Published: May 15, 2013, 11:54 AM (IST)
Edited: May 15, 2013, 11:54 AM (IST)
Trent Boult says he enjoys bowling to left-handed batsmen © Getty Images
London: May 15, 2013
New Zealand‘s Trent Boult hopes to succeed where cricket hero Wasim Akram failed by getting his name on the Lord’s honours board during this week’s first Test against England.
Left-arm seamer Boult proved a thorn in England’s side with six wickets in the drawn third Test at Auckland in March where the tourists hung on to claim a draw with just one wicket standing as a thee-match series ended all square at 0-0.
Pakistan great Akram was the pre-eminent left-arm fast bowler of his generation, and arguably the best of all-time.
Yet for all the occasions he was too hot to handle for England’s batsmen with his blend of reverse swing and pure pace, he never managed the five-wicket innings haul, or 10 wickets in a Test, that would have put his name on the Lord’s honours board..
“Idolising Wasim Akram and what he did, it has always been with me that I want to be a swing bowler,” Boult told reporters at Lord’s on Tuesday.
“That’s what started me off. It doesn’t get much better than him, in regards to world-class bowlers and left-arm bowlers around the world.
“I watched a lot of him growing up. I didn’t really mould myself on what he does but I like how he moves the ball and bowled at a pretty good clip.
“He was the master of a lot of things. Obviously conditions where he came from suited reverse-swing, but he could still move the ball conventionally.”
In New Zealand, England captain and key opening batsman Alastair Cook fell four times to either Boult or his fellow left-armer Neil Wagner.
“There is no doubt Cook is a world-class player, but I personally enjoy bowling to left-handed batsmen,” Boult added. “I’m not going to say I’m going to try and target him – but if we as a bowling group deliver our plans to him, we could be pretty successful.”
“If the ball does tend to swing I feel like I’m always in the game to left-handed batsman. If ‘overheads’ are right it suits our bowling group.”
