A series of broken fingers meant he was missing cricket, so Mousley, 20, approached a Warwickshire Academy coach with connections in Sri Lanka and asked if he could get a game. A few weeks later he left for Colombo.
Mousley has never been one to do things the usual way. A point he is now proving with his one-of-a-kind “by-product.”
Nobody in the world bowls like Mousley does. According to CricViz, he is the fastest bowler since ball tracking records began in 2006. And by miles.
“We’ll take it anyway,” he jokes.
His speed has always been part of his style. But compared to when he was younger and encouraged to slow down, now he is encouraged to push himself.
“I don’t know where he got it from,” England captain Jos Buttler said of Mousley, who was entrusted with the latter part of the West Indies innings on Sunday. “As a captain, he is unique. Everyone will see him now and then they will come up with plans. But his character is one of his greatest attributes and to bring a bit of unique ability and give us a point of difference is fantastic.”
“It started because people say players can’t play right-handed. But I don’t believe in that, I made that clear at Warwickshire and then I ended up gaining a bit of confidence. It’s a different skill, probably not outside of a traditional line. , but it’s one of those things I’ve learned.”
Dan Mousley
Mousley will be a fascinating case study in whether this is the future appearing before our eyes or a fad that will soon be understood by hitters and launched into orbit.
With T20 scores always increasing, some commentators including Sourav Ganguly have asked players to improve their skills. New challenges have to be presented to the players and Mousley is presenting one.
If you wanted to be cruel, you could argue that Mousley’s bowling is, according to traditional aesthetics, bad. In warm-ups, while other spinners beat the tea towel that has been laid out in a length, he sprays it rhythmically in different directions. The ball does not spin when released, but instead spins the fingers and throws what is more or less a standard seamer.
“Any player who is not trying to improve and diversify is an easy target,” he added.
Mousley is not a one-trick pony either, with eight first-class wickets at an average of 38.37, he is capable of bowling traditionally with a traditional skill set. But if you bowl with Andre Russell and Nicholas Pooran, pretty bowlers won’t get you very far.
In short, instead of always trying to bowl pitches that take wickets, you are trying to bowl the ball that is hardest to hit for six.
“I’m just trying to take advantage of the conditions,” says Mousley, who has played most of his T20 cricket at Edgbaston, which often has a long side and a short side. “I know I play a lot of yorkers, but I try to use dimensions and I try to use the wind as much as I can.”
Hitters have spent a lifetime honing their ability to respond to certain cues. This is why left-handed players feel faster than right-handed players because hitters don’t have the same level of muscle memory built into their body. And it is this lack of familiarity that fuels Mousley. If you put the ball in his hand and give him a ten-yard run, he’ll be a 70 mph closer that would go the distance. But three paces and around the wicket? Nobody has seen that before. The hitters are concert pianists who have been trained within an inch of their lives; Mousley asks them to play jazz.
“It all started because people say players can’t throw to right-handers,” Mousley says.
“But I don’t believe in that, I made it clear at Warwickshire that I didn’t believe in that and then I ended up gaining a bit of confidence. It all started from there. “It’s a different skill, probably not a traditional side effect, but it’s one of those things I’ve just learned to use to my advantage. It’s okay to be different as a bowler.”
And if there’s one thing Mousley’s bowling is exactly that.
