Mickey Arthur Quotes

The batsman does not always need to create big hits. He can hit a boundary, then pick up some singles and still gets nine runs. To avoid that, I need to plan in a way where he must look to hit wherever there is a fielder. That is what is called 'bowling to the field.'

If you ask me, a batsman has very few opportunities as compared to a bowler. A bowler knows, if he gets hit for a six or a boundary, he has another delivery left to get back and take a wicket. For a batsman, one loose shot, and you are out. A bowler will always have 24 opportunities.

Obviously, when I go in at No. 11 it stands to reason that we will have a better chance of scoring runs or batting out time if the batsman at the other end takes most of the strike. That's because, as my place in the order suggests, he is a better batsman than me.

First six overs are important because if you put runs on board, it will take the pressure off the other batsmen.

When you've got a team who are making a concerted effort to make a batsman feel uncomfortable it can look pretty ordinary.

You have got to try to make the batsman feel a bit uncomfortable to get him out.

Playing with Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn, I am a very lucky guy. Not many people are going to attack those two, which means the batsmen will attack me. And if they attack me, there is always a chance I can get a wicket.

When you create pressure in the previous over for your partner to strike, it is sometimes as satisfying as picking up a wicket yourself.

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.

Cricket is not rocket science. Bowlers often get wickets through perseverance, accuracy and being patient rather than trying to blast opposition teams out.

In T20, batsmen are always going after you, so a good policy is to bowl five-six dot balls in your first two-three overs so that pressure builds on the batsman, and he plays riskier shots.

You can't make three or four spinners bowl the exact number of overs. You don't see the number of overs bowled by them before you make a bowling change; you see who looks effective and make a bowling change.

The off spinner's job is to contain; for me, leg spinners need to have a bigger heart than anyone else because it is easy to blame them.

If you ask me the best bowler, then Wasim Akram was the best bowler because he had a lot of variety. Even when you were batting on 100 or 150, you're not very sure... He could still get you out. That was his forte.

It is important as a bowler that you always need to have a presence. If you lose that you lose quite a bit, a big part of your armoury. It comes naturally with me, and at times it is a huge advantage. I don't want to lose it. I want to keep getting wickets.

I am a big fan of the five-bowler strategy.

Whatever knuckle ball I have bowled, I wanted batsmen to go after that. That way, you can get wickets, and that's one of the main reasons why I have been successful in power plays.

Usually a captain will allow his bowler to set the field, while exercising overall control and maintaining the authority to step in if he sees fit.

Have a little protection if that helps your bowler - Brett Lee always wanted a cover and a midwicket because they helped him bowl his natural length and made him more effective as a result.

People like Mo Ali, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Joe Root, they are looking to take attack to the opposition and that's when they play their best.

When I watch a match, I always try to understand what the batsman is trying to do so that I know what I should do to get him out.

Australia always play their cricket really hard.

Shot selection is very important because you don't want to lose wickets at the start and put pressure on the rest of the side.

As an opening batsman, it's my responsibility to spend as much time in the middle as I can and try and get big scores in the first innings so that we don't have to bat in the second innings.

We won't necessarily sledge so much but we do have that attitude of 'They're not going to score the runs, we're going to take the wickets.'