“Balls swung more in the past than they do now,” says South African fast-bowler Dale Steyn

“Balls swung more in the past than they do now,” says South African fast-bowler Dale Steyn
Dale Steyn

South African pacer Dale Steyn is considered far and wide to be one of the most feared fast-bowlers in world cricket. During his prime, Steyn’s fast and accurate deliveries along with their tendency to swing late made him nearly unplayable. Steyn’s aggression and ability to swing the ball at speeds above 150 kmph made him a hard nut to crack for batters.

In his illustrious career, the 37-year-old has picked up 439 wickets in 93 Test matches. In the ODI format, he has 196 wickets from 125 matches to his name. In T20s, the record reads 64 wickets from 47 games. Steyn also has a total of 29 five-wicket hauls in his career. While he might be at the twilight of his career, he will go down as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time.

Steyn hosts Q & A session on Twitter

Dale Steyn took to Twitter today to host a Q & A session with his followers. The session led to a plethora of interesting questions being asked and answered by the South African. The top question and answer based on what trended was a hit back at a fan who questioned his long-haired look to which Steyn replied saying, “How about I worry about my appearance and you worry about yours Mr ugly mustache.”

However, there were other interesting and insightful questions that were asked. When asked as to why the newer Kookaburra balls don’t swing much, Steyn said, “Yes, no clue, maybe the coloring/paint has something to do with it, but certainly in my experience the balls swung more in the past than they do now.” Steyn also spoke about his first salary saying, “I was paid R500 a club game, so I made round R2000 ($120) a month. I saved up for a few months and gave it to my sister, she had just had her first child”

Steyn was then asked an interesting question as to why he tended to bowl shorter lengths at the death rather than full and yorker lengths to which the pacer replied saying, “Great question. I found bowling fast on a hard length on up and down pitches to be more economical and more effective in taking wickets, it was my preference and it worked well. Didn’t mean I didn’t bowl yorkers, I just didn’t do it as frequently as others.”

Steyn talks cricket, game plans and bowling fast

Dale Steyn with Sachin Tendulkar

Dale Steyn was then asked about game-plans and how to bowl to a set batsman. Steyn replied saying, “Round the wicket and into the ribs and head. Set a leg side field and push hard for a few overs. Come back over and often batters mental strength is a little down from that barrage, that’s when you pick up a soft wicket caught cover or flashing at a wide one.”

About the recent incident involving the English team management using billboards to communicate game plans with the players, Steyn said, “Did the captain forget the game plan? Look teams can do whatever they want, but we all have tons of meetings and should know the game plans especially playing these guys so often. 12th men run on messages all the time.”

Speaking finally on bowling fast, the 37-year-old pacer said, “Bowling fast is hard. Period. Some bowlers make it look easy, but that doesn’t mean they not putting in effort. Bowling above 150 clicks is serious work and only a few people have been blessed with that ability.”

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