Richardson on straight and narrow

Kane Richardson sensed his biggest moment of his life could go nightmarishly wrong long before he stood at the top of his curved run-up and prepared to deliver his first ball in international cricket.

It was a fear that had begun to take shape from the moment the then 21-year-old was added to the national one-day squad as cover for Australia’s dwindling pace bowling stocks as the attritional summer of 2012-13 rolled into the new year.

And it spiked when, on the strength of Richardson’s strong bowling performances, handy batting and athletic outfielding in the KFC Big Bash League, he was thrown into the starting XI against Sri Lanka at his home ground in Adelaide due to fitness worries about Mitchell Starc’s calf and Mitchell Johnson’s side.

While Richardson’s ascension to international ranks caught a few by surprise, and none more so than the affable quick who was born in South Australia’s rural mid north, his notoriety had already begun to grow among the game’s umpiring fraternity.

During BBL matches it was noted by officiators and commentators alike that as a consequence of his angled approach to the crease, Richardson’s follow-through took him directly into the danger zone in front of the stumps at the bowler’s end.

And Richardson’s worst fear, that the realisation of his boyhood dream to pull on the Australian colours in front of a full house of hometown fans willing him to succeed would fall victim to this technical flaw, were realised after he had delivered just six of his allotted 10 overs that night.

South African umpire Marais Erasmus delivered his second warning to Richardson about running on the quarantined section of the pitch midway through that sixth over.

Then, when he issued a third rebuke at over’s end, it meant the crestfallen youngster was banished from the attack for the remainder of the match – which Australia went on to lose convincingly.

To crown the moment, Richardson recorded a first-ball duck in his maiden Australian batting performance.

“I was 21 so I wasn’t young, but in terms of cricket it’s still pretty young and I don’t think I was 100 per cent ready,” Richardson revealed to cricket.com.au this week.

“I just expected to be in the squad that day and to run the drinks but I remember Mitchell Johnson had a bit of a niggle in his side and they didn’t want to risk him with all the cricket coming up so all of a sudden I got told I was playing.

“And to be honest, I thought in my head it (the issue of running on the pitch) would pop up because it had in the Big Bash a couple of weeks prior.

Then chair of the national selection panel John Inverarity conceded after the match they had not intended that Richardson would play, as it was thought that Johnson would be fit enough to take his place.

That was cold comfort to Richardson who bowled tidily amid the stress and finished with 0-15 including three maidens from his six overs, and was almost as shocked by the fact that he landed the ball at all as he was to find himself in the middle of Adelaide Oval representing his country.

“In the end if you’re thinking about where you’re running in and where your feet are going you’re not thinking about where the ball is going, and then you’re in trouble,” Richardson said.

“I went through that stage.

“I only bowled six overs that night and actually feel like I bowled pretty well which is remarkable because I wasn’t thinking about where the ball was going at all.

“With all the crowd and making my debut for Australia, it was amazing that I actually hit the pitch because my mind probably wasn’t in the greatest space.

“That night was tough.”

Almost as tough as what was to follow, given he had been very publicly outed as a serial pitch invader.

Deemed too much of a risk to continue in the Bupa Sheffield Shield season with South Australia – no team wants to select a fast bowler who is then told he can’t bowl – Richardson threw himself into the remedial work he had already begun prior to making his painful international debut.

Under the guidance of the SA Cricket Association’s high performance bowling coach Rob Cassell and with input from national bowling mentor Ali de Winter, Richardson set about altering his technique while being conscious of preserving the elements that had carried him to Australian selection.

“We had to straighten him up a little bit, he was arcing in during his run-up which caused him to get down the middle of the wicket and in the danger area,” Cassell told cricket.com.au.

“The major focus for us, as simple as it sounds, was to have him run in straighter towards off stump which is easier said than done when you’ve been bowling that way ever since you were a junior.

“It’s not just a ‘click your fingers’ and you can run in straight, the simple fact of doing that changes little angles and stresses on your body so in essence it can be as simple or complicated as you want to make it.” 

Not only has Richardson adjusted his run-up and follow through to the point that he barely raised an eyebrow from umpires across all formats of the game last summer, he has proved a potent weapon for Australia A in their quadrangular one-day series in Darwin in recent weeks.

So much so that he’s returned to the Australian fold, as part of the 14-man touring party that Michael Clarke will lead into a triangular ODI series against South Africa and Zimbabwe in Harare starting later this month.

Cassell says it’s deserved reward for a young bloke – Richardson is now 23 – who has worked hard to put the setback behind him and transform a potentially negative experience into driving motivation.

“He’s come through with flying colours,” Cassell said.

“The adjustments we’ve made will actually make him a better bowler as well, so we’ve straightened him up a little bit which should help him to bowl to right handers more effectively.

“As well as just being able to keep him on the park and get him out of the danger area it’s got a lot of up side for his performance as well.”

From Richardson’s perspective, he continues to carry mixed emotions about the match that will always be his one and only debut appearance in the Australian ODI team.

But he remains hopeful that, with the benefits of wisdom and experience that are growing at a commensurate rate to his lush beard, his second coming as an international cricketer in Zimbabwe will deliver better memories as well as greater opportunities.

“You’re still representing your country and it was the first game I played for them so I enjoyed it, but it’s definitely painful to think back because that was my debut,” Richardson said.

“Any game for Australia I guess you’re not really going to regret, and I guess being just 21 at the time I didn’t really think that would be the end for me in international cricket.

“But if I was to never play again at least I played one, and that was probably my mentality.

“I think if I had waited until now who knows what could have come of it - if I didn’t play that night and slipped under the radar with the running on the wicket stuff.

“But then again, I might not have fixed the problem by now, so it’s a bit 50-50 I guess.

 “I knew that if I fixed it there was really nothing that would be stopping me from making the Australian team again provided I took wickets and stayed on the park.

“I’ve managed to keep pretty fit since then, I haven’t had a major injury and managed to take some wickets in the last couple of months so I think that pretty much got me the nod.”