Cricket: Jimmy the Shoe stringing more successes together

James McMillan (otago) bowls during practice at The University Oval. Photo by ODT.
James McMillan (otago) bowls during practice at The University Oval. Photo by ODT.

Durable is not a word you would normally associate with Otago fast bowler James McMillan.

The 35-year-old has had a career packed with injury frustrations, sidelined by everything from stress fractures to bung shoulders.

He has been troubled by back and foot pain.

He has had ongoing problems with hamstring strains. And he had dodgy hips which required surgery to correct when he was teenager.

You name it, chances are McMillan has had it. But he has soldiered through and is now in his 16th year of elite cricket.

Arguably the last five months have perhaps been the best of his long career.

It started at the Champions League in India in September. He needed a lot of luck just to make the Otago squad.

Had imports Brett Lee and James Fuller been available, McMillan would have remained home in Dunedin.

And had Jacob Duffy not got injured, McMillan may have had to watch from the bench.

Luck was on his side for a change and he grabbed the opportunity, impressing with every performance.

He took five wickets at an average of 21.80.

But it was his economy rate of 6.05 which stood out.

Anything around or under six an over is just exceptional in twenty20 cricket.

His frugal spells ensured Otago made a positive start with the ball every time.

While Ian Butler, Jimmy Neesham and Neil Wagner all performed with distinction at times, McMillan was the most consistent of the seamers and he has carried that form into the HRV Cup.

The right-armer is the joint-second-leading wicket-taker with 10 wickets at an average of 14.30.

His economy rate of 5.95 is nothing short of astonishing, and he got himself into the record books when he took two for eight in the eight-wicket win against Auckland at Molyneux Park late last year.

That was the most miserly four-over spell of bowling in the history of domestic twenty20 cricket in New Zealand.

But the man nicknamed Jimmy the Shoe said there was no magic formula for his recent success and he put his excellent form down to more regular game time and better workload management.

''I think the best thing is I'm stringing games together,'' McMillan said.

''In the past it has been stop-start. I'd play a game and then I'd be injured for a couple. I've always been trying to come back. But being able to string the games together has been huge.

''And the work I've done with VJ [Otago coach Vaughn Johnson] in terms of managing what I do, how much I bowl and what games I play.''

McMillan is a touch slower these days. Gone are the 145kmh-plus thunderbolts.

The run up is a lot shorter too - just 12 short steps. A shoulder bowler, he is still able to generate good pace and hurry up batsmen.

But it has been the length he has bowled recently which has troubled his opponents.

A bit of late swing has certainly helped as well.

''You have to bowl every ball really hard in twenty20 to make it difficult for the batsmen to score. If you bowl any soft deliveries, you are going to be put away. You've got 24 balls to bowl ... and every one of them has to be the best you can bowl.''

Otago plays Wellington at the University Oval this evening and a win will put the Volts in a great spot to make the playoffs.

However, the forecast is not looking promising, with rain and fresh southwesterlies predicted.

The Volts have named a squad of 14, with Sam Wells coming in for Jimmy Neesham (national duty) and Bradley Scott and Iain Robertson also added to the squad.

Wellington has added former New Zealand fast bowler Andy McKay to the 12 which had a 21-run win against Northern Districts in Mount Maunganui on Saturday.

 

 


Otago v Wellington
Uni Oval, 4.30pm

 

Otago: Hamish Rutherford, Neil Broom, Aaron Redmond, Ryan ten Doeschate, Michael Bracewell, Derek de Boorder (captain), Mark Craig, Neil Wagner, Nick Beard, Jacob Duffy, James McMillan, Sam Wells, Bradley Scott, Iain Robertson.

Wellington: Michael Papps, Michael Pollard, Stephen Murdoch, Grant Elliott, James Franklin (captain), Graham Napier, Henry Walsh, Luke Woodcock, Jeetan Patel, Dane Hutchinson, Brent Arnel, Andy McKay, Matt Taylor.


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