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Oldham's joy of sixth pair in line for England
YORKSHIRE bowling coach Steve Oldham would not be surprised if Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad become the first White Rose duo in almost a decade to lead England's attack against Australia during next winter's Ashes series Down Under.
Both right-arm quicks were in the England squad for the first Test against Bangladesh, which got under way in Chittagong in the early hours of this morning.
And both, says Oldham, have the potential to develop into genuine Test all-rounders this summer when Bangladesh make a short visit ahead of a four-Test series against Pakistan followed by the defence of the Ashes, starting with the first Test in Brisbane in late November.
Darren Gough and Craig White were part of the England seam attack for three home Ashes Tests together in 2001 and the last attack pair from Oldham's Headingley production line to work in tandem were left-armer Ryan Sidebottom (by then with Nottinghamshire) and swing bowler Matthew Hoggard in 2007-08.
"Somebody rang me the other morning and said 'you must be pleased, two Yorkshire lads opening the bowling for England' but I think it's about the sixth time it's happened for me – Gough and White, Gough and Chris Silverwood, Gough and Sidebottom, White and Silverwood and Sidebottom and Hoggard," said Oldham.
"That's your reward as a coach, seeing them go through and play not just county cricket but end up playing for England and becoming wealthy men – I remember my first contract was 600 in 1972-73 and I had to work in engineering in the winter. "
Assessing Bresnan, 25, and Shahzad, 24, Oldham continued: "First of all, they could both be very good all-round cricketers – they're not absolute fools with the bat.
"They have pace and power and are very strong lads. I first saw Bressie when he was nine. I've always thought he's going be okay this lad and I pushed him through when he was 16.
"Shahzad is a bit different. I first saw him when he was about 14. He was carrying a bit of weight a bit like Goughie was when he started out. I just said 'look ,you've got to get it off if you are going to be serious.'
"He has started listening to be fair and he's taken our advice about modifying his action because it had started to cause him injuries."
While delighted for the seam duo, Oldham is critical of the way England have handled discarded leg-spin prodigy Adil Rashid.
"I think his treatment has been pathetic," said the coach.
"They have picked him the last two winters and traipsed him around the West Indies and Africa just to carry drinks trays. "The lad has been away every winter since he was 15. He needs time off to go and grow up, time to go watch Bradford City or the Bulls or just go out with his mates.
"He must be stale for a young fella. I think he has been handled terribly and he has got that many people in his ear about bowling it's ridiculous. He needs time to recharge his batteries. He must be sick of cricket. He's been non-stop since he was 15. He should have been left to play county cricket for the next three or four years and then we could say 'look, he's ready now'. It's ridiculous what they are doing to him."
The potential loss of Bresnan and Shahzad to England this summer does not unduly worry Oldham, who feels the county are close to being able to select a home-grown XI on merit. "We have some great young lads coming through – the best I've had, to be honest, and that's a big statement," he added.
That is a far cry from when he was brought back into the fold from Derbyshire in 1984 as assistant to coach Doug Padgett.
"Gone were the days when all you had to do for a fast bowler was whistle down a mine shaft and part of my job description, apart from bringing through my first batch of Paul Jarvis, Stuart Fletcher, Simon Dennis, Chris Shaw and Chris Pickles, was to get involved in youth cricket.
"That first winter, there were no indoor centres and me and Doug went to Yorkshire Schools nets at Pontefract High and we were lucky that we saw Gough among a crop of players. It was all new to us but since then the relationship with Yorkshire Schools has developed into something first rate.
"I just wish that we had a stronger culture where we said 'we play Yorkshire lads, we're not going to bother with Kolpaks and overseas players.' I think our members would buy into that and would be quite happy."
England pairs from Yorkshire
Yorkshire coach Steve Oldham has prepared five pairs of pace bowlers for England since 1994 so far:
Darren Gough and Craig White bowled in 12 Tests together between 1994 and 2001.
Darren Gough and Chris Silverwood bowled in five Tests together between 1996 and 2000.
Darren Gough and Ryan Sidebottom bowled in one Test together in 2001.
Craig White and Chris Silverwood bowled in one Test together in 2002.
Ryan Sidebottom and Matthew Hoggard bowled in four Tests together between 2007 and 2008.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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