Alex Tudor: Learning

As England’s one-day side bid to restore some pride in the VB Series, those members of the Test squad not required for the shorter format of the game have remained in Perth to work on their fitness ahead of the next Test.

Cricket365's Greg Lansdowne caught up with fast bowler Alex Tudor who reveals he is facing a race against time to be available for the Melbourne encounter due to the after-effects of a Brett Lee bouncer that cut him just above the left eye in the Perth Test.

Tudor also discusses his personal ups and downs over this Ashes trip, after having initially been left out of the squad, and his aim to force his way back into the one-day side in the future.

1. With many of the Test squad now part of the one-day team, what are you doing in the meantime before the next Test in Melbourne on Boxing Day?
I was resting my eye for the first few days, getting scans and seeing the specialist. Since then I have been training with the other players twice a day here in Perth, doing nets and working on aspects of our fitness. It has been hard but enjoyable.

2. Do you still show any facial scars after being hit in the last Test?
The bruising has gone down but my eye is still quite bloodshot. The vision in the left eye is still not that great and the Doctor has advised me not to rush it.

3. When will you be able to play again?
There is a chance I might not be ready for the next Test. There is a four-day game starting on Monday (against an ECB Academy XI) and I really need to be ready to bat in that game to have a chance of making the Test. What will be will be but hopefully my eye will be better in time.

I am hoping the eye will improve but things are still quite blurry. I was hit pretty hard but I can do everything else apart from bat at the moment.

4. Are you looking forward to going out to face Brett Lee again?
Without a doubt. The answer is simply to get back on the horse. That delivery just skidded on and didn’t get up as much as I thought it would.

It was just one of those things. I was playing the bouncers very well but he (Lee) is not as tall as people think so some of his bouncers don’t get up that much. I do practice against short bowling in the nets because I expect to receive bouncers after giving them out myself, but I won’t be practicing more now that I have got hit. Everyone gets hit; I saw Ricky Ponting, who is one of the best pullers in the world, get hit by Mohammad Sami recently.

5. The chairman of selectors David Graveney said when you were initially omitted from the Ashes squad that he wanted you to improve on your “strength and stamina” over the winter at the Academy. As one of the few bowlers to still be (physically) fit on this tour do you think you have now proved this?
That comment came about and I was quite upset at the time. I only missed two and a half weeks last season with a shin splints injury and it was one of my best seasons fitness-wise. But you can always improve on fitness so I took it on the chin, worked hard in the Academy and got called up to the Ashes squad because of injury. It was unfortunate that Darren Gough had to go back, but it gave me an opportunity. It has been a tour where a lot of players have been going down with injuries but I am pleased to be fighting fit.

6. And how important a part did the brief second spell you had at the Academy play in that?
I was not surprised when I had my best season fitness-wise (after going to the Academy first time) so I saw it as a positive when I was picked to go again. I knew it would further strengthen my body and there was no harm in doing that. It is a very intense programme at the Academy where we would get up every morning, do some running, swimming, cycling, whatever; then breakfast followed by nets, speed training etc. It was all good quality work. It is inevitable you are going to get better – if not you have problems. There is always something going on and everyone living together helps create a good spirit. 

7. Having missed out on the provisional 30-man squad for the World Cup, why do you think you are considered to be strictly a Test bowler at international level at the moment?
Good question. I am not too sure. I played a couple of one-day internationals in the summer and I thought I did OK. They (the selectors) have their reasons; I haven’t been told them yet. It is a good question. I just get on with it. Such is life. 

8. Will one of your priorities for next season be to impress for Surrey at one-day level to stake a claim for England? 
I know I have to improve in one-day cricket and I thought I had been doing that at Surrey.

9. Although the series hasn’t gone well for England what positives can you take as an individual from the tour?
I am quite happy to have forced my way back into the side and was happy with aspects of the way I bowled in Perth. But the margin for error is minimal against Australia. We have to work hard, persevere and concentrate on line and length and to be boring in the way that we bowl. We have to get back to being disciplined because Australia punish bad bowling better than most.

10. So what do you feel you have learnt by watching and playing against this Australian team at close quarters that can help with your game?
Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie are so disciplined and give nothing away. They are always nagging away at the batsmen and wait for them to make mistakes. You know what they are going to bowl but it is another thing playing it. They hit a length hard and it is difficult to decide whether to play forward or back. They hit that spot three times an over whereas we are only doing it once an over and we need to get to their level of consistency.