DUBAI // Paul Franks, the former England bowler who has been enlisted to help the UAE, thinks the lack of raw pace in the national team could prove a strength rather than a weakness.
Fast bowlers Dale Steyn, Mitchell Johnson and Adam Milne are expected to be headline acts when the World Cup starts next month. Not all countries are blessed with their ilk, though.
Apart from Afghanistan, the non-Test nations who will play at the 50-over showpiece are light on speed.
The UAE have two fast bowlers in their 15-man squad, namely Mohammed Naveed, the spearhead of the bowling attack, and Kamran Shahzad.
But Franks, who has extensive experience of playing in Australia and New Zealand, said pace envy can be overrated.
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Amjad Javed, Krishnachandran Karate, Manjula Guruge and Fahad Al Hashmi are all medium pacers who rely on sideways movement and skill rather than speed.
Franks said he believes the UAE’s back-up seamers will have a vital role to play in Australia and New Zealand.
“We have guys who bowl 130kph, and I bowled 135kph at best and I’ve done all right out of it,” said Franks, who has 524 first-class wickets to his name.
“There are examples of guys – [former England bowler] Matthew Hoggard springs to mind – whose skills have developed as their pace has dropped back.
“Our guys are a skilful bunch. With that in mind, their understanding of what their skill set is and what the team needs it to be on a particular day, is going to be important. They can’t try to be a 140kph bowler if they aren’t.”
Franks, who turns 36 next week, joined the UAE coaching staff last week, having impressed at a three-week training camp in Dubai in November.
Aaqib Javed, the head coach, said he was a “natural choice”, especially with the knowledge he brings to the role.
As well as his experience with the World Cup cities, Franks has played domestic cricket in Zimbabwe and knows Irish players from the county game.
The UAE begin their World Cup campaign against Zimbabwe in Nelson on February 19, then face Ireland in Brisbane a week later.
The two matches are the most likely chances for the national team to make good on their stated aim of winning two matches at the competition.
“He made a strong, positive impact during the training camp, the players know him, and he knows their strengths as well as the areas they need to work on,” Aaqib said of Franks.
The Nottinghamshire bowler, who is taking a break from helping coach his county side ahead of the new season, is grateful for the chance to work with the UAE.
“Aaqib is a well respected and established coach, not just here but globally, so the opportunity to work with him is good for me,” Franks said.
“We have a good relationship already. We don’t just say yes to each other. We have healthy debate about things.
“At the moment he is in a really good place to lead the team at the World Cup and I just want to help him however I can.”
The role models
The UAE will play four of their six World Cup pool matches in New Zealand. There is evidence to suggest savviness can be just as potent as pace in fixtures played there.
Gavin LarsenChris Harris – UAE bowlers would be well advised not to bother trying to imitate his quirky method. But some of his success would be well received.
The New Zealand all-rounder had a useful economy rate of 4.28 over the course of his 250 one-day internationals despite having no pace.
Paul Collingwood – Former England one-day captain, who was also used by the UAE as a specialist coach last year. Started his career as a bowler and enjoyed great success in limited-overs cricket as a gentle medium-pace bowler but became more noted as a batsmen.
It may be a small sample pool, but his average in matches in New Zealand was 31 with the ball, as opposed to 38 in his career overall.
pradley@thenational.ae
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