silentstriker Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 I figured since I created a thread for batting, I'd do the same for bowling: Who are the best fast bowlers in Test history (in order): 1. Malcolm Marshall 2. Sydney Barnes 3. Glenn McGrath 4. Curtly Ambrose 5. Dennis Lillee 6. Fred Trueman 7. Richard Hadlee 8. Imran Khan 9. Alan Donald 10. Wasim Akram [/list:23acb1ca90] Slightly different from the one I posted yesterday, as I thought about it a bit more. Link to comment
head coach Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 Re: Top ten bowlers in history You got it quite rite! All were outstanding performers and need to be in this list. I can think of many names but these are kind of on the top Walsh, Warne,Murali,Kapil all would come up for discussion I suppose. I still remember Richard Hadlee taking 5 wickets in his last test against India. Truely remarkable! Nice to see someone performing at the highest level at the time of retirement. Then we have players like Ravi Shastri who hung in the team until people threw stones at his house for his ouster from team for lack of form. Link to comment
silentstriker Posted January 31, 2007 Author Share Posted January 31, 2007 Re: Top ten bowlers in history Richard Hadlee is a very distinct case. By the end he was 39 years old, and his average was about as low as it had ever been! Quite amazing for an almost 40 year old man. The important thing was that when he first came on the scene, he was a tearaway fast bowler, and by the end he became a medium pacer but an extremely intelligent one. Here is his career bowling graph: Link to comment
silentstriker Posted January 31, 2007 Author Share Posted January 31, 2007 Re: Top ten bowlers in history You got it quite rite! All were outstanding performers and need to be in this list. I can think of many names but these are kind of on the top Walsh, Warne,Murali,Kapil all would come up for discussion I suppose. I did not include spinners because it is difficult to compare spinners to fast bowlers when doing these lists. Perhaps a separate list is in order! As for Walsh, I rate him quite highly because he was able to do it for 18 years and bowl at a good clip with great accuracy for that long. He also came to the party on flat wickets, where a lot of bowlers just give up, which I absolutely admire in a fast bowler. With that said, I'd still put West Indians such as Joel Garner, and Michael Holding ahead of him. Kapil Dev was also unique in that after his 20th test, his bowling average never went above 30, but it never went below 25 either, and due to that fact, I omitted him from the list. He would make my top 40 for performing so consistently over such a long period of time. Link to comment
gator Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 Re: Top ten bowlers in history wasim akram and top 10 bowlers in tests??????? Link to comment
MundaPakistani Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 Re: Top ten bowlers in history wasim akram and top 10 bowlers in tests??????? why? you want him in top 5? Link to comment
silentstriker Posted January 31, 2007 Author Share Posted January 31, 2007 Re: Top ten bowlers in history wasim akram and top 10 bowlers in tests??????? I would say so. His left arm seam, his ability to reverse the ball, and his great wicket taking ability was fantastic as well. In the early nineties, Waqar and Wasim in England was quite possibly the best opening partnership outside of West Indies in cricket history. Link to comment
Bumper Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 Re: Top ten bowlers in history silentstriker, u are a great addition to this board. Just incase u havent seen already, u might enjoy this thread or may be not :hic: http://www.indiancricketfans.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=2368&start=80 Link to comment
King Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 Re: Top ten bowlers in history I know this thread is just touching on the bowlers but I wanted to make couple of observations. When you guys pick the best bowlers or batters do you consider one day records at all for those players that have played good number of ODIs? I know purists just love the test matches but I think you simply cannot discard ODI records as well. It is is part of the sport and is a much more popular format of cricket among general public. Akram, Tendulkar have been stellar in ODIs and deserve to be in all the lists. Link to comment
silentstriker Posted January 31, 2007 Author Share Posted January 31, 2007 Re: Top ten bowlers in history Definitely a great thread. Though, I wouldn't have Kapil in my top 25 bowlers for the reasons I mentioned above. Link to comment
Lurker Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 Re: Top ten bowlers in history When you guys pick the best bowlers or batters do you consider one day records at all for those players that have played good number of ODIs? I know purists just love the test matches but I think you simply cannot discard ODI records as well. It is is part of the sport and is a much more popular format of cricket among general public. Akram, Tendulkar have been stellar in ODIs and deserve to be in all the lists. Agreed. Selection of players should be based on eras and not unilaterally. The art of bowling and batting has evolved tremendously. Specially with advent of one-dayers. In many ways LOI's have showcased a different side of player otherwise unknown in Test cricket. This is the area where likes of Sachin/Richards score heavily over Sunny/Border and the likes. Similar should be the case with bowlers. Bowlers of modern era(specially post 1970-80) should be judged on their overall performance and not merely Test cricket. Wasim Akram, for all his exploits, would remind a fan of his exploits in 1992 WC finals. The semis of 1999 WC semis shall come to mind when one thinks of Shane Warne. It is hard to look away from such performances. xxxx Link to comment
King Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 Re: Top ten bowlers in history Absolutely spot on Lurker. You simply can't compare the likes of Trumpers with Tendulkars. The cricketers should be compared based on eras otherwise you will have a list full of 25 cricketers since 1980s as the top 25 cricketers of all time considering the amount of cricket played since 80s. We all know that can't be true but if you go by stats the old timers usually won't stand a chance against the modern giants in terms of runs scored or wickets taken. It will end up as a futile excercise in the end. Link to comment
gator Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 Re: Top ten bowlers in history its all good.... but y do u have to hide the green, bro..... all this silent injection of pakis into the discussions..... Link to comment
Lurker Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 Re: Top ten bowlers in history I know its kind of taking attention away from the topic in hand but allow me to share my sentiments. When I first saw the picture up above today the first thought that came to my mind was - the batsman looks like a bloody gladiator today! I am not making that up. Look at the picture up above. The "daring" Dhony looks like a man with armour that would shame a Roman fighter. Forget helmet, pads, gloves and so on, see how prominent his thight guard is(it appears that he wears it on both legs). I have seen players wear chest guards, elbow guards and god knows what not. And this is not a picture on the fast bouncy tracks. Compare this with Victor Trumper's picture in full flight. And I am not even talking about uncovered pitches, new no-ball rules etc etc. How in the world can you compare the two batsmen? xxx Link to comment
shailesh Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 Re: Top ten bowlers in history good post lurker :wtg: Link to comment
Sooda Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 Re: Top ten bowlers in history HOLDING! Better than Lillee. Lillee really needed the conditions in his favour, as did Hadlee. Holding could extract real pace and bounce out of a dead wicket. Dennis Lillee is overrated. he was great no doubt, but overrated. Whats the bowling equivalent of a FTB?? Thats what (to some extent) Lillee was. Link to comment
shailesh Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Re: Top ten bowlers in history Whats the bowling equivalent of a FTB?? Thats what (to some extent) Lillee was. :lmao: Link to comment
silentstriker Posted February 1, 2007 Author Share Posted February 1, 2007 Re: Top ten bowlers in history I'd have to disagree with that. His reputation for that comes from only 3 matches that he played in Pakistan, but in those three matche, no one was successful. Remember last India-Pakistan Test series in Pakistan and the first couple tests? Thats how it was. Also, by the end of his career, Ian Chappell had way overbowled Lillee and was not the force he was in his pomp. Link to comment
silentstriker Posted February 1, 2007 Author Share Posted February 1, 2007 Re: Top ten bowlers in history its all good.... but y do u have to hide the green' date=' bro..... all this silent injection of pakistanis into the discussions.....[/quote'] Unlike you, I admire good cricketers, regardless of nationality. Yes, some of my heroes include: Hanif, Fazal, Imran and Inzamam. But they also include Gavaskar, Merchant, Kapil, Tendulkar and Dravid. I like good cricketers, I don't care if they were born in India, Pakistan or anywhere else. Link to comment
silentstriker Posted February 1, 2007 Author Share Posted February 1, 2007 Re: Top ten bowlers in history And I also like good cricket. I'd much rather have a great game where India lose, than have a boring draw out where no one wins. As long as cricket is exciting, I watch. If India beat Pakistan, I am ecstatic, but I am even more happy at watching a fantastic cricketing contest. Link to comment
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