One of the more important New Zealand team members ahead of the World Cup match with Australia will be an inanimate object.
Somehow an Australian pace attack, which consistently bowls in the 145km/h bracket while generating swing and bounce, must be countered. It is difficult to imagine a scenario where captain Brendon McCullum embarrasses Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood or Pat Cummins to the same extent as James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Steve Finn and Chris Woakes.
Cue the Sidearm bowling aid. When loaded with a cricket ball and slung, this plastic contraption replicates pace bowling but could moonlight as a pasta ladle in shape and design.
The extension of the lever enables coaches and players to replicate the arm movement of a bowler for extensive spells while saving energy because the slinger has to walk only a few paces before release. Expert New Zealand exponents include batting coach Craig McMillan and fitness trainer Chris Donaldson who have shoulders like Hercules as a by-product.
Quality pace bowlers are the best practice measure but the Sidearm is seen as a more realistic imitation than a traditional bowling machine for sustained practice. That's because it mirrors a bowler's action and encourages better use of muscle memory and foot movement as an action uncoils, rather than the static wheels of a machine which revolve and shoot the ball out of a vacant hole. Muscle memory is seen as vital to enable the New Zealanders to perform at their best in the Eden Park encounter.
