I think it’s in your blood,” he chuckles. “Everyone wants to be fast and furious when they’re young, I suppose . Whether you’re bowling, painting or playing music, if you have some success you enjoy it. Then you try harder, you progress, you practise more , develop your skill and stay with it.
“I had a good coach, L en Bates, who was an old pro . There was a bit of nudging and prodding. A constant questioning as there should be with any coaching. We had a net at the back to stop the ball going miles when it was hit. He used to move it closer into the stumps so I couldn’t run in from so far away.”
Does English cricket embrace fast bowlers enough? “Being the fastest bowler doesn’t necessarily mean you’re the best,” says Snow. “The best bowlers over the last 50 years - Dennis Lillee , Richard Hadlee, Malcolm Marshall, Glenn McGrath - were not out-and-out fast. You’ve only got to be fast enough for a batsman to make a mistake.”