Cranking Up The Speed Makes All The Difference

Richard Edwards talks to former England fast bowler Simon Jones about the importance of raw pace and how there’s no bigger weapon in any form of cricket

Simon Jones can still visualise the situation now. Being stuck at the striker’s end as Brett Lee tore in, peppering him with short balls, many of which were clocked at considerably north of 90mph.

It was the unforgettable summer of 2005 – but this is one moment that England’s Ashes hero from 14 years ago has gladly put to the back of his mind.

“Brett Lee bowled a spell at me when he was 90(mph) plus, the whole time – I think he actually got up to 96 at one point,” says the Welshman.

“Now, that’s not a nice feeling, particularly for me as a late-order batter.

“But I managed to survive and then Kasper (Michael Kasprowicz) came on. Although he was still bowling mid-80s, it felt like nothing.

“That extra seven, eight, nine miles an hour is vast, absolutely vast. There was no comparison between them.

“If you can get up to 93 or 94 miles an hour then you’re making it a completely different game.”

Just ask the West Indies top-order.

In their comfort zone for the majority of the opening two Tests of the series, Mark Wood’s spell at St Lucia on Sunday afternoon deposited them in an alternate place.

Suddenly, the likes of Shimron Hetmyer, who had looked a million dollars in Antigua against Jimmy Anderson and Sam Curran, resembled a cat on a hot tin roof as England’s attacking options were instantly transformed.