Mr Sindrey made one or two very valid points in his recent article regarding the "comedy" advice from Jim and Bones but I feel he may be missing the point somewhat. While I agree to some extent with the comments relating to Bones' hard line on catching in the nets (a view that could only come from someone who uses newspapers for shinpads and bemoans the removal of laces from footballs!) , I have to take issue with one or two of the points raised about the bowling.
Mr Sindrey suggests that throwing a few short ones down is good practice for his bowling and that it provides a more realistic situation for the batsmen. There may be a shade of truth in this but the recent evidence in the nets suggests that "short ones" are becoming stock balls for some! My issue is that people seem to be enjoying the problems that they are posing to the batsmen in the nets with shorter balls - and it's true they are hard to deal with...when they bounce off a thin carpet over a wooden floor. Trouble is they are not quite so troubling when they just about reach waist height off a spongey wicket that took 3 inches of rain the night before. Whack - four runs.
When I think back to last summer (if you can call it that!) I don't remember Paul or anyone else throwing too many short ones down - mainly because it's not prudent or profitable to do so off those surfaces. In fact I'm pretty sure that the majority of wickets for Paul and Steve (our two main short ball exponents in the nets) came from good length deliveries just outside off stump - the very delivery that Paul describes as "fodder" for the batsman! From a batting perspective I don't remember facing any short balls and I don't remember anyone else being unduly troubled by short balls during a match? What I do remember facing was good quality, good length bowling on the stumps almost every time - that makes it hard to score and easy to get out as I found on numerous occassions and it often proved to be the difference between us and the opposition. I have to say that despite attending almost every net session I did not feel prepared for the kind of delivery I faced on the strip. However, if I had faced lots of deliveries that needed an unorthadox hook to backward square leg at shoulder height I'd have been laughing!
I think we need to take care that we don't get carried away with the extra zip and bounce that the wooden floor provides and concentrate on perfecting a stock delivery that's on the money. Of course if we are all sure that we can bowl the perfect delivery to order then crack on with the bouncers!
As Paul suggests in his article, I don't want to go home with a damaged finger after catching a rocket in the nets - but I'd rather that than lose a tooth to a bouncer. Afterall - it wont get me out in the nets - and it would probably be despatched for four in a match.