Queensland Bulls quick Callum Vidler joins The Cerebral Cricketer to unpack his need for speed, what it feels like to bowl 140kph plus, and why he is always hunting poles rather than bowling safe.

From U19 World Cup glory with Australia to a breakout Sheffield Shield final for Queensland, Callum opens up about the mindset behind fast bowling, learning to compete hard without losing control, and how he uses pace as his point of difference.

In this episode we cover

- Growing up in Brisbane and discovering he could bowl genuinely fast

- School and club cricket, and the moment he realised cricket could be a career

- U19 World Cup memories, handling knockout pressure and "mind games" with batters

- Breaking into Shield cricket for Queensland and that 4 for in the Shield final

- What "hunting poles" actually means for him as a fast bowler

- Managing adrenaline, routines between balls and staying present at the top of his mark

- Dealing with an early injury setback and using rehab to come back better, not bitter

- Fast bowling role models, from Queensland greats to international quicks he studies

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Timestamps

0:00 Intro and Callum's cricket story so far

18:00 Handling drop catches, anger and extra pace

19:46 Not being greedy and the best ball plan

20:28 Simple game plan, top of off and bouncers

25:38 Fast bowling journey, never being told to slow down

27:40 Early technical tweaks and no back injuries yet

28:46 Grade cricket light bulb moment, finding extra pace

32:15 Intensity, gears and learning from Dale Steyn

33:52 Injuries, hunger and loving bowling again

34:28 Under 19 nationals and Ryan Harris as coach

35:21 Playing nationals at 17 and teammates like Hugh Weibgen

49:15 Game day fuelling and diet lessons from England

50:26 Warm up, sleep and first ball mindset

51:31 Switching on mentally without heavy meditation

52:05 Planning for batters without overloading on analysis

1:00:44 Shield final bowling plans and Andy Bichel's message

1:01:33 Beamer then beauty to remove Nathan McSweeney

1:02:26 Body language, run up tempo and staying calm in the final

1:03:02 Mindset defending 95 and staying in the moment

1:04:32 Tackling flat wickets and using pace as a point of difference

1:07:20 Under 19 World Cup selection and move to South Africa

1:08:26 Cross seam bounce, South African pitches and Aussie quicks

1:09:24 Four for vs England, cross seam and DLS twist

1:14:20 Batting with Raf McMillan to finish a chase

1:15:00 Preparing for the World Cup final vs India

1:16:25 Resetting after bad balls in a high pressure final

1:24:42 Learning from Marnus and game awareness in Shield cricket

1:25:06 Playing Shield cricket against Sam Konstas after the World Cup

1:26:33 Partial back stress fracture and missing an Australia tour

1:27:04 Injury emotions, staying around the group and Harvey Bay trip

1:28:14 Studying finance, life outside cricket and rehab runs

1:29:16 Hunger to return and not taking cricket for granted

1:35:14 Bowling when sore, being present and finding a way on tough days