Kane's death skills offer lifeline

It’s Kane Richardson’s capacity to identify, aim at and invariably hit a target that has pushed him ahead of Australia’s top-ranked one-day international bowler Clint McKay in the narrowing race for a berth at the 2015 World Cup.

But it’s not only his highly specialised skill of firing a wearing ball at around 140km/h towards an opposing batsman’s toes that has catapulted the fresh-faced – notwithstanding his billowing beard – 23-year-old into the national squad for this month’s tour of Zimbabwe.

Despite being a member of the Australian squad at the under-19 World Cup in New Zealand in 2010 (a team captained by fellow Zimbabwe tourist Mitchell Marsh), Richardson found his path to senior cricket in Adelaide stymied by a raft of rival quicks.

So, in a discussion initiated by West End Redbacks coach Darren Berry several seasons ago, the pair noted the lack of specialist ‘finishers’ in South Australia’s limited-overs set-up and in Australian cricket more broadly.

That is, the opportunities that would exist for someone who could bowl at good pace but could land yorkers that are virtually impossible to score boundaries from during the final half a dozen ‘death’ overs in 50-over or T20 games.

Richardson embraced Berry’s vision as a point of difference that would bring him to the attention of selectors, and so successfully has he achieved it he has now effectively replaced McKay – for years regarded as Australia’s go-to bowler to stem runs - in the national ODI squad.

“Darren Berry approached me a couple of years ago and said the best way to probably get into the South Australian team was to practice bowling at the death, it was something we were probably missing out on at the time,” Richardson told cricket.com.au today.

“He also said at the next (international) level as well, there’s not many in the world that are really world class at it so if you can really nail that you can pretty much walk into most teams.

“It’s something I’ve enjoyed doing over the last couple of years and there has been times that I haven’t quite nailed it as well as I would have liked and times when it’s been really good.

“It’s just one of those things – there’s only a few bowlers in the world that are truly world-class so it’s something that you’re always trying to practice.

“But if it means I can get on an Australian tour at the moment for that reason then I’m happy to take it.”

Chairman of selectors Rod Marsh was typically forthright in his explanation of why McKay, ranked number five in the world on the latest Reliance ICC ODI bowler ratings, was overlooked for the two-week tri-series in Harare against Zimbabwe and South Africa beginning August 25.

While pointing out that McKay remains firmly in calculations for the 15-man World Cup squad to be finalised in early January, Marsh claimed he must show that he can consistently deliver crucial breakthroughs early in an innings or, failing that, become a clinical exponent of yorkers at the death.

“We gave him (McKay) an opportunity in Darwin (for Australia A) against some of the other (Australian) guys and he probably needs to get wickets with the new ball,” Marsh said.

“Especially when you’re talking about two new balls (one from either end) in one-day cricket now.

“There will be two brand new white balls in the World Cup so you need somebody to get early breakthroughs if you’re going to take the new ball, not just keep the runs down.

“Because we all know that wickets are very, very important in one-day cricket and either that or you have to be one helluva finisher.

“So Clint has to work on those two aspects of his one-day bowling - he’s got to get wickets up front and/or become a fantastic finisher.”

Berry said that in addition to his undoubted acumen with the ball, a skill that has made Richardson an invaluable part of the Adelaide Strikers in the KFC Big Bash League as well as a sought-after commodity in the Indian Premier League, he has also taken on much more responsibility.

“His maturity as a player and as person in the past 12 months has been very good,” Berry told cricket.com.au.

“He’s gone from a young immature boy when I first arrived in Adelaide to one of our leaders, and he was excellent for us at the back end of last season and he’s been outstanding through pre-season and this is just a great reward for him.”

Like most pace bowlers, Richardson still believes it’s tough to top the feeling of having a brand new, heavily lacquered ball in hand at the start of an innings, especially when conditions enable it to move about and provide problems for batsmen.

But he also recognises that on flat pitches, and with field restrictions in place the initial overs of a one-day game can also deliver ideal conditions for fast scoring and he appreciates having skills that come in useful at the other end of an innings when the equilibrium can shift back to a bowler.

Not that bowling at the death, rather like being asked to take a penalty at the shoot-out phase of a major football tournament, comes without its share of scrutiny.

Just ask former Victorian seamer Michael Lewis who was selected for Australia in 2005-06 on the basis of his ability to consistently land yorkers in the final overs.

But with Australia’s then world record ODI score of 434 behind him on the mother of all batsman-friendly pitches against South Africa in Johannesburg, Lewis’s skill deserted him when most needed and the 0-113 his 10 overs yielded not only set a new benchmark for a bowler in an ODI, it signalled the end of his international career.

“I guess if you get it right you look a hero, but of you get it wrong it looks terrible doesn’t it?,” Richardson mused when asked about the pressure that comes with bowling at the ‘death’.

“It’s something I enjoy, and if you do it really well you can definitely catch up your bowling figures – if you start poorly but bowl well at the death you can get a few cheap wickets and your figures end up looking pretty good.

“It’s something that sometimes your team needs you to do pretty well, so I tried it a few times in the last couple of years for the Strikers and the Redbacks and it’s come off pretty well.

“So I’m sure if I get a game in Zimbabwe it will be the same kind of role.”

Having secured the outcome he targeted as a prospective ‘finisher’, Richardson has allowed his focus to shift to loftier goals and he makes no secret that a place in Australia’s World Cup squad was an ambition heading into the ongoing Australia A series in Queensland and the Northern Territory.

In announcing the squad that Michael Clarke will lead to Zimbabwe, Marsh noted that Australian cricket had perhaps lacked a specialist ‘finisher’ of late and that – as a result – Richardson had possibly established a slight “head start” on his rivals for a World Cup berth.

The South Australian, who while born in country South Australia developed his game as a junior living and playing in Darwin, makes no secret of that being the potential realisation of a childhood dream.

“If you asked most blokes they would probably deny it, but every player who’s involved in the one-day competition is probably thinking about the World Cup,” he said.

“Especially being a home World Cup, for most blokes that’s an amazing thing to play in so I think everyone in domestic cricket would be thinking ‘what can I do to be a part of it?’

“I played in an under-19s one in New Zealand which is pretty close to home and that was great, being an 18-year-old and playing in a World Cup.

“But playing in a men’s one, being in your home country and maybe at your home stadium is what you dream of playing in the backyard.”