PRO INTERVIEW | OLLY STONE

[Music] hello everyone uh welcome to the bowlers Union podcast we've got a superb guests with us today Nottingham shear and England Paceman good friend of ours former teammate olle Stone how you doing Stony all right thank you thanks for having us on that's all right see the intro went okay it there barks was bagging me before the start but finally got one right makes a change we're not going to start now are we we gonna start already are we gonna have to subtitle all all stony's um everything he says here so people can understand the farmer Voice is coming out well you like to think there'll be a few out there that will understand me then abely absolutely um are you going to do your quickfire questions Keith I am going to yes okay sty quick fire questions just five of them seam or swing swing Pace or bounce Pace back of hand slow ball or knuckle ball knuckle Nick off or bald bald bouncer or Yorker bouncer run us through those answers then mate uh so bit of Swing I feel like if you got if you got swing Along with your pace um that can offer quite a lot in terms of modes of dismissal um bearing in mind I think once once you get that higher end Pace I feel like maybe the wobble becomes the probably less effective I would say and if you've got swing um you can use it a bit more and try and use that skill to to out outweigh the opposition um the knuckle ball I feel it's very deceptive in terms of like the way it comes out it still comes out seam up if you if you get it right and you can get some get some late late movement um even with that knuckle ball um Bal nothing better than the stumps going C Wheeling um in my eyes and then being a being a fast bowler can't beat a good bouncer you've obviously been on the receiving end of themar so um yeah love it love it I feel like you can't you can't beat a good bouncer um to intimidate intimidate the B that's interesting you said I don't think I've actually ever been on the receiving end of any of your bouns mate you're not really that Express for me to worry about if could be yeah kind of brush you off a few times and not not not quick enough just to worry about your Fran Shin getting blown off is it or I mean depends which umpire you obviously got that was out it's out so basically right me and sty have come across each other's past a few times as you know very very emotional aggressive angry bowler um even when he's in the happiest of moves he gets that ball in his hand it becomes a different bit of a different animal um and I think he was struggling against me because at one point I I'll probably send you the shot I've just pumped back past him four but anyway moving on he came around the Wicket and um he was coming really wide angled quite quite wide and no no real shape by one which he got wrong I did explain to him afterwards what he done wrong there um but it's quite a direct hit me probably on leg stum with the angle being so wide definitely not out but you know when you've played well we don't know but we're aware of when you play for England you might get the odd decision you don't deserve like Cricket for us like you know the umire all you know the county players they all give him that kind of what happened with me and sty um so again we've got two people who got me out and I've not got either of them out but to be first right you do hide from me and sty I'm not I've bought on really slow wickets against him so he's been a bit lucky I don't think I've played against you there Chris hey some EXC just excuses I'm hearing but no we haven't we haven't come across pass yet I don't think so even when you were younger I don't feel like in North an's days and stuff you did once you did once he didn't Bowl against you right we got about 500 I I remember that game that was where I think we had war is six six down early maybe and you came in and then next thing you know you got 100 and something and someone else got 100 and it was like right we're in the field for a long time here just for those who are listening when he says you he means me Keith not Chris steady on steady on you're having to go at me that's let make it clear it was Keith Barker who scored the hund I haven't I haven't got a first class 100 to be fair have you got one Stony or not oh no don't It's haunting me the last couple of nights getting 90 the other day it's really it's really it's give me nightmares mate I didn't why why have I not did I not realize this happened go on talk us through that uh so lanks playing against LS we had we were what was I nine so we were seven down um and H was in on 140 as well I think and then we ended up yeah coming in putting on 168 uh together and yeah I got to 90 and unfortunately fell over one and like I said earlier there's nothing better than your poles being blown out me off stump went cartwheeling unfortunately oh dude were you um were you nervous you aware of what you on in that well yeah but I think I was that knackered that I weren't really the nerves weren't really there I was just worrying about not cramping in my forearm or something like that oh mate yeah but yeah well one day one day exactly mate you you um I'm sure you you've had some really good moments in your career test debut in 2019 I've got here um but surely your crowning achievement has got to be batting at eight in a test match uh you batted eight against yeah I mean I lined them up all right there as well to be fair um but yeah no it's uh I mean I said I said in the car actually two days before uh this 90 that before I retire the ne the last thing I want to tick off is a is a first class 100 got so close but never mind it looks like a cultured Innings based on I've just checked my phone there 90 off 156 balls so you you know you just accumulated did you no 15 fours don't forget those um I know but I'm talking strike rate wise it's not like you know a runner ball slog you've you've occupied the crease kind of thing yeah you know me righty I'm I'm not a I'm not a slogger um I've got I've got no I've got no slogging in me unfortunately um so yeah just just caressed it to the boundary a few times uh bux will be on the receiving end of that on Friday I bet bet 10 out of those 15 boundaries that went for four with Nick pass slip for four there wasn't any actually no slips [Music] within Stony i w I want to um just move on and talk to you or ask you a few questions just about how you started out with your with your journey in cricket um were you always theone that bold scene to start with or did you do what some others did bit a spin and then realize that you were crap at it and oped for some else no I was always I was always a seam bowler um yeah from ever since I started uh where my brother my brother helped uh teach me how to bowl down the side of our house um I think when I was about seven maybe um and then yeah just always always was a was a bowler who who could bat a little bit um and from speaking to a few people uh from when I was growing up they always said I had a little bit of pace about me but at the time I probably didn't obviously I was young I had no idea of what like what necessarily quick was and um yeah it's probably just always been um always been a seam bowler I obviously messed around ball and spin and stuff but I felt like I got to a point where at a young age that there was a coach called Steve Goldsmith who had played a bit of um first class Cricket for Kent and Derby who said I think you should stick at it there's potentially something something there so that I think that always maybe guided me along in terms of not trying something else um along the way um and I always just I always enjoyed um bowling which I guess helps as well have you always tried to bowl like as quick as you could uh so I went for a phase probably when I was 12 13 of probably being a little bit of a chubby chubby fat kid who ended up who ended up getting a couple of like muscle injuries from probably being a little bit overweight um and then sort of went on a growth spurt and stretched stretched out a bit and um there was a point when I first made my debut for North ANS that I was worried about getting dropped so I tried to like rain my Pace in and like just try and be economical because I was worried that if I got whacked around that I wouldn't be in the side next week and bits like that so I went through a phase of that but then wasn't getting picked anyway and I was like well what on Earth am I doing like I've got the potential to ball fast if I get better at it um rather than just trying to be safe and not ball fast just because I'm worried about getting dropped like then that's going to help that's going to help me um so yeah there was a I think it was my first year on the staff at North an I was a little bit like yeah I'm just going to run in hit a line in length and not really I didn't really do much it was sort of a pretty Ted year and by the end of it I ran in and tried to ball fast and it didn't go to plan but then I was like right well I need to sort this out next year to to become a better AIT a better bowler fair play did um did you work that out yourself or because you had some good senior Pros in that an offense team didn't you people like mids would you play with mids yeah so it was mids uh like David sales people like that um who now it's it was more on me in terms of I felt like I got to a point where I just yeah I said to I said to the coach at the time who was Phil row I just sort of said like I'm trying to I'm trying I want to bowl quicker I don't really know how to go about it sort of thing um and he had done some work on my action previously um when I had a stress fracture um so he sort of understood with me at the time and we just sort of sat down and and figured out like what what potentially that would that would look like fair just you mentioned stress fracture how old were you when you had your first stressy so I was 16 um it was the winter of it was my first proper winter of training a little bit with the pros at North ants um I was on their Academy they would every so often they like when it was like summer holidays or whatever they'd be like oh do you want to come up for a couple of days um no sorry ignore that it was in the winter um and they were like do you want to come up for a couple of days um and like be around train um so put me up in a hotel and I'd come and bowl and basically I bowled a lot indoors um with quite a big lateral um Flex so like obviously a big lean I used to bowl like Ines um and basically I got to a point where yeah i' bow too much with a not a safe action should we say if there's a such a thing as a safe action I don't know but you know like trying to yeah so that happened and then literally first game of this the summer I had felt like someone was stabbing me in the back and went for a scam and unfortunately yeah had my stress fracture which wiped wiped me out of that summer so yeah 16 was the first the first of many yeah how did you how did you find that then the recovery side of it and obviously you're still young but um how how long was the period that you were out for so I was literally out all summer so what the Club season probably starts what mid uh mid to late a or late April now um and I played just because I wanted to play I played as a batter for the last two games of the season in like September um I ended up sort of becoming the groundsman I'd go down and help like sweep the pitch at halim and paint the lines and stuff just because I wanted to be involved um as a 16y old lad being told you can't play cricket for the summer it was yeah it was quite a tough one to take but then I was like well I just want to be around so I'd just go and just get involved with anything really did did North ANS help rehab you or did were you just because obviously you're not a full-time pro at that point are you yeah so I got to a stage where they because I was on their Academy they offer and there was a a partnership with a college that they had in Northampton basically where you could go and do a college course but come and train um like three days a week um and it meant that obviously I could see the physio whenever I needed to for my rehab and stuff so I took I took the decision to move move there um basically for my backers um really because I was like if I don't get my back right I'm not going to be able to play anyway so I went and moved there and basically had um like full-time physio really for the six months I needed to be sort of back in a position before I could Bowl again so you moved out of out of home at 16 yeah so I yeah um day before I was meant to leave I went downstairs and told my mom I weren't going and broke into tears I was I'm not going I like I didn't I wasn't I wasn't a uh I wasn't one growing up who enjoyed like being away from home should should I say so it was yeah so Mom was like no you're going like you can go and if you don't like it after a week you can come home and then I went and first day I was fine and away I went um it was the best thing I ever did um I don't know if I if Looking Back Now if I didn't if I hadn't have gone I'd yeah I'd obviously kick myself so um it it was a tough decision at the time but one that helped my helped my Cricket massively so what were your digs like were you it was basically yeah so they had like Halls of residence bit like a like you would at a university but at the college um and it ranged from people who were there for sport farming like it was a it was a college for everything so it was a mixture of everything it wasn't just a sports specific College um so yeah it's just like basically like being at Uni but at 16 really well obviously you made the right decision because um you've had a it's been a little bit stop start for you all the years but it's definitely the right decision you made and you've had a good career today so far um I think we played my first game was when I scored some runs that was 2014 I want to say and there was a bit of a rumor of like this this L's got potential when did you start it to notice that there were some eyes on you because obviously you moved to warer a few years after that but when did you realize that you know you being talked about and stuff um I mean was maybe I think it was 2015 um there was I went through I had I think quite a decent Year from memory and there was all lions tour that winter um which I ended up not going on because the ECB at the time they do like routine back scans to check all the fast Bowlers and it showed up a stress reaction um which I was nonsymptomatic but they they decided that the best option was not to go on that tour and basically shut down for a bit um and it was probably then that I sort of realized maybe there was something more there I I'd always been like in and around like that the the England used to have like a pace ball in um program that righty you be aware of that um what year did you run with me that on that uh I think that would have been that might have been 15 or 15 going into 16 after I had my my stress response I think that following winter um and then yeah so I was sort of was there or thereabouts um I knew they sort of were looking but until you put performances together you know you're like that like it's not not going to happen if you don't perform um and then yeah then I Then I then I did my knee in 16 which sort of then then sort of put things on the back burner um and then yeah this summer of 18 was my first like proper year after that that that I felt like I performed when when we went up into division one when we won division two um that was probably then sort of that year that I felt like I properly found something so you You' done your knee celebrate haven't you took a away literally jumped up and landed badly yeah so that was that was a bit of time out as well wasn't it um I wanted to ask you um moving on from that a little bit is obviously was big step up for you going for from uh playing kany Cricket to the England stuff and being in that bowling group but obviously your biggest leag was moving from North ANS to myself Chris Ricky Clark Chris wels and by ranking how did you find moving into that that changing room and leveling up I'd say without sounding arrogant but like as in from Bowling group perspective where it's a next division up and maybe slightly more skilled bowling type yeah I mean it was it was Dawn obviously warshire being a big club and the history and everything um that is obviously there it was yeah it was it was nerve-wracking um but it was sort of a point in my career where I felt like if I wanted to try and make it to the next step that I needed to go and try and up skill um a bit more and also have an attack where if I was getting tired I don't need to play every game as such um North ants were brilliant in terms of getting me to where to where I was in my career and also where I've got to um but for me it was just the right time to to move on and like you say be around people who have won championships who know what it's like to play international cricket um and like just try and bounce off each other and learn like different skills um and to be fair I'm not just saying it because I'm satting here with you two but the way you two made me feel in the dressing room actually helped me fit in um like quite easy um and felt like I could ask relevant questions rather than sitting there being like well I can't I can't ask these two anything because they're not going to give me anything do you know what I mean it's you been in dressing rooms before where I felt like I'm not going to talk unless I'm spoken to because you feel like I don't know I just didn't feel like sometimes not that I didn't belong but there was still a bit of maybe old school in in the dressing rooms um not not saying it's a bad thing but it was just yeah just the way it was I think that's the thing is when you have someone else come into genu you want to make them feel com and right right say once we address the elephant in the room that starting just needly to brush his teeth in the morning him nice everything got on pretty sweet after that now bre doesn't smell too bad to be but no yeah I I know what you mean it's it can be quite daunting I remember when I signed for War new well just being back in the game but new Bowlers kind of trying to figure out where you fit in it be quite weird if you're not welcomed the right way um but yeah I think it was a great addition to have you join our attack because you offered obviously another yard of pace and you ticked another box for something that we probably could have needed well probably did need and we could rotate well as well well didn't you get you got eight for 80 didn't you or something against Sussex in one of your on my day yeah yeah something like that I was I was on for 10 until Keith decided to spoil it and get OE Robinson out but I mean that will help you settle into any dressing room AR it eight yeah I was very fortunate with that I I do remember it just one of them that I felt it was weird it felt like one of those days where near enough every ball you bow I felt like I was in the game which obviously doesn't happen every time as we know um unfortunately not yeah yeah what I will say with that which give you credit for is you'd signed for us and you were injured weren't you you were you were still coming back from your knee injury weren't you yeah that's even like a bigger thing for me is it shows the character you had there because it's not as you've been playing You' you've had what was it like nine months something like that well in the end I was out for 13 yeah yeah and yeah first game back and you you just pretty much run through and just I remember there was people want to be facing that I'll beer be honest with you you could see it a mile off um but that set the tone I think was um and yeah it was proper bowling to be fair there was no one wanted to face you I remember I think you got Luke Wells out you nick him off or did you bounce him or was that that was yes yeah yeah was um it reminded me of Young Chris Chris Wright when he first came on the scene before he pulled the ladder up amazing I'll let you have a few um I'll let you have a few digs Keith that's fair enough I can remember I can actually really picture that game because I've got a feeling it didn't it was quite a flat pitch wasn't it and I think you were probably the only bowler in the whole game that got much out of it I'm pretty sure it was a draw um you know there was a bit of weather around as well um but yeah I remember yeah being it being wet but for well it's a typical probably War sh pitch at the moment isn't it it's doesn't it's just a solid like Cricket like Cricket Wicket don't be just say what it was it was it was not the non carry like Gaz produced some very flat hardworking wickets for bowlers but we we did well at the time what year was that by the way that you play was that's 18 I I checked before the podcast yeah yeah right okay I do remember that specifically because because we we done everything we need to do start of the Season preseason and then um jeets obviously Jets was Captain he went we're gonna go with three seamers like that's that's I think we'll be struggling to get through a whole game we've not we're we're not ready for that and I think I did my hamy I think one of you two was almost didn't play the next game because you were about one of you was battling a little bit me might have yeah yeah I was out for like seven weeks something like that pretty annoy I think with um sorry off it's not off topic you just mentioned it I think county cricket the nature of it and how long it is and the hard work it's tough to play three seamers do you know I mean I think having three out andout seamers perhaps an a bowling allrounder and a spinner is is the model that works yeah so that's that's what we we go with here like in terms of three out and out seamers you've got James who is like becoming a a very good fourth seamer um and then yeah you've got your spin out I I think it's always a joke in it every day is a bowling day in county cricket but unfortunately it is so I feel like if you do play three seamers those three then can't play the next game just with the way the schedule is um unfortunately um but yeah I'm with yeah you almost you do need four people that can ball scene um the the schedule is an interesting one obviously it's been coming up a lot hasn't it with the PCA recently um and talking about reducing the overall amount of cricket I'm not saying I'm I'm for this or not for it or anything like that but isn't isn't there a really obvious solution of going with three three divisions three divisions of six where you basically play each team home and away and then you play 10 first class games was that too obvious for people to think of or would there be loads of push back I don't know I mean I think obviously we did it during Co didn't we where we had three T three divisions and then the top two go into a like a final playoff group if they want if they want to go that way I think some people just said on that like if you weren't in the top group you're then not playing for anything so as long as it was maybe three divisions where if you were in the bottom division but you finished top you could then get promoted you know so that actually rather than just people playing Cricket for the sake of playing there's something there's something on it um we also mentioned about playing a few less T20 games like yes like they're probably what brings the county the money in but also the traditionalists and I still love 4 day Cricket want more want to see 4 day Cricket like can you can you trim a bit off from everything and also can you play put lots of teams go away on preseason can you do something on pre-season that contributes towards the county season that would make a huge difference I think to actually you almost just extending the the season a fraction um but let's say if you extend it by three weeks where teams played two out of those three weeks just to get the extra games and I think that would make a difference to be fair um yeah I mean unable is it no but I feel like you'll always have your people who want to see more of one than the other or vice versa you yeah and unfortunately because they has to get voted in a lot of the time you'll never get a majority vote that I think that's going to be the issue which is why it needs to be out of people's hands as such well if you if you try and please everyone often you end up pleasing no one you know what I mean it's it's kind of true isn't it like you can't you can't do it um but I'd love to talk to you now in terms of then move about Pace right because obviously you're you're you're a Pacey guy regularly in excess of 90 M hour um so do you do you feel like you can do that in the current schedule or do you do you operate down a and then Crank It Up When you need to or are you are you all in all the time like what's your kind of style no and changed you know I used to be um which maybe is the reason I've picked up my injuries in the past um I used to be very much zero or 100 um I do get a bit of white line fever at times and like when you when you're in the battle it's very hard to tell yourself to just ease off or um and I don't think the schedule allows um for people to be able to bowl regularly at high 80s for a long period of time um we finished a game yesterday and I B 38 in the game and then we go again Friday it's and if I have to go that same number again I just you you have to have a rest somewhere um and so I have tried to learn a bit more on my craft that probably I've always had my Pace but maybe my skill hasn't always been where it needed to be um and so trying to work on that alongside being able to sort of cruise and not have to bust a gut as I would say every time um can allow you to pick and not pick and choose is probably the wrong word but notice a situation where actually I might need to turn it up here to get a bit more whether that's the ball's gone a bit softer the pitch has gone a bit flatter you need a little bit more than than you would maybe with a new ball on a on a bit of a green Greener deck for instance so yeah I've tried to I've tried to become come better at going through the gears um in recent times and also just because I feel like I can become a better bowler for it um and also on a wet one in April you probably don't need to be running in and trying to bowl 100 miles an hour like if you're a bit more consistent at top of the stumps with at say 85 mes hour then that's probably going to be more effective as well so it's like trying to assess conditions and situations and that more than just being that hot head who runs in and tries to knock Box's head off to do but anyway um how I want just on that because OB you have got pace and you've had Pace your whole professional career have you found it when almost you against any opposition and your team are expecting you to just run in and Bowl Rockets from ball one every ball throughout the whole day the whole game I mean I think I think people the way I've sort of because there's been times where I've felt like in teams I've I always call it like I feel like I'm the battering ram like come on like run in let him have it sort of thing and I've I've always known deep down that I'm a better bowler than that um and it's like trying to be a bit more I don't what's the word bit more not stubborn um just a bit more honest in terms of the way I feel and um just airing my thoughts and saying actually come on I'm better than this um And the fact I think if you take wickets or show your skill away from that doing that role people people are happy because it's not for a lack of they know it's not that I'm not trying it's more like actually he knows now the situations and when maybe we need to attack or like actually we can just sit in here and not have to to go balls out and also I found one thing that I found in the last sort of year and a half is to actually to Bow quick you actually need to like sometimes dial it down um like I've always found the quicker you try and Bowl the slower it is and some of my quicker spells have felt actually when I've not been trying as weirdly as that sounds um and yeah just trying to find that happy medium of like getting in a position where like I'm trying enough to to get into that position to be able to bowl fast rather than trying to bowl a million miles an hour and it comes out at 70 like do you know what I mean yeah this this is I I feel I completely agree um these are thoughts I have in my head I'm glad we've gone down this route because it's almost like you've got to stay in control haven't you to be good that's why I look at it so you want to be quick but to be good and have movement and zip on it you can't just hos it because quite often you lose your shape and your wrist and all of these things I think that's one of these big things that perhaps gets lost in coaching is it's it's almost like in the gym um lifting weight is like technical failure isn't it you you don't want to miss a rep because you you're nowhere near it's knowing the kind of don't know if I'm explaining this right but there's a there's a sweet spot where you can bow quick with control and finding that key rather than just trying to like you say blast it down all the time yeah I mean that's a be like a lot of the time if I feel like I'm I I always the way I describe it is when I feel tense like it it just doesn't like doesn't flow and that's the they're the sort of like words that I use like when I'm playing to even when I am seeing a bit of red mist is how do I see that Red Mist but not tense up and go right I'm I'm coming for you sort of thing like it's like trying to yeah use use it in the right way um because you see Red Mist and you bowl four overs for 40 you ain't doing your job do you know what I mean so it's like trying to find yeah find that that sweet spot of um like running in hard enough but like you say being relaxed and that to to be able to ball not not too emotional almost kind of like yeah yeah yeah did play a game um against Tony where he was running out of puff he bow for quite a while he steamed in early on took loads of wickets to him and just as he was running out of puff see he's getting tired one bounced him a bit more hit the glove and trickle through to the keep ER Red Mist descended over the whole ground from start it was ridiculous um I then clipped him for a single a few balls later and as he's walking back I just dropped the shoulder on him and you know what it's almost like you know if you were doing like a longdistance run and you were you you gone nothing in you but then something makes you angry and you try even hard to catch that person let's say it was it was like that effort from I'm gonna I'm gonna get red up and it's like there's nothing left in the tank next baller on I was like yeah I'll take that battle I'll take that little win there Point proven you know what what I do want to add here because I think this is important is I feel like you are you you've earned the right to go through the process that you're talking about and you would much rather have someone that over tries than under tries in my opin if I'm picking one or the other I'm like I want to try because you you can that other side into him I feel like as a bowler if if you don't want to try or as a scam bowler especially if you don't want to try then you're in the wrong job like there's days where it it's not ideal but you have to keep going and you need that you need that character in someone and it's yeah I feel like you can train the the other side of it in them whereas the other way around if you've got someone who's lazy and don't want it you very rarely get them to buy in and up their up their effort well you know what fair enough with that we uh had a like a B unit chat uh last preseason in Spain and Kyle Albert was talking about it and really true for us as a bowling unit is he he just said I know some like some L skills aren't where they want them to be but no one will ever get crapped on for giving the all and it going wrong but it's when you can see you're not giving it everything you've got for whatever your reasons that's when people will come down on you and yeah you do want those Lads that are going to give everything they've got every ball obviously in a controlled manner not like starting six seven years ago where it's just like red to a ball but you know staying focused and Zone in on what they're trying to do yeah yeah that's that is the thing like whether you're Jimmy Anderson or someone playing Club crit you're going to have good days and bad days like it's just the nature of it like you but like you say as long as you know people are doing the work and buying into it you can't have any issues like yes you're not going to be great all the time but yeah like that's what yeah I'm with you as long as you know people are putting in the effort and at least trying to be that guy who does it like that's fine I I'm yeah I'm completely with you there do you I mean I'm sure you will but sometime you can bat against bowlers and you can feel that they're not do you know what I mean or sorry better way to describe it you can actually feel how hard they're trying and you can you know even you're like oh you can feel it on the backat and their body language can't you and stuff yeah and it's obviously the opposite you can feel when someone kind of isn't yeah it's so much more comfortable yeah and also yeah like you're like all right you feel like I'm in here like you just sort of not milk it but yeah you're a bit like oh this is but like you say when someone is on it I don't know it's you can't say you can't describe it but it's just there you're like right I need to switch on it it's not even I'm not even just talking Pace it's just but like no just in general yeah yeah oh love it get me fired up I I tell you what barks isn't gonna enjoy facing you is he next week this that's the vibe on get I love faing Stony love it mate you know what that game when he was steaming in when he saw Red Mist I deliberately like made a conscious effort to be like a good foot outside my crease like just so I just want to just want him to get more Angry like could come on get more Angry um yeah it's all we know we know that doesn't work so this week different different game you know you know my my favorite thing is is to try and have a beef in my head with the batter that they can't see so they don't know there's beef but there is really hang on hang on just you are pretty much somehow like you're you're an assassin with how you think about things yet you don't have beat you just cause a scene in your head with every batsman you come across where they just don't know you actually trying to kill them let's not get away from that yeah I love it I love it that's how you go about things so there's no like oh secret beef you just create a scenario and you hate anything that could remember what was it preseason Barbados when was it m was it Bates for Hampshire Best what happened there because you were you were so over the top you sprayed him he's oh thanks bestie he said thanks to Paul best over something and you let him have it for no reason oh that I'm looking after my teammates there I think I think he got besti out and I it was a friendly it was a preseason friendly no you know what there's no friendlies if ever there's a batter in there it's not friendly that's the way genuinely I I maybe it's a bit different now I stand by that though anytime there's a batter there it's you or it's you or the batter isn't it one of you is g to look like a mug yeah and you don't want it to be you I still remember Jonathan Trot on the Colts ground hit you init you over your head into the roof of the net and St I don't if you remember but righty held that against Troy very Mindy Bal for a good five or six months didn't ever Bowl one short but just kind of made try forget about what had happened because right human left it six months and then literally the biggest surprise of the sharpest bumper on him and I could see it in his eyes when he was going to do it this is coming it's coming he holds grudges for no reason yeah that's part of the fun well I I've always said to people if you if you get a bouncer off me in the Nets then you've annoyed me you've done something wrong if not you just you just keep it pitched up but if there's a reason for them to have it do you know what right I remember on edge buston we had an outdoor net were netting on the Square and righty was pitching up as normal and he never we he's kind of had this deal with me like I won't bounce you in next and you don't bounce me I've just St on the front foot hit him for a few drives next in I bouncer under it and I went right what said about like sorry sorry just just sorry mate um so I just want to transition back onto the actual bowling stuff so obviously you had a nice uh step up going from northw to warshire how did you feel when you then came into the England setup and were actually playing test matches and stuff like that how how did that feel uh again it was again it felt like a little bit like when I moved from North an to warshire there's obviously the caliber of people you you're coming up against and share in the dressing room with it it [Music] um yeah it was very nerve rcking and also I realized that there was quite a big jump in intensity um in and also maybe with maybe from me being new in that environment I felt like every training session I needed to show why I was there um so I would bowl at 100 miles an hour um every session because I felt like if I didn't I would get whacked or I wouldn't be on it and therefore I wouldn't get picked so I felt like the intensity and that of everything went through the roof um and which was maybe then why I I picked up um a stress fracture um after so I went to Sri Lanka on my um debut tour and then was picked in the West Indies stuff after Christmas um and then the first training session when I got to the West Indies my again felt like someone was stabbing me in the back when I was bowling and unfortunately had a a stress fracture again but yeah I would say it was a massive jump again again um in terms of intensity mainly whether that was me putting that on myself or just in general I feel like it is a a general thing you're playing against the best players in the world and if you're not on it you're G to get whacked um the pitches are better just everything is better um but also at the same time it made me a much better cricketer because you were training with the best all the time and if you didn't if you didn't take a step forward you would get left behind so it made you it made me a better cricketer at the time but also it was a big shock to the system to be fair your your debut your attack was you uh Wy Broad curan and Lee it's a nice attack that it's well balanced it it's a good good attack yeah that yeah I remember second Innings broady and Wy open the bowl in and Ry was like yeah get loose mate and they just kept taking polls and PS and PS ended up ended up not having to bll it was brilliant amazing who um what was what was it did you play with Anderson yeah so I played so you played Anderson and bro you play with now what I want to know what what they're like in terms of as operators how'd you find them they're just very methodical and precise and there's no there's no sort of waste if you know what I mean um the way they go about it um broady has his set routines premat well they both do they have their set routines bro was very very uh much into like visualization and bits like that and Jimmy was very much more like just not doing loads and just being freshh and like ready um he knew what he what work he'd put in on in the past has gotten to a point where he just needed to make sure everything was ticking over nicely for him to go out there and perform um and very different characters probably on the field at times like Jimmy Jimmy very much gets like in the moment and fired up and stuff where his BR can can be sort of relaxed and but then once he gets his the ball in his hand he he again is probably a bit like a Silent Assassin he he knows how to set people up which balls most effective and um stuff like that but also on that they were brilliant in terms of around training talking through like different grips the way different balls behave um like on different surfaces and obviously there was a tour in New Zealand where one of the games was a day nighter so it was the pink cerra and how if you caned the scene more it seemed to get it to swing more for some reason like just little things that I would never have a a clue what clue on so they were very good at trying to make you better as well as just like being in the same team that's nice to hear to be fair and um just because I've got one of two teammates of Hampshire who are massive massive Chris wels fans um how do you find wsy what was he like he's just a legend is he um I feel like if you speak to anyone around the county circuit no one will have a bad word to say about him he's just he's just humble and just a good guy but works very hard um at his game he I think he obviously got told when he first went into the England side he needed to put on an extra yard and bits like that and to go away and work on stuff and I feel like he's got he's just got to a point now where yeah he's he just knows his game and it's just a legend with it I mean yeah he's he's always someone that if I'm if I'm probably struggling a little bit or with certain things I know I can go to him and and have like an open conversation and see if there's anything that that he knows um like that can help me I'm sure we're we're hoping to get Wy on at some point need to speak to him I mean I'm not too sure I did ask him for a b a few years I'm still waiting for it Wy if you do end up hearing any of this it be good to get him on and uh basally about one of the best Ballers that England have seen as well um yeah so how are you finding where you're at now with your your bowling in your career at the moment mate uh I feel yeah I feel in a really good place um obviously it was a it was a difficult decision at the time to to leave War share through um through various reasons um but I feel like it's given me a new lease of life as such and a new a new environment always gives you a new challenge and you you want to go in there and and show people why like why you should be why you should be involved and being very fortunate with the way the lads have been and also the coaches um obviously having Kevin shine Kevin shine there who um Ry come across as well like he's he's been massive recently in terms of what we spoke about earlier in terms of just making bowling easier um and trying not to feel like I'm having to grunt every ball and um just work on a few subtle subtle things that actually give you a little bit extra um so and then and then Pete Moos um having him as head coach he's been he's been outstanding as well just obviously someone who's been all around the world coached England seen so many different environments he's he's been brilliant and I've just loved the way he goes about just the stuff in the in the dressing room as well so it's been it's been a very good move and an injection of energy into me that maybe at the time I didn't think I needed but um Looking Back Now it's yeah it's been a a positive one that's why um righty's move so many times just gives himself an extra leas of life every time he moves you Dum me there I don't know I don't know what to say right when a club doesn't want you you have to move on don't you yeah yeah you know you have all three of us yeah yeah you've got to Value yourself at a certain level and if the doesn't then that's the that's the sign isn't it cool very very businesslike of me to say that but it's the kind of the truth isn't it you you know you have you know you know what you can do and you put you put I say a figure but yeah you don't want to sort of um muck around um it's SP the day is and it it's a business well you've gone a bit harder than I was gonna go hard with there I I'm a bit more emotional about it than that I've love I've loved every Club I've played for like genuinely like you know what I mean but equally you do you do get to a point sometimes where it's like yeah okay we're obviously not in the same place you what I mean yeah I mean yeah I'm not saying that they were the right decisions made by the club but they once they get a thought in the mind and they they stick with that decision it's kind of then there's no Oh you mean from the club's perspect I thought you meant from your perspective no no the no no no yeah yeah no totally no totally they're gonna you know and that's that's sometimes the way it goes um I mean I'd love to have been a one club man like a Steven Gerard of cricket that been that been meant but also I honestly don't think that happens in sport nowadays I feel like it was more common I say back in the day talking like I'm old but like I feel like a few years ago it was more of a it was more of a thing but now like you say that it's more of a run like a business and if you don't perform or they don't value you anymore then you you have to change it up don't you yeah yeah yeah I have to I have to say actually um credit to leester year at the minute in terms of me personally they've been unbelievable and fair with all my contract negotiations and since I've joined I couldn't have yeah yeah couldn't ask for more really um but well this is this is taken a different turn hasn't it I didn't didn't expect this um I'm trying to think if we've got any more questions for you I was definitely going to ask you about Kevin shine he's he's a top fell isn't he I had a I had a random message the other day actually from someone who's been doing a bit of training I think with knots and he was like how good's Kevin shine he was like really he was buzzing off him he was like he's literally taught me this delivery already he's men you know mean like yeah to be fair yeah he is you know he's he was with England for a long time wasn't he yeah I think 14 years maybe something like that it was a it was a hefty chunk of time and also He he'll say himself and he's he said it to me that he's he's had to change a lot since when he was involved in the England stuff and he goes for for the better um and obviously from working with him a few years ago to now you can see you see the difference and I guess when you're head of England fast bowling you you're under pressure to produce certain types of of bowlers and rather than maybe trying to work with what attributes someone's got and I feel like now the way he is as a coach he's he's been brilliant and actually one of the reasons why I think Dylan Pennington signed it was a big draw for me in terms of signing there and just the way he is as a coach is yeah is is for a fast bowler I think is invaluable you you know barks with with pop and we've all worked with pop if if you've got if you've got a a great fast bowling coach it makes things so much easier yeah yeah completely agree completely agree um and let's be honest he he's got he's got a lot of Knowledge from a lot of good Bowlers shiny hasn't he over the years so to be able to pass that on now into the county game perhaps a bit more directly specifically with knots a huge coup um is is he is he one of your neighbors as well I know like to live near the coaches and stuff no he's not he's he's out in the sticks and I don't like to live near the coaches I like to live near the director of CR absolutely I love it love it now you got to know where your Bread's butter didn't you yeah yeah morning Mick morning flat white is it brilliant dear me right how we how are we doing Jen you any more questions Keith I've got none none for sty um I want to give an early congratulations getting well he's engaged and he's going to be getting married towards the end of this year right did you get your invite mate if I me if you message him you don't hear from him anyway that's true me yeah that's very true have you been messaging me have you been messaging me then no but see you know it's true you haven't been messaging me have you no no there you go it's a bit of a shame bit of a shame you know I thought we were like a bit of a Joo back in the day but I was obviously wrong well you don't Roma anymore no yeah how good a Roma I will say sorry sty we forgot right he did invite us around for that poke night which was I reckon it was what maybe 8 years ago now it's still I think you're almost ready for it aren't you oh dear I will have a pokeon knite at this house old score it'll be it will be the original pocon knite crew and we should probably have a reunion at Aroma as well when we get randomly if we get a chance yeah and just send it at a Curry House that'd be brilliant might need somewhere milkshakes you know cut down on them so good amazing right okay um all right well in that case Keith should we uh should we wrap it up yes mate St it's been great having you on yeah I I'll um Al one really good thing I forgot to mention actually sty and know's obviously got a wedding to pay for and whatever else but one real good thing about sty and he's such a good mate is every time I go not to way he always takes me off of food and pays for it don't you sty well yeah you forc me into it I have no choice so I can't wait for him to take me out and pay for meal again this time because he's such a great block I love it right just a quick one this episode is brought to brought to you uh by gry Nichols uh who kindly sponsored the show you can get a discount code at grey nick.co.uk and uh the code is aore pb20 that's all capitals and that's grey nick.co.uk so if you want to grab yourself a discount courtesy of us that's where you go um and yeah I'll play the outro brilliant guest Stony absolute pleasure mate um and I wish you all the best bowling at Keith in this coming week you're gonna need every last bit of look you've got mate take it easy