New Energy Helping Crane Get Back To His Best

Leg-spinner Mason Crane reminded himself of how to bowl again by watching videos of himself in his 2017 pomp.

Crane came into the Vitality Blast campaign with a point to prove, but having viewed clips of himself bowling in the year he won his England debut and became the first overseas player since 1984 to play Sheffield Shield cricket for New South Wales, Crane has starred in the Blast to take eight scalps.

“I started to watch videos of myself from 2017 when I was bowling well and tried to go back to that,” Crane said.

“I watched back the video I played for New South Wales, I watched the Super Fours on the back of that and when I played against South Africa in the T20s.

“I was watching them and realised what I was doing wrong and within one or two sessions I felt like I was back to how bowling used to feel.

“I watched them on my own and then showed a few of the guys and said, ‘this is where I want to get to’ and asked for some honest feedback.

“They said that the videos weren’t how I was bowling at the moment so I had to change it.

“The big thing was that I had less energy when I got to the crease. Everything was moving a bit slower and I didn’t quite have the zip off the pitch which I had previously.

“I have now given myself a bit more energy, using my body a bit more and not being scared to bowl the thing without thinking about my back.”

Crane’s difficult form was understandable, having come off the back of 10 months away from match action due to a back injury.

“I started the season bowling okay but after that, I started to feel some pain again in my back which was difficult and painful at times,” said Crane, who missed Sunday's defeat to Kent with a side strain.

“It wasn’t similar to the injury last year. It was more the demand on my body had increased so much from where it had been.

“I knew I had to get through that bit. It wasn’t serious pain it was just a case of not doing it for a while.

“It took about four or five weeks to go, and during that time I didn’t bowl too well – I’ll hold my hands up and admit I haven’t bowled as well as I could in four-day cricket.

“But now I can just think about cricket, which is hard to do when you are in pain. I am glad that is all behind me and my body is used to playing again.”

Despite a solid start to the Blast, it was at Essex, where he and Liam Dawson ran through the hosts’ middle order, that he can pinpoint the moment everything seemed perfect again.

Crane used his cricket intelligence to out-think experienced all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate with two dot balls before forcing a slog which brought about his wicket.

“Earlier in the season, I don’t think I would necessarily have done that,” Crane admitted. “I have confidence again now.

“I bowled the dot and then saw him coming down the track second ball, and that shows that I am really watching the batter and focussing on the game 100 per cent.

“Third ball I knew he would come down and swing so I could throw it up. It was a really pleasing wicket for me as I felt I had really worked the batsman out.”

Crane’s upturn in fortunes also tied in with some one-to-one sessions with former Pakistan Test spinner Mushtaq Ahmed, along with mentor Raj Maru.

“I’ve worked with Mushie which was good and before that I did some stuff with Raj Maru, he is always there which is great for me,” Crane said.

“Working with Mushie was really good. We mostly worked on technical stuff, but also a bit of mental.

“We realised that I was coming to the crease with loads more energy than I had been and wasn’t spending a lot of time at the crease, so we did a few drills on that.

“It was mostly making sure my run-up was the same speed and I had enough energy to get over my front leg and finish my action to come back down.”