Firstly Brad congratulations in receiving your ACB contract
Eddie Smith23-May-2002Firstly Brad congratulations in receiving your ACB contract. As a full-time professional cricketer, are you viewing the game any differently?No, not at all. I try and keep myself busy in the off-season as much as I can. I enjoy doing a bit of work around the house. Last year I was still painting houses and that’s what I do by trade. So, no I don’t think that I view it any differently. Obviously it gives you a bit more incentive. That’s about it.Right now you are looking slim and strong. Injuries have been the major concern for you in the past, so how are you keeping fit during the off-season?What I’ve really enjoyed, especially over the last couple of years, is doing gym work and I do a lot of bike work now just to try and stay off my legs a little bit. Over my career I’ve got to know my body inside and out as well as I could, and now I know what I can and what I can’t do. I suppose you get to know your limitations.One that Dennis Lillee would most likely ask is – Have you been keeping up your core strength through your torso?Yeah, obviously having stress fractures when I was younger I’ve always had a little bit of lower back problem. I always keep my sit-up routine, make sure that I do it every day. That’s just part of life for me now.Brad, December 23 2001, the MCG verses your old state. Did you need much motivation for that match?You never need much motivation to play Victoria when you’ve left them I must admit.That display was rated by many, as the fastest, and most hostile, spell seen on the Australian domestic circuit in years. Perhaps since November of 1999, when Brett Lee broke Jo Angel’s arm. How do you rate that spell?Every time I walk out onto the ground no matter where you are or what you’re doing, I always give 110%. That was no different and it just happened to be against an old team. I suppose that I just happened to have a little bit more of a fire in my belly.Three wickets in seven balls and you could have easily had a hat-trick. It’s the kind of burst, which can swing a match in a matter of minutes. Can you reproduce that on the international stage?Given the opportunity I hope I could. Obviously if you get enough balls in the right area then you never know. If it’s your day, it’s your day.The Vic’s actually won that match but a few months later at the WACA it was a different story. How do you rate the four for 34 you took to help dismiss Victoria for 98, and win, after being made to follow-on?It was a very frustrating game for us. We were still half a chance of making the Pura Cup final. I know, when we went out there and we only had a hundred on the board, I was pretty pumped actually. I thought that we were still half a chance to win outright. I don’t think Victoria’s batting depth is great so I went out there with the view that if we can make some early breakthroughs then we could put them under a bit of pressure. They had a lot of youngsters out there in their side. I didn’t think that they could stand up, and it proved so.What was the biggest thrill, being 12th man for the Boxing Day Test or being chosen in the XI for the one-dayer against New Zealand?That’s a toughie, I must admit just being part of the Boxing Day Test was a big thrill. But actually playing for Australia would have to take the cake I think. Yeah, just playing at the MCG and making your debut for Australia was pretty special.You have chosen to wait until you get picked in the Test XI before you are officially presented with your ‘baggy green’. Is that the major driving force in your cricketing life, to get a berth in a test XI for Australia?Just playing for Australia in general is my major driving force. Now that I’ve had a taste of it, I just want it even more than when I was younger. Because it’s just an unbelievable feeling, it’s something that no words could describe.When you were chosen to make your international debut against New Zealand on the January 11, 2002, did you feel like you had finally ‘arrived’ in the game of cricket?Not finally arrived. I saw it as an opportunity to play for Australia which maybe two or three years ago I thought may never happen. And just being there and being given the new ball for Australia, as I say, was an unbelievable experience.Yet following multiple injuries and operations in the 2000/1 season you were on the verge of retiring, weren’t you?I don’t know about the verge of retiring. I was definitely getting frustrated with having so many injuries through my career. But you talk to a lot of people who have represented Australia and played some sort of cricket for Australia and after talking to them it still keeps your motivation going.Mark Taylor never showed any obvious signs of fear during his career, yet rumour has it that the thought of facing you had him scared witless. Rashid Latif who has earned praise the world over for his courage, was renounced for facing up to the fastest bowlers in the game without a helmet. Yet just a few balls from yourself and he was in genuine fear for his life, calling for a helmet, with a grill. Do you feed off the fear, which you can generate as one of the game’s truly frightening bowlers?No, I think you can definitely use it to the best of your advantage and if they’re scared and thinking about how fast you’re bowling then it takes their focus off their batting. So you can definitely use it to your strengths.Do you ever feel sorry for a batsman when you strike him?No, not at all. They’ve got a bat in their hand so if they miss it, or if they don’t get out of the way quick enough, then that’s their problem.As a young bowler, you forced Allan Border to retire hurt for the only time in his first-class career. How were you feeling when you realised that you had broken AB’s arm with one of your thunderbolts?That was an interesting one actually. I don’t know if he didn’t pick it up, or if he thought it was going to bounce more or what, but he just stood there and it hit him in the arm. He didn’t flinch at the time so I didn’t think it had even hurt him. I walked down to fine-leg and then I turned around and he was walking off the ground. Then Dean Jones came up to me at lunch and said, “Did you know that that is the first time Allan Border has retired hurt in his career?” I had no idea and then news got back later in the day that he had a broken arm. But it didn’t stop him from coming back out and batting. So you’ve got to have a bit of respect for a bloke who can come out and do that.Was Allan Border one of your childhood heroes?Yeah, definitely.Your first One-Day International and Steve Waugh asks you to open the bowling ahead of Brett Lee. What did you think of that?I remember sitting in the rooms and I just presumed that I’d be bowling first change behind Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee. I remember sitting there and I was just putting my boots on ready to go out onto the ground and Steve said, “Yeah, you’re opening the bowling with Glenn”. I’ve never, ever, been in that situation, where I was relaxed, I was ready to go and then suddenly nerves just hit me and I started shaking and everything. But it was a special feeling I must admit.You seemed to bowl brilliantly in tandem with McGrath. Was it a pre-meditated plan for McGrath to attack from one end whilst you bowled for containment at the other?No not at all. My strength beforehand, to get picked to play for Australia, was my consistency and I believe in one-day cricket your main goal is to go for as least amount of runs as possible and not so much taking wickets. That’s the way I have viewed my oneday cricket over the past three years and I just believe that was my role in that game.You were the most economical bowler in that match by the way. In that match, you opted for control and bowled well within yourself being constantly around the 140kph to 143kph mark and only conceding 31 runs from your 10 overs. How tempted were you to go full throttle and see just how fast you could bowl?No, I wasn’t tempted at all. I was pretty focused in that game. My main goal was to try and keep the runs down and I just stayed focus throughout the whole game. I tried to go for under 35 and I achieved that. So it was my day I suppose.You average over 15 with the bat in first-class cricket, won a one-dayer for WA striking a six with two balls remaining last year, and you were 13 not out for Australia when your thumb was broken. What view do you take of your batting?It needs a lot of improvement. I enjoy my batting. I admire guys like Brett Lee, who give a fair bit out but he handles the bat pretty well and can take anything that gets dished back. It’s a pretty important part of my game and something that I really want to work hard on and improve.It looked as though the broken thumb, courtesy of Shane Bond, may cost you an ACB contract. Has that been something you have thought about over the past few months?Not over the past few months. Obviously when it happened I was extremely disappointed. You get your opportunity to play for Australia and I thought my first game wasn’t too bad and to end up with a broken thumb out of it, it rips your heart out to a degree because I thought my dream had gone. But now I’m focused again, working hard again and once I get back out there, hopefully I can prove it again.You are a similar age, pace and stage of development to Bond. Will you have a few special deliveries of your own lined up for him on your next encounter?Yeah, hopefully I’ll get to bowl to him one day, that would be nice. I wouldn’t mind giving him some of his own medicine back.Only six bowlers in the world have exceeded 150kph over the past couple of years. Do you have designs on being No 7 in the ‘express paceman’s’ club?I wouldn’t say that was a goal of mine but I believe it’s in my ability to achieve it and if it happens, it happens. I mean it’s all about rhythm these days. If I can stay fit enough and if your rhythm’s out there on the day, and if their happens to be a speed gun there, then it’s certainly achievable.As a very young bowler you were clocked at 146kph v NSW. No doubt you’ve far exceeded that speed at times. Do you feel that despite the injuries you are capable of bowling as fast today as you ever have?I believe these days I’ve got the ability to bowl faster at times. I’ve gotten smarter over the last few years and I know that I can’t do it every ball, but as Dennis Lillee would say to me, “It’s not about bowling your fastest ball every ball, it’s a matter of being consistent, being able to produce that quicker one”.What is your fastest spell to date?This year against Queensland, my little mate Ryan Campbell (wicket-keeper) was standing outside the 30-metre circle. It was the quickest I had bowled this year and I wouldn’t have minded seeing a speed gun there that day to see what I was bowling at.In Lee and Jason Gillespie, the Australian cricket team is lucky enough to have two of the fastest bowlers on the planet. You are a ready-made replacement if either of them are injured, but barring that, how do you plan on getting into the Test XI?That’s a tough one. Obviously those two there are quality bowlers and to even put your name alongside them is a great thrill. But, as I’ve said in the past, my main goal three years ago when I moved to Perth was to be more consistent and I still believe that these days, if I can be more consistent then everything else takes care of itself.Do you have any advice for young bowlers who dream of one day being as fast as you?All I can say is that I don’t think it’s all about bowling fast. Rhythm is a main key to bowling fast and as long as you let your body develop, the rest of it takes care of itself. It’s a little bit of natural ability, but if you can get your action right and rhythm’s there then you can still bowl fast.Who is the fastest bowler you have ever seen?Probably Allan Donald in his prime. He was inspirational to watch. When I was young I saw the tail end of Marshall and Garner and those and they were pretty fearful.And yet I read that Paul Reiffel rated yourself in ’97 as faster than Donald.Did he really? Oh, that shocks me. In his prime Donald was quick.