Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith reckons that forced break due to the Covid-19 will not affect the cricketers much as playing the game was in their muscle memories. He expressed that according to him teh veteran players will find it easy to make a comeback as their experience will help them to overcome any difficulties.
Graeme Smith also feels that a lot will also depend on the mind of a player and any sort of rustiness can get rid of if one trains his mind in a certain manner. He also talked about how spinner will perform in the post Covid-19 era. He opined that conditions will be the same for the spin bowlers and they will have to just make sure that the ball still feels the same in their hands.
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Describing the same during a show on Star Sports, Smith said, “It’s all in the head, once you get to the top of professional cricket and international cricket as well, you are brilliant in what you do, you are very very good, your body knows exactly what it is doing. It all in your head, no matter how much time these guys have off, muscle memory does not disappear.”
He further elaborated, “So the guys who convince themselves early on, doesn’t matter about rhythm, doesn’t matter about this doesn’t matter about that, how long you have been off, I’m just going to do it, I am going to remember the feeling. For a spinner, just flicking the ball on your fingers at home, that’s enough for me, just make sure the ball still feels the same in your hands.”
Notably, International cricket finally witnessed resumption after a huge gap of 117 days with the three-match Test series between England and West Indies and it has been noted that players are not showing any major signs of rustiness. Apart from a long-standing injury of West Indies fast bowler, Shannon Gabriel, other players from both the teams have been up and about.
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England opener Dom Sibley and all-rounder, Ben Stokes managed to make a record of occupying the crease for the longest period and hit their slowest centuries in Test cricket, proving that the forced break due to the Covid-19 has neither affected their mental strength and nor have they forgot the technique of batting in the longest format of the game.
