I throw the ball ninety-two miles an hour, but they hit it back just as hard.
You know, it's a different deal - throwing a football as opposed to throwing a baseball.
Obviously, there's not as much flex in a wood bat as in a metal bat, so I'm still trying to adjust to that.
All sports are continuously developing, but what they all have in common is that the speed is increasing. That's also true of tennis; the ball is getting faster and faster.
If you pick up that information, the first metre or two, the ball coming out of the hand, you can analyse what's coming.
At that speed, batsmen are almost trying to premeditate where the ball will be - they feel like they don't have time to react or move. That's the difference between bowling in the mid-80s and the mid-90s.
Hitting a baseball well, as in cricket, is a very rare skill. One of most difficult things to do in the world to do, hitting a ball coming at you at ninety miles an hour with a round bat. Wonderful to watch.
The phrase 'off with the crack of the bat', while romantic, is really meaningless, since the outfielder should be in motion long before he hears the sound of the ball meeting the bat.
I can understand the fact you don't want the ball slipping out of a pitcher's hand because someone can get hurt.
If a pitcher makes a mistake inside, I'm going to hit it.
