Reid Takes The Initiative To Make Watson's Bowling Elementary
The Sunday Age
Sunday October 16, 2005
HE was brimming with enthusiasm and raw talent but Shane Watson's progress as a bowler was hindered, rather than helped, by biomechanists at the Cricket Academy fiddling with his action in an attempt to make him a clone of Brett Lee.
Only when Bruce Reid stepped in this year at Hampshire did Watson's bowling recover to the point where he's now on the verge of becoming that rarest of jewels in Australian cricket, a bona fide Test all-rounder. Watson's vastly improved bowling comes after he worked closely with Reid, the lanky former Australian speedster, during the English county season. Reid credits Watson's revival to a return to his original action, the one the academy tried to change, as well as taking up a tip to tuck his left arm into his side at the moment of delivery. The latter sounds trivial, but it's not. "The academy tried to get him to do the Brett Lee style of load-up, which he struggled with for two seasons," Reid said. "The academy and the biomechanic people reckoned they knew the fastest way to bowl. They said; 'If you can do that, you're going to generate the most power'. "But it's not for everybody. It wouldn't have been for me. You either can or you can't do it. "It works for Brett and that's great. But you've got to let people have their natural flair. "I got injured and I changed my action so I had a good understanding of what Shane was saying. I'd been through all that crap of people saying, 'You've got to do this and you've got to do that'. I ended going back to the way I liked to bowl and Shane has done the same." Tucking in his left arm has produced all sorts of flow-on effects: standing taller at the crease to give his deliveries more bounce, a reduced delivery stride, peace of mind under pressure because it's an easier action to replicate and more consistent pace. "We just did it in the nets one day," Reid said. "I stood to the side and said, 'Is that really where you want your arm?' He said, 'That's where they reckon I should have it, they've told me to.' I said I didn't know about that, I reckoned it made his stride too long. I showed him how I wanted it to look. He did it a few times and said, 'I can't believe how good that feels.' It was so natural to him." As for Watson's ambition of becoming Australia's answer to England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, Reid said it was more than wishful thinking. "He just looks so much better than he did the other way. When he crosses that line he's just full-on. It's absolutely fantastic. You can't ask for any more than that. He's got a tremendous amount of talent. He's a top-five batsman and if he can keep his bowling going . . ."
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