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Who was the most lethal of the express pace fast bowlers and not just genuine pace?


Who was the most lethal of the express pace fast bowlers and not just genuine pace?  

28 members have voted

  1. 1. Who was the most lethal of the express pace fast bowlers and not just genuine pace?

    • Sylvester Clarke
      0
    • Michael Holding
    • Mitchelle Johnson
      0
    • Alan Donald
    • Waqar Younus
    • Shoaib Akhtar
    • Shane Bond
    • Patrick Paterson
    • Jeff Thomson
    • Harold Laarwood
    • Dale Steyn
    • Mitchelle Stark
      0
    • Shaun Tait
      0
    • Brett Lee
      0
    • Andy Roberts


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This is my list in order of merit of the pace bowlers who were not just genuinely fast but express pace.In my view the likes of Lillee,Roberts,Wasim,Ambrose,Imran,Marshall,Garner may have just missed the cut in the express pace category even if they were better than almost all of those who attained express speed.I agree Marshall and Roberts at their quickest may have reached close to 160 but consistently to me they were not express quick as Waqar,Thommo,Holding or Paterson.


Most lethal express pace bowlers in order.

1.Michael Holding
2.Jeff Thomson
3.Alan Donald
4.Waqar Younus
5.Shoaib Akhtar
6.Patrick Paterson
7.Sylvester Clarke
8.Mitchel Johnson
9.Harold Larwoood
10.Brett Lee.


It was neck to neck between Holding and Thomson but I chose Mikey because of his more consistent speed through the air and greater abilty to seam or move the ball.To me none was a consistently fast as Holding or posessed as perfect an action.Thomson caused the greatest terror at his best with the ball that exploded disconcertingly from a good length to rattle the batsmen .However he did not posess the control or movement of the greatest pacemen.Still no pace bowler was meaner or as intimidating

.Alan Donald and Waqar both had lightning pace but I felt Donald was the more acurate and intelligent even if Waqar was a fraction quicker and moved the ball more.I can never forget some of Donald's senstaional breakthroughs in England and the subcontinent while Waqar was the best ever exponent of the swinging yorker.


Shoaib Akhtar was the quickest bowler ever in the history of the game who for sheer pace could rip through the upholstery or ribcage of any great batsmen.I can never forget his dismissals of Tendulkar and Dravid or his best bowing in New Zealand and Australia.Sadly he never blended his astonishing speed with sufficient control or movement though there were days when he created reverse swing at astonishing heights.

Patrick Paterson was an epitome of terror in the late 1980's ripping through the flesh of many a batting line up,even in India.At his quickest he was more hostile than even Marshall or Ambrose.

Sylvester Clarke was the quickest of them all and was a terror in Pakistan in 1980 or in India in 1978-79.Sadly he had too much competition and could never do adequate justice to his complete reserves of talent.

Mitchel Johnson at his best took pace bowling prowess to regions of the sublime .blending pace,bounce and movement as few quickies ever did like in South Africa in 2014 and in the home Ashes series.

Harold Larwood took lethality in pace bowling to its zenith in the bodyline series.

Brett Lee was the perfect foil for Mcgrath and Warne able to blast out any batting side on his day.

Edited by Harsh Thakor
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34 minutes ago, Harsh Thakor said:

Check his bowling speed.Faster than even Shoaib Akhtar at quickest by a whisker.

He was express for the first 3 yrs of his career. Just an odd delivery here and there doesnt count as genuine pace. And No, he wasnt as fast as Shoaib at any point of his career.

 

I also wont add Mitchell Johnson to the deadly bowlers list. He was quick, but not always. As a bowler, I would place him above Gillespie, but not as an ATG.

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19 minutes ago, maniac said:

Donald from 1992-1997 was as quick as any. Infact for that period there wasn’t anyone faster than him in world cricket.

 

 

Agreed Close to the very quickest of all time and more elective than Waqar.Great variation and intelligence-almost the equal of Holding.

Edited by Harsh Thakor
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23 minutes ago, maniac said:

Donald from 1992-1997 was as quick as any.

 

There is no evidence of him bowling at the speed of Akhtar or Lee.

 

There were no true express bowlers in the world between 1992 and 1997.

 

 

23 minutes ago, maniac said:

Infact for that period there wasn’t anyone faster than him in world cricket.

 

Srinath was quicker than him in 1996-97.

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12 minutes ago, Harsh Thakor said:

Agreed Close to the very quickest of all time and more elective than Waqar.Great variation and intelligence-almost the equal of Holding.

To be fair Waqar over relied on reverse swing but benefit of doubt because of the pitches he played on compared to Donald who got juicy pitches most times .
 

However if you followed the 96 ind-sa series there were some spells from Srinath that were as lethal and unplayable.

 

But yeah during that time line if you look at the bowlers from other countries, Donald was comfortably the quickest.

 

Australia- Mcgrath,McDermott,Fleming and young Gillespie 

 

England and Nzl- A bunch of swing and seam bowlers like Cork,Gough( was relatively quick but 140ks max), Dion Nash,Doull etc

 

WI- Walsh,Ambrose and Bishop after the back injury.

 

Pak- 2 Ws and Aaquib 

 

India- Srinath,Prasad

 

SL- Vaas 

 

Zim- Streak

 

Donald was head and shoulders above the rest in terms of speed. Waqar and Srinath in some spells came close but he was the quickest on an average by some

margin

Edited by maniac
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1 minute ago, express bowling said:

 

There is no evidence of him bowling at the speed of Akhtar or Lee.

 

There were no true express bowlers in the world between 1992 and 1997.

 

 

 

Srinath was quicker than him in 1996-97.

No. Srinath had a few spells yes but on an average Donald was faster and probably Waqar until maybe 94-95

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@express bowling bhai If you pigeon hole freak  bowlers like Akthar and Lee or even guys like Tait, you will never find anyone express.

 

A guy bowling 145- 150s on an average with skills is an express bowler in my book. I would rate Donald as faster and dangerous than say someone one dimensional like Tait 

Edited by maniac
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Just now, express bowling said:

There was no way to gauge average speeds across matches till 1998.

Sure but if you look at lethal and dangerous spells Donald tops the charts. He beat guys like Sachin and Lara with sheer pace and legitimately hurt batsmen over an extended period of time. He clearly wasn’t a 135ks bowler.

 

I remember a spell of his in Aus where he just ran through their lineup including guys like Waugh bros and ponting with sheer pace.

 

Remember him in the titan cup in India where he ran through India and Aus in some spells on 90s Indian odi tracks

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