiso Rabada, 24, who has bowled close to 7,000 balls in Tests바카라�more than any other pacer of the same age. 바카라�It바카라�s abuse,바카라� Holding wrote. 바카라�When I was bowling, we had three other quicks just as fast. We could share the burden. Like me, he (Archer) is tall, not big and muscular. He relies on rhythm and looks very relaxed running in바카라�.바카라�

Curtly Ambrose, another West Indian speed great, is in awe of Archer바카라�s rhythm. 바카라�That바카라�s his biggest strength. It바카라�s a rare thing for a fast bowler and how naturally it comes,바카라� he said, adding that Archer will have to gain in maturity and find more ways to out-think batsmen. 바카라�When you have someone with that sort of pace you find out who really wants to play. Archer will change the entire outlook of fast bowling in the modern era. You see 85mph on the clock, but when you see 95mph you know what real pace is,바카라� wrote Holding for SkySports.

Ambrose adds India바카라�s Jasprit Bumrah to the list of 바카라�freaks바카라� on the expressway. Second-best in terms of average speed in Tests over the past 12 months, Bumrah has been a scourge of the world바카라�s leading batsmen. Of the 204 wickets to have fallen in the first six Tests of the World Test Championship, 136 have been taken by pacers. Young men bowling fast have certainly seized the day; they have to stay the swift course to ensnare a generation바카라�s cricketing zeitgeist.

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A Hurt To Tremble By