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Wasim Akram - genuine fast or fast -medium?


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I have been watching Wasim since 1999' date=' and he never was a 140+ bowler all that while. He was more of Junaid Khan's pace from what I remember. A steady 135-138 bowler who would keep bowling in 140s every now and then.[/quote']Wasim in mid 80s was terrifyingly quick. There was a time he was quicker than Marshall as well. jVTlfuD5l7I
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Probably true for Thommo and Lillee - both were past their peaks. But other bowlers like Imran' date=' Holding etc were at or near their peaks during this time. There is reason to believe that peak speed ratings may be true, because it is a one time thing. But average speeds exaggerations are easy to identify. For example, claims of old bowlers hitting 95mph consistently are probably bogus.[/quote'] they were measuring speeds AFTER THE BALL had bounced and was close to the wicket. They WERE NOT measuring speeds like they do today when the ball is released from the hand. So you can add another 10kph to their speeds, if not more.
no sane person is going to say Holding is bowling under 140 kph in that video. He is likely hitting 145 and maybe even more.
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they were measuring speeds AFTER THE BALL had bounced and was close to the wicket. They WERE NOT measuring speeds like they do today when the ball is released from the hand. So you can add another 10kph to their speeds, if not more.
no sane person is going to say Holding is bowling under 140 kph in that video. He is likely hitting 145 and maybe even more.
The measuring device is parallel and close to the bowling crease - see this image. The speeds were measured out of the bowler's hands only. Anyway if this were the case, the bowlers would be trying to bowl full and not bowl short pitch deliveries which would show slower speeds if speeds were measured close to the wicket. But in the competition most bowlers are seen bowling short pitch deliveries. Why? If I were the bowler taking part in the competition and I knew that the speeds are measured near the wicket I would be bowling yorkers and full tosses to maximize my chances of winning. But you don't see bowlers using that tactic here.
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The measuring device is parallel and close to the bowling crease - see this image. The speeds were measured out of the bowler's hands only. Anyway if this were the case, the bowlers would be trying to bowl full and not bowl short pitch deliveries which would show slower speeds if speeds were measured close to the wicket. But in the competition most bowlers are seen bowling short pitch deliveries. Why? If I were the bowler taking part in the competition and I knew that the speeds are measured near the wicket I would be bowling yorkers and full tosses to maximize my chances of winning. But you don't see bowlers using that tactic here.
Perhaps because they did not know about the concept of speed being measured out of the bowlers hand Just watch that video of Holding, Do u honestly think that he was bowling in the 130's?
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they were measuring speeds AFTER THE BALL had bounced and was close to the wicket. They WERE NOT measuring speeds like they do today when the ball is released from the hand. So you can add another 10kph to their speeds, if not more.
no sane person is going to say Holding is bowling under 140 kph in that video. He is likely hitting 145 and maybe even more.
The speeds in the 1979 competition were measured from the release point in the hand. Look at this report: http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283875.html There it shows Thomson bowling 160+ km/h in 1975. Obviously that was measured from when the ball was released from the hand. So if they had speed guns measuring it from the hand in 1975, obviously they used it in 1979.
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The speeds in the 1979 competition were measured from the release point in the hand. Look at this report: http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283875.html There it shows Thomson bowling 160+ km/h in 1975. Obviously that was measured from when the ball was released from the hand. So if they had speed guns measuring it from the hand in 1975, obviously they used it in 1979.
Not necessarily. Just because they were measured from the hand in 75 does not mean they were measured in 79. Although i could be wrong.
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Not necessarily. Just because they were measured from the hand in 75 does not mean they were measured in 79. Although i could be wrong.
That's possible. However it is unlikely that someone like Thomson bowled in the 140 km/h range in the 1979 competition if it wasn't measured from the release point in the 1979 competition. That would mean he was bowling much higher if it was measured from the release point which is very unlikely considering his injury.
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even after his injury, its possible that he could bowl short spells at very high pace Shane Bond, for example had multiple injuries, but even at 34, he could still generate extreme pace although i doibt he could maintain as consistently as in his prime. What makes me skeptical of the speed being measured out of the hand is watching videos of Holding. Look at that video of Holding i posted above and compare it to a video of someone like Mcgrath, another tall bowler like Holding. Notice the difference in speed, i find it very very hard to believe that Holding was bowling in the 130's in that video, it seems much quicker than that to me. I wish there was a way to verify that.

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even after his injury, its possible that he could bowl short spells at very high pace Shane Bond, for example had multiple injuries, but even at 34, he could still generate extreme pace although i doibt he could maintain as consistently as in his prime. What makes me skeptical of the speed being measured out of the hand is watching videos of Holding. Look at that video of Holding i posted above and compare it to a video of someone like Mcgrath, another tall bowler like Holding. Notice the difference in speed, i find it very very hard to believe that Holding was bowling in the 130's in that video, it seems much quicker than that to me. I wish there was a way to verify that.
According to Tony Cozier, Thomson’s spell at Barbados in 1978 was the fastest he was ever seen. Many other people also report the spell’s speeds to be in the 150 km/h range. All of this was after his injury after in 1976. So it is certainly possible that in 1979 Thomson could have been able to bowl much faster than in the 140km/h range.
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The measuring device is parallel and close to the bowling crease - see this image. The speeds were measured out of the bowler's hands only. Anyway if this were the case, the bowlers would be trying to bowl full and not bowl short pitch deliveries which would show slower speeds if speeds were measured close to the wicket. But in the competition most bowlers are seen bowling short pitch deliveries. Why? If I were the bowler taking part in the competition and I knew that the speeds are measured near the wicket I would be bowling yorkers and full tosses to maximize my chances of winning. But you don't see bowlers using that tactic here.
Because Aussies cheated. Thommo knew by bowling full tosses he will register higher speeds, but others did not know that. Probably it's thye short ball which has most speed, but the horizontal component of velocity on such deliveries a lower than a fulltoss which may be little slower.
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they were measuring speeds AFTER THE BALL had bounced and was close to the wicket. They WERE NOT measuring speeds like they do today when the ball is released from the hand. So you can add another 10kph to their speeds, if not more.
no sane person is going to say Holding is bowling under 140 kph in that video. He is likely hitting 145 and maybe even more.
Then Thommo must be bowling 155-160 Kph while he himself admitted that he had lost pace by then due to injury. It is also difficult to judge how correct those methods were.
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they were measuring speeds AFTER THE BALL had bounced and was close to the wicket. They WERE NOT measuring speeds like they do today when the ball is released from the hand. So you can add another 10kph to their speeds, if not more.
no sane person is going to say Holding is bowling under 140 kph in that video. He is likely hitting 145 and maybe even more.
he looks around 140. He is tall so getting bounce.
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The speeds are considerably exaggerated here. The fast bowling competition in 1979 brought out the following facts: Eight balls were bowled by each bowler in that competition. The speeds were Thomson fastest 147.9kph average 142 Holding fastest 141.3kph average 135.3 Imran fastest 139.7 average 138.3 Croft fastest 139.2 average 134.7 Roberts fastest 138.6 average 135.3 This was a competition where the bowler can go at full throttle without worrying that he would be smashed by the batsman. Yet the average speeds don't indicate anything like 90mph, much less 95mph. Imagine how tougher it would be to these maintain average speeds in a test match where you have to bowl much longer spells.
Measuring method was different in fast bowling competitions . In 1998 Devon malcom was measured fastest. at 141.6 in fast bowling competition .Even Vinay Kumar has hit 145 few times on TV.
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Batsmen played without helmets back then. Even 125kph bowlers must have looked dangerous when you are playing without enough protection. If old bowlers had really bowled 95mph against batsmen without good protection' date=' there would be quite a few deaths in cricket. Which we know isn't true.[/quote'] Many bowlers in 2000s bowled 95mph . There was no reason to believe that bowlers in 70s were not capable of doing that. It is not like we are going some evolution where throwing speed increased 10-15 kmph in 30 years
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Many bowlers in 2000s bowled 95mph . There was no reason to believe that bowlers in 70s were not capable of doing that. It is not like we are going some evolution where throwing speed increased 10-15 kmph in 30 years
bowling an odd delivery at 95 mph is right but not consistently. Consistently means averaging 95 mph which people hype about. Such bowlers are very rare. A Brett Lee and Akhtar at their peak did but not every game, in a few spells, not over a match. 95 mph means about 152 KPH and we have only 2 such bowlers who could maintain that pace at least for an over since we have started seeing speed guns and people claim so many bowlers were clocking 95 mph at the same time. Shaun Tait did it at times too but he didn't last long. There is no bowler right now who can maintain that pace even for 6 balls.
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bowling an odd delivery at 95 mph is right but not consistently. Consistently means averaging 95 mph which people hype about. Such bowlers are very rare. A Brett Lee and Akhtar at their peak did but not every game' date=' in a few spells, not over a match. 95 mph means about 152 KPH and we have only 2 such bowlers who could maintain that pace at least for an over since we have started seeing speed guns and people claim so many bowlers were clocking 95 mph at the same time. Shaun Tait did it at times too but he didn't last long. There is no bowler right now who can maintain that pace even for 6 balls.[/quote'] Before 1990, Wasim had a bowling action which was exactly the same as that of Mitchell Johnson - side on and slingy, with that action you can generate high pace. But from 1992 World Cup onwards, Wasim changed his action to chest on and whippy/jerky action. So I doubt whether he went past 140 mark too often after changing his action. It is almost impossible to bowl express pace with a chest on action. Flintoff was the only bowler who could bowl express pace with a chest on action, but that was because he was physically very strong.
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he looks around 140. He is tall so getting bounce.
he looks in the high 140's to me. I know about his height but compare that to say a Mcgrath and notice the difference. It doesn't look like 140 to me. I also agree that very few bowlers were consistently 95 mph plus. Even Lee and Akhtar weren't always consistently bowling that pace. There were definately overs where they were in the mid to high 140's rather than at 150 plus. But i also think that there is a tendency to underrate some of the past greats, just like there is a tendency to overrate them. IMO Akhtar, Lee and Thompson were probably the 3 quickest of the past four decades. But the likes of Holding, Imran, etc were in the next league, round about 90 mph or even slightly higher. Tier 1, IMHO in terms of speed: Akhtar, Lee, Thompson Tier 2, = Donald, Waqar, Holding, Imran, Bond etc
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