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There are two factions in the Australian cricket team: the Fast Bowlers’ Cartel (the FBC) and the Platinum Club, which is the domain of the batsmen. According to McGrath, a founding father of the FBC, the Platinum Club’s members are renowned for quaffing lattes, cruising arcades to buy designer label cardigans, reading stock reports and discussing the Sunday newspapers’ gossip columns and social pages. The FBC, says McGrath, eat red meat, drink the occasional beer, hunt feral pigs on his outback property and discuss, among other subjects, the best way to rip the spine out of the world’s batting line-ups.
‘The Platinum Club – ha! The name says it all,’ says McGrath, with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek. ‘I reckon a meeting of the Platinum Club’s members would be a stuffy event. They probably take minutes and put their hands up to speak. While I do have friends who are batsmen, they are quite a serious crowd. Fast bowlers like to have a laugh, we’re like big kids who joke with one another, wrestle, throw things and play practical jokes. Any quick named in the squad gains automatic selection into the FBC. It’s a very proud and quite exclusive club. We have a “No Big-heads” policy and we realise our first commitment is to the good of the team – though I think the Platinum Members have a similar rule.
‘I think it also helped – a lot – that we had a winning era. We really supported each other because we were mates, and we were happy when one of the group did very well because we knew what he had to go through to enjoy his success: pain, exhaustion, frustration and heaps of training. There was no sulking or wondering aloud, “Why did he get all the wickets?” It was instead a matter of shaking the successful bowler’s hand – and firmly – and celebrating his success as if it was your own. It made for a happy group of bowlers.’
Jason Gillespie, a card-carrying FBC member, said the fact the two factions exist highlights the gulf between batsmen and the bowlers, the workhorses of the noble game.
‘Fast bowlers understand the physical side of cricket,’ Gillespie says. ‘Batsmen appreciate more the mental side of it. I found the beauty of being a fast bowler was that if you bowled a wide or a no-ball, you had the chance to bowl it again. However, if a batsman makes a mistake and snicks one to the wicketkeeper, that’s it – his innings is over. If it is a one-day game, that’s it.
‘I think the advantage of being a fast bowler is that, as you walk back to your bowling mark, you think of how you’ll bowl the next ball. You might think, “Right, I want to land the ball to the top of off stump, through to the ’keeper.” And you lock that in and run in. The batsman has to switch on and off and focus on every ball and wait to see where the ball is going, how it is bowled. Batting, bowling – it’s a different game; you may as well compare apples and oranges, I guess.
‘We bowlers can go out and sledge. A batsman, he can’t win. He is always only one ball away from being dismissed, so if he sledges and gets out, he looks like a prize goose. A fast bowler can get away with it. You can show emotion, walk off the ground and then have a cup of tea. We then ice up our bodies while the batsmen go out and work. Give me the choice of being a batsman or bowler, and I’ll pick being a bowler any time. We work hard out on the field but we get a bit of a break at least.’
But Geoff Lawson, who toiled until his boots sloshed with his own blood, begs to differ. He insists people should appreciate the hell that fast bowlers endure.
‘People don’t understand what a fast bowler’s body goes through,’ says Lawson. ‘Because it is physically demanding, a bowler has to go through pain. It becomes a mental thing. It was like watching the cyclists in the 2007 Tour de France when [Australia’s] Michael Rogers went over the side of the mountain. You could see his brain was saying to keep going but eventually the pain took over the physical injury.
‘As a bowler you must get into the zone to bowl 30 overs with blood oozing out of your feet, stress fractures, dodgy knees, all that sort of stuff, because you have to be tough; it is part of the territory. The batsmen stand around in slips chewing gum and sharing a joke, but no matter if the poor old bowler is 0 for 100 or 5 for 50, he has to do the same stuff.
‘The mental challenge is significant. You hear people ask why a bowler bowled a bad ball – I tell them it was a mental error first. That is why, to be a fast bowler, you must train so bloody hard and have a good pain threshold.’
BRETT ‘Binga’ LEE: His pace and his athleticism are his strengths. When Jason Gillespie and I were in the team, Brett could just run in and bowl whatever he wanted. There was a lot of talk about how he should be used, this way and that, but I always thought the team should have exploited his express pace – just have him run in and let ’em rip. I saw him as an out-and-out wicket-taker, and that is how he should be used. I thought that because the team always had me or Jason Gillespie, bowlers who could tie the batsmen up and bowl to good areas. For a while I thought they were trying to turn Brett into Jason and me, and I didn’t agree with that.
When I bowled back then I always had aggressive fields, but Binga never felt comfortable having two fielders on the leg side, one on the leg side or extra slips. Brett wanted extra protection; that’s just the way he was and that was fine by me.
Because some people in the team wanted him to bowl one way and others wanted him to go in a different direction, I don’t think Brett was sure for a long time what his role was meant to be. I think he’s matured a lot because of the added responsibility that has been placed on him, and it pleases me to see – from the comfort of my lounge chair – that Brett is thriving on it.
Born: 8 November 1976. Debut: versus India 1999/2000. Australian Test player number: 383
JASON ‘Dizzy’ GILLESPIE: Diz was a great bowler. I think he was probably hard done by only getting 259 Test wickets, because he always had to push uphill and bowl into the wind. He was quicker than me. I think my strength was that I didn’t bowl too quick, so I got more off the deck because the batsman would see the ball and he’d have to play it. The ball would move, but they’d have time to adjust and they’d nick it. Dizzy would bowl quicker; they’d see it, go to play it and the ball would pass them before they knew it. I think he deserved far more wickets than he took.
Steve Waugh had a lot of faith and time for Jason. It was only during the 2005 Ashes tour that things didn’t work too well for Dizzy, and he didn’t play much for Australia after that. It was thought he was injury-prone, but that was only because he worked very hard.
I’ll always remember him as a great bowler and I’m proud we share the record as the leading opening bowling wicket-takers. He was the unsung hero of the Australian team for a long time. Jason had the pace and bounce to worry batsmen. He had that control and he hit good areas.
Born: 19 April 1975. Debut: versus the West Indies 1996/97. Australian Test player number: 370
Tests | Balls | Runs | Wkts | Ave | Best | 5wI | 10wM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 71 | 14234 | 6770 | 259 | 26.13 | 7/37 | 8 | – |
ANDY ‘Bic’ BICHEL: His warm-up ball was delivered at the same pace as the ball he’d bowl mid-spell and his last one of the day. He had one speed – and that was 100 per cent. He was a great team player – very enthusiastic – and we nicknamed him ‘Barman Bic’ because he loved to ply people with drinks after a game. He did pretty well. He was physically strong, but he didn’t have the height of Dizzy or me and he didn’t have the pace of Binga, so he had to work harder than most to get his wickets.
Bic was one of the reasons we won the 2003 World Cup. He and Michael Kasprowicz are good mates and the unfortunate feature of their careers was that when one of them played it was normally at the expense of the other. He would do anything for the team ... if he had to hurt himself by diving for a catch he wouldn’t hesitate if it was for the greater good of the team.
Born: 27 August 1970. Debut: versus the West Indies 1996/97. Australian Test player number: 371
Tests | Balls | Runs | Wkts | Ave | Best | 5wI | 10wM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | 3336 | 1870 | 58 | 32.34 | 5/60 | 1 | – |
MICHAEL ‘Kaspa’ KASPROWICZ: He was a wholehearted fast bowler in what I call the true Queensland style because, like Bichel and McDermott, he worked hard on his feet. Kaspa was another great team-mate. He responded to the challenge of taking on more responsibility during the 2004 tour of Sri Lanka when I wasn’t available, and he did it very well. He took 12 wickets at 25.16. He’d also work hard on all areas of his game, like swinging the ball. He bowled in tandem with me when I took my 8 for 38 at Lord’s in 1997, and that he was still around to take part in the 2005 Ashes tour says a lot about his durability and longevity. He’s had his rough trots through injuries, and I think the fact he always played under pressure because he wasn’t a permanent member of the pace attack must’ve made it hard for him. He was a nightmare to glove to during fielding drills because he threw the ball so hard.
Born: 10 February 1972. Debut: versus the West Indies 1996/97. Australian Test player number: 369
Tests | Balls | Runs | Wkts | Ave | Best | 5wI | 10wM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38 | 7140 | 3716 | 113 | 32.88 | 7/36 | 4 | – |
PAUL ‘Pistol’ REIFFEL: Pistol did a great job for the Australian team. He was in and out of the team as my replacement, but what I remember most about this FBC member is nothing ever seemed to affect him. He was so laid-back I often had to resist the urge to poke him with a stick when we were in the dressing-room to see if he was asleep. He was such an introvert that I was amazed when he became a first-class umpire, because it seemed to go against what I thought was his nature – and he must be doing a good job because there have been suggestions he could one day officiate in a Test. He took over 100 Test wickets, he was a handy batsman, and those who toured the West Indies with him in 1995 remember Pistol for standing up to be counted against the Windies.
Born: 19 April 1966. Debut: versus India 1991/92. Australian Test player number: 352
Tests | Balls | Runs | Wkts | Ave | Best | 5wI | 10wM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | 6403 | 2804 | 104 | 26.96 | 6/71 | 16 | 2 |
DAMIEN ‘Flemo’ FLEMING: The FBC’s only true swing bowler, Flemo was very unlucky not to play more than his 20 Tests because his career was hampered by shoulder problems that required surgery. It was a pity because I enjoyed bowling with him. He made an immediate impression in his Test debut against Pakistan in the 1994/95 Test series by taking a hat-trick, only the third person in history to achieve a hat-trick on debut. In 1999/2000 he finished the summer with 30 Test wickets at an average of 22.67. Who knows how my own career might have panned out if Damien hadn’t been so unlucky with injuries? However, his time on the sideline allowed me my chance to establish myself as a permanent member of the team. One of my favourite Fleming moments was when he took his 50th Test wicket, because he yelled ‘only 450 more to go’ to get 500 wickets.
Born: 24 April 1970. Debut: versus Pakistan 1994/95. Australian Test player number: 361
Tests | Balls | Runs | Wkts | Ave | Best | 5wI | 10wM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 4129 | 1942 | 75 | 25.89 | 5/30 | 3 | – |
CRAIG ‘Billy the Kid’ McDERMOTT: He was different from the rest of the FBC, as he was very stylish and pedantic about the way he laid his clothes out. ‘Meticulous’ is the word that I think best describes the red-headed fast man. Craig was a great bowler, one of Australia’s best, yet I don’t think he received the recognition he deserves. He carried plenty on his shoulders.
He made his debut for Australia in the summer of 1984/85 against the West Indies when they were at their terrifying best, and he was one bowler who delighted in giving them a taste of their own medicine with short-pitched stuff aimed straight at their throats. In 1991/92 he was named International Cricketer of the Year. He was a big, strong bloke who knew how to swing the ball. What I loved about playing alongside Craig was that regardless of what happened – even if our batsmen were skittled for a low score – we believed we could do the job and win the game.
Born: 14 April 1965. Debut: versus the West Indies 1984/85. Australian Test player number: 328
Tests | Balls | Runs | Wkts | Ave | Best | 5wI | 10wM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 71 | 16586 | 8332 | 291 | 28.63 | 8/97 | 14 | 2 |
STUART ‘Sarfraz’ CLARK: He’s been described as my ‘clone’ for a long, long time. While he calls it a compliment, I think it is a bit harsh on Stuart because we certainly do things differently. I’m sure he’d like to be regarded as his own bowler – and he should be. Stuart is a confident guy; he’s never been scared to let people know what he thinks. He’s quite opinionated and is confident about doing things I was not, like voicing his thoughts. He’s nowhere near as laid-back as Dizzy or me.
He’s also a bit different from the other boof-headed members of the FBC because he’s a super-intelligent university student. It is sad he had to wait until he turned 31 before he was given his chance as a bowler, because he has been a quality player. But the advantage is he definitely knows his game – he knows what he has to do and his role in the team is defined. We had similar jobs in the side and I find it hard to fault him in any way because he has handled the step up brilliantly.
Born: 28 September 1975. Debut: versus South Africa 2006. Australian Test player number: 396
NOTE
I haven’t included statistics for Stuart Clark or Brett Lee because they are still playing. There have been other FBC members over the years, including Test players Nathan Bracken, Brendon Julian, Simon Cook, Scott Muller, Mitchell Johnson and scores of one-day bowlers. While they were all talented, I have focused on those fast bowlers I played most of my Test cricket alongside.
I believe that over the next 12 months we’ll see some new bowlers inducted into the FBC, with the likes of Doug Bollinger from NSW vying for selection. May they long uphold the FBC’s spirit of all for one and one for all, not take themselves too seriously, and be proud of their role as the workhorses of cricket. It is a great privilege.