Jonathan Agnew Quotes

I don't bowl at 140 kmph or 150 kmph, so my best chance of getting the batsmen out is by bowling in the right areas and getting it to swing.

It is always challenging bowling abroad - you don't get much spin, bounce. You do get bounce, but you don't get sideways spin. It is always drifting kind of spin you get.

Reverse swing is a great asset if it happens.

Being a swing bowler, bowling at the death is just an added facet in my bowling.

Bowling on English pitches is not rocket science. If you bowl a good length on off stump, the ball just has to do a fraction, up or down or side to side, and you get someone out.

If you are good enough to play international cricket, you can take wickets - but you have to bowl the right length.

It's true that I have got wickets with the new ball in Test matches, but that doesn't mean that I can't bowl with the old ball.

As to adding variations to my white ball bowling, ever since I started playing IPL, I realised you need variations. You can't survive on line and length. You need coaches around you who can guide you to get there. I have been lucky that I have had seniors and coaches who have helped me get there.

When I began, I was more of a swing bowler with little pace, but I realized it will be difficult to sustain without the pace, so my fitness has now allowed me maybe an extra yard of pace. That has been the secret of my success.

The one thing you can't do is get carried away with that pace and bounce. There's a temptation to charge in and just slam the ball into the pitch and you can end up bowling too short. You still have to bowl the right length so that you threaten to take wickets.

I rely on swing to get wickets, and I continue to do it that way. I have never tried to copy others.

I don't want a new ball when I am bowling in the subcontinent. I want an old ball that can't get hit out of the ground. I want a ball that when I bowl doesn't have true bounce, so that the batsman can't hit it.

A lot of the emphasis on international bowlers is on their pace and Australia coach Darren Lehmann is a big fan of bowlers who can bowl 90mph-plus.

I have always been an attacking bowler, but I am trying my best to learn every day.

Almost every bowler bowls a slower ball, but not many can be deceptive. A slower ball can only be deceptive if it is different, if it is floating, swinging.

The thing I've got to concentrate on for South Africa is bowling at good pace and if the ball is in the right area that will cause enough trouble.

I could bowl really fast and as the years went on I started to develop more skills - I learnt how to swing the ball a little bit, use the crease a little bit more. But I knew what my skill was and that was to run in and bowl fast.

When I bowled to batters like Michael Vaughan or Jacques Kallis who were classical, technically perfect, sound batters, I always found that I could get them out.

I don't run after speed. Obviously, it will be better to have some more pace, but I am very well aware that I can't bowl with the speed of 150 kmph. I am working hard on my technique and variations.

Dotting teams up and bowling maidens back to back cannot be underestimated in Australian conditions because it gives you control of the game.

As a bowler, you want to go and bowl in helpful conditions in South Africa, England, and Australia. But it is also important to bowl in the right areas, and they differ from bowler to bowler, depending on conditions and the opposition.

In the longer term we have got to learn how to bowl on flat pitches if England are to head the ICC Championship table.

What we have learned is that Roland-Jones is a very promising prospect. Because of the way he bowls, he will not blow batsmen away, but is more likely to take wickets through accuracy and building pressure.

If there is someone who is able to swing the ball, I believe I have it in me to swing it a bit more than the other bowlers.

There has definitely been an improvement in my bowling in terms of pace and variations like the slower ball and knuckle-ball. To add to that, I have improved fitness-wise.