Interview with Fidel Edwards

Jack Wilson recently had the opportunity to interview Fidel Edwards. Some of the highlights include:

The rest of the interview can be read here: www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/947663.html

His role in keeping Hampshire in Division One this year can not be understated. He was immense. I am thrilled to see that he will be back again next season.

Fidel has found his place : good for him !

his countryman Roach promises Pace like Fiyah at Hobart ! 

Just looking at the question...how much influence as Brian Lara had on your career? I'd imagine you could ask that question to any cricketer around the world and they would say that Lara as had a massive impact.

A lot of people underestimate just what he did for cricket both on and off the pitch, and its nice to see that players still remember that, if sometimes the fans and pundits don't.

pwarbi , it was Lara whom pulled him out as a Net bowler and got him into the W.I. XI :

the Selection process via Regional performance were short cut ...because of Lara's influence.

Based on his county stats this year, you'd think Fidel would have made the WI team.

He would have made my XI ahead of Gabriel. Fidel ran in hard and bowled with real pace during his time with Hampshire. He left his heart out on the field every match and batsman just couldn't deal with his pace and action. Unfortunately, it seems that he is not in the selectors minds as he hasn't played international cricket for three years now.

Dillster,

Not sure how much you saw him last summer but I managed a few and I was not that impressed, compared to what I saw as a much younger man.

Not sure if he did that well or our standards in the county game is free falling.

I was fortunate enough to see three of Fidel's last four county championship matches, against Durham, Yorkshire and Notts. His performance against Notts was monumental, especially his spell in the second innings, which, for my money, was the best spell I saw in the championship all season long. He bowled with express pace and had batsman fearing for their safety. Read, Root and Broad were all dismissed in the space of seven deliveries and were made to look like schoolboys. His dominance in the four-day games is backed up by the numbers as he finished the season with the lowest strike rate (32.1) in Division One.

With that said, your point about the standards in the county game is well taken - the likes of ordinary bowlers such as Rushworth, Brooks and Magoffin continue to make hay. Furthermore, county batsman - even those in Division One - really struggle against the quicker bowlers.

Surprisingly, Fidel wasn't anywhere near as impressive or effective for Hampshire in the shorter formats of the game, which raised an eyebrow given that he was initially only signed to play in the T20 Blast and Royal London Cup.

I agree, but what I was meaning is that even the players that haven't been directly influenced by Lara in a personal way, will still have the same respect for him because if how he is respected on and off the pitch.

Ask most cricketers their top 5 players and I bet Lara will be in most of them.