By Arunabha Sengupta
Consider all the men who have run in to bowl fast in Test cricket with the ball gripped firmly in their left hand.
At the time of writing only Wasim Akram has taken more wickets at a better average.
He is fifth on the all-time wicket-takers list among the left-arm fast men. If we take a cut off of 100 wickets, only six men have better average.
Trent Boult is special. Very special. That infectious smile and a penchant for surfing and fishing may give the impression of a laid back attitude, but the plentiful skill thrives in a robust framework of steely resolve. Coming back from stress fracture of the back after two years of forced injury-caused absence, and then bowling long spells at 140 kmph, moving the ball both ways on unresponsive surfaces… all this take a lot of doing.
His partnership with Tim Southee is not just stellar, it is one of the best seen in the game. At the time of writing the pair have 458 wickets at 26.88. Only eight pairs have taken more.
Their pair have achieved better averages than vaunted pairings such as Lillee-Thomson and Hall-Griffith. However, those two pairs terrorised the English batting and hence cricket chronicles are skewed in their favour. It often happens in the game.
But they tilted the balance somewhat in their favour in Auckland, with Boult’s 6 for 32 and Southee’s 4 for 25 scorching their incredible effect on the Englishmen skittling them for 58 in the course of 20.4 overs. With some gold dust of time sprinkled on this feat, they can still become legends.
The Kiwis, however, have a different attitude towards the sport. “Stokin’ up” greatness in their heroes is not a natural expression of their sports reporters. They leave it to the other small island nation on the other side of the world.
But, restrained reporting notwithstanding, Trent Boult remains special. Very special. He still has some years left. And for the last few years he has only improved. Perhaps in his away record there remains room for improvement, and a few more of those Colombo bursts are required for his final claims to greatness.
If he achieves that, by the time he hangs up his boots he may well be among the top three left-arm pacers ever, alongside Wasim Akram and Alan Davidson.
Trent Boult was born on 22 July 1989.