Caddick: a talent to be contrary

Sometime during the Second Test match Andrew Caddick will be traduced. It is a sounder bet than an Australian victory that England's longest-serving bowler will have doubt cast on his form, his length, his manner, his commitment and his heart. That is probably not an exhaustive list.

Panning Caddick for one supposed misdemeanour or another has become such standard practice that it probably features in lessons at commentators' schools. The latest to splutter into the microphone as Caddick assailed his sensibilities during the First Test at Brisbane was Jeff Thomson, the former Australia fast bowler. Next ball, Caddick took a wicket. It embodied the contrariness of the man (or maybe both men).

"It annoys me, I don't know what I'm supposed to do or what they expect me to do," Caddick said. "It's the same with all these people. I think I should be given credit and I'm not." Caddick is unquestionably sensitive to criticism, partly because he sincerely feels put upon, partly because he has had a gut full of it. If he thinks he has never been fully accepted since he was first selected by England in 1993, never quite had the lasting plaudits that are his due, it is because he is right.

What really offends his critics, the figure plucked out of the air as proof of his shortcomings by those who otherwise dismiss statistics as tosh, is the vast gulf between his first and second innings bowling returns in Tests. In first innings he has taken 127 wickets at an average of 35.53 and in second innings he has 93 at 21.49.

This is used as evidence of weakness when the pitch should be offering something to the new ball bowler, rather than strength in finishing off matches. There is no question that it is, by far, the greatest discrepancy there has been in a bowler with more than 100 Test wickets. Caddick himself is clearly weary of answering the charge.

"You can't read the match situation early on," he said. "Every bowler, even one as good as Glenn McGrath, will tell you that. On the first day the match hasn't taken shape. You're setting up the game. By the time the second innings comes round, that's happened. Cometh the hour, cometh the man."

It is typical of Caddick that it does not seem to have occurred to him that he could have shaped many more games himself by doing the necessary on the first morning. But he insisted: "If you look at the figures you'll see that my best returns have come in the first innings."

This is, strictly speaking, true, because his best two analsyses of 7 for 46 against South Africa and 6 for 63 against New Zealand, were indeed in the first innings, but it ignores the general point. However, it should never be forgotten that he has been a spectacular finisher of matches. England have won six of the seven in which Caddick has taken five or more second innings wickets.

There is no doubt that he has the propensity to get up some noses, which therefore makes it tempting to give it him in the neck. He can be infuriating. The sight of Caddick yet again frowning at the footmarks around the landing area merely provokes the thought that he ought to get on with it.

The sound of his bleating at batsmen can sometimes be plain daft. Verbal dexterity is not his bag and you want to urge him to shut up and bowl. He can be too quick to let setbacks affect him. At Brisbane on the first morning, for example, Matthew Hayden top-edged him over the head of wicketkeeper Alec Stewart and into no-man's land. Caddick did not exactly visibly wilt but there was a feeling that had the ball carried for a catch his tail would have been up and Australia might have been rocking. "Length is very important in Australia," he said. "A few inches make a difference." He could not quite admit, though, that he got his wrong.

None of this can conceal what a durable and accomplished bowler Caddick has been for England, maybe not as formidable as he could or should have been given his vast natural talent, but hardly unfulfilled. He has taken 220 wickets in 59 matches over nine years in a career which has often spanned lean times for the team.

This is also the man who can build houses (much of his own, for example), fix things (like most of his team-mates gizmos, without demur), and generally be practical. He once said that he would gain more reward from building a house than taking five Australian wickets. That is Caddy. At once, he wants to be liked and does not care if he is not. But he also needs to be told – as Nasser Hussain has told him.

Captains before this have not done well by Caddick. It looked pretty certain that Michael Atherton never thought much of him and that Caddick sensed it. As Atherton has written recently in his autobiography, that is a black mark. After Caddick dismantled the West Indies at Lord's in 2000 Atherton heard him say: "I think that Athers rates me now." Atherton goes on to concede that he always rated Caddick, but the impression (his italics) was crucial. "And if he felt I didn't rate him it would hardly have helped his confidence."

Different captains for different teams. Hussain has embraced Caddick. Maybe he has made him. Former bowlers disparage him almost casually. They suspect his ticker. Yet he would bowl all day for his team and has. There is no cheap nationalism about him (perhaps because he was born in New Zealand) and if there is a sentimental streak in him he does not reveal it.

For what it is worth, he averages more overs per Test than either Bob Willis or Ian Botham. "Bob Willis really gets to me sometimes. Look I know he was a great bowler and all that, but didn't he ever bowl a bad over? What was that somebody said to him fielding on the boundary once, that they didn't know shit could be piled that high." That is the sort of defensive remark that can sometimes characterise Caddick.

Another fault that has been thrown in Caddick's face is that he is not a natural leader of an attack, as though that should be a natural trait of anybody who can produce steepling bounce from a good length. Although he can be contradictory sometimes he admits this. It rankles him that Darren Gough of the cheeky smile got most of the attention during their partnership, but he misses him.

"It would be better if Goughie was around. Of course I miss him because we bowled in so many matches together. My role in the side has changed a bit now. Rather than just being the one to keep it quiet I'll be more of a strike bowler." He intends to continue with his policy of giving Australia in general and Matthew Hayden in particular the benefit of his advice. "Look, I go out to bat and they can't shut up, so I'm going to let them have a bit as well.

"We've cocked it up so far. But if we're a bit more honest with ourselves we can do better. We're being rubbished at every turn in the Australian papers but I can live with that. That doesn't happen at home. I feel I'm bowling OK now. It's getting there. Every day you get up now you know you're getting older. This will certainly be my last tour.

"Australia are a very good unit but as individuals they have weaknesses. We have to be at our very best every single day whereas they can probably be play at 75 or 80 per cent and still match us."

Caddick has been and is an excellent bowler. He is a misunderstood bloke: some people will not make the effort to understand him because he has a remote personality which lacks romance. But he is a loyal friend. Yes, he can be maddening all right but the balance sheet shows that he owes England nothing.