Who was the most complete fast bowler of all time?

[Harsh Thakor]

In this analysis I am not trying to evaluate the pace bowlers on merit of statistics or speed but on basis of all-round ability and skill.Took into account speed,control,accuracy,movement and creativity in a total package.

 

My most complete fast bowlers in order of merit

 

1.Wasim Akram

2.Dennis Lillee

3.Malcolm Marshall

4.Ray Lindwall

5.Andy Roberts

6.Glen Mcgrath

7.Michael Holding

8.Richard Hadlee

9.Fred Trueman

10.Alan Donald

11.Imran Khan

12.Curtly Ambrose

13.Waqar Younus

14.Mitchelle Johnson

15.Dale Steyn

16..Courtney Walsh

 

 

Very hard to separate the 1st 3 with Lillee being the most classical but Wasim and Marshall the most innnovative,like magicians. Wasim was the best exponent in the art of reverse swing with the most subtle variations in movement and bounce.Marshall was the best in utilizing the crease and creating skidding bounce and in disguising the direction he would swing the ball.In the conventional sense Lillee had even more of a repertoire than Wasim or Marshall with the best leg-cutter,outswinger and bouncer  ,with marginally more speed and control but not as resourceful on unhelpful going.I plumped for Wasim because he simply took bowling art to another dimension ,even if he lacked the consistency and agression of Lillee and Marshall.Lara and Viv thought Wasim was the hardest pacemen they ever faced.Many old  timers ranked Lille at the top like Hadlee,Chappell brothers or Richie Benaud.Both Marshall and Wasim bowled better to the tail than Lillee .Overall Lillee was the most hostile and biggest trier,Marshall the clverest and Wasim the most talented.Watch a replay of Wasim dismissing Dravid at Madras with double reverse swing at Madras and at Melbourne in 1989-90 and you will understand my analysis.Marshall at Sydney in 1988-89  or ld Trafford in 1988 and Lille at Melbourne in 1979-80 v England should also be viewed.

 

 

Andy Roberts and Ray Lindwall were a virtual shadow of Lillee being quicker and able to move the ball even more.No paceman equalled Andy's craft of having a slow and fast bouncer which bemused the very best of batsmen,while Lindwall was rated even higher than Lille by stalwarts like Fred Trueman or Tom Graveny.Andy had wider armoury than even Marshall with a very fine oustwinger,offcutter  nip-backer and slower ball .but could not equal his team mate's creativity .Lillee rated Roberts to be the most complete pace bowler of his era as well as Sunil Gavaskar or Barry Richards..Andy had the surprise element few pacemen ever did.Holding was quicker and as accurate but not as crafty or unpredictable.

 

Michael Holding surpassed every pacemen in terms of effortlesness ,perfection of bowling action and consistency of speed through the air and has to his credit test cricket's best ever over and bowling spell.On the flattest of track she could derive speed and bounce because of the poetic beauty of his action with his throat ball often unplayable.At his best he was closest to the perfect bowler able to swing the ball in and out .When steaming in he reminded you of an antelope or a ballad dancer.Proved himself on the slower Indian pitches in 1983-84 where he captured 30 wickets.Imran Khan rated Holding as the most perfect pace bowler he ever saw with Mike Procter,Neil Harvey and Ray Lindwall  rating  next to Lillee and late Len Hutton ranking the best of the Carribean pace quartet.In his 14-149  at the Oval in 1976 he took sustained speed and accuracy in pace bowing art to a height never reached just like he did in the over to Geoff Boycott at Barbados in 1981 or in his spells at Melbourne in 1981-82.

 

Glen Mcgrath was not conventionally fast  or moved the ball as much as the very best but as lethal as the greatest with his phenomenal control and bowling intelligence .He mastered an opponent's weakness more than anybody and blended every ingredient together in perfect proportion.No bowler reminded you more of the strategy of a chess player knowing exactly which delivery to bowl.where.Hadlee had as much control but not as deceptive bounce or movement.Mcgrath's bset spell at Lords in 2005 was as good as anything of even Lillee.Not at the top as he did not have such wide armoury or was as crafty as Marshall or Lillee.

 

Alan Donald was speed personified but also was a master in moving the ball and outhinking the best of batsmen.He was ferocious with his speed of lightning but equally crafty with his thunderbolt bouncers or leg cutters.Worth redaing waht cricket writer Henry Blofeld wrote about Alan Donald in a total package,who rated him in the Lilleee class.

 

 

Richard Hadlee was the epitome of bowling perfection bad the best ever on a green top.Bar Mcgrath none had as much control and in bis day at fast-medium in helpful condition she was the best of all pacemen.More clinical than Lillee,Imran or even Holding with  a classical oustwinger and as intelligent as Andy Roberts.Reminiscent of a computersied machine.Not at his best on fat tracks.

 

Imran was the pioneer of reverse swing and at his best the best fast bowler in the world.No pacemen in his time moved a ball so much at such a  sustained speed.Not as accurate as Hadlee or as fast as Jeff Thomson bit in a total package  more effective.Unlike Wasim he was not so adept in moving the ball away from the bat.

 

 

Fred Trueman had the heart of a ion and for his time came close to perforation as much as anyone.

 

Curtly Ambrose was more relentless and accurate than anyone and create more disconcerting bounce from a godo length than anyone.No paceman could rip of the flseh of batting side in asingle spell like Curtyly whose bowling resembled a thunderbolt that set nine pins rolling.On a bad wicket nonone created such tremors to the opposition but like Hadlee he did not have such an armoury to be at his best on slow wickets becoming quite predictable.Not proved himself sufficiently in the sub-continent.

 

Waqar was the fastest of his day and the best exponent of the swinging yorker.However not as versatile as Wasim

 

Mitchell Johnson at his best was as lethal as Lillee and on bouncy tracks could even surpass Dale Steyn.He brillinatky blended pace,bounce and movement like in South Africa and versus England some yaers ago.

 

Dale Steyn could reverse swing a ball at different speeds blending speeds with control and accuracy.Elective also on slow surfaces.

 

Courtney Walsh overshadowed partner Curtly Ambrose on sub continent tracks and posessed more stamina than any great fast bowler.On his day his bounce could be lethal as well as his balls that moved away.Similar to Mcgrath in terms of bowling intelligence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 4, 2020 by Harsh Thakor

[Harsh Thakor]

Please come here ICF viewers Cherish your contribution to this topic.

[zen]

Pace is a part of a fast bowler’s complete package too   .... Difficult task to pick one and have no particular preference .... Since the names of Lillee, Roberts, Marshall, etc.,  usually pop up, will go with your top  5

Edited April 4, 2020 by zen

[Jimmy Cliff]

Macko.

[Deleted_User_1]

Depends on the definition of complete or perfect. I do not think perfect is even a fair attribute, because all the bowlers had some weakness. No one had everything. 
 

In terms of completeness, given that all bowlers had some flaws, the one that had the least weakness in any area, my choice would be Malcolm Marshall. He had pace, movement, ability to generate bounce from just short of good length and the fear factor. Also had a fluid run up and open chested easy action. Obviously, he was effective and stingy with an average of 20.94.

 

In terms of completeness, he edges past McGrath because if there was one weakness McGrath had was lack of frightening pace. He never had it. But he made up for it with precision and nagging line and length and good bounce because of his height. He is still my best fast bowler of all time. He has dominated the world’s best batsman of his time, performed on all conditions, and have been clutch time and time again.

[Real McCoy]

Venky Prasad

[Straight Drive]

Marshall imo.

[Ankit_sharma03]

Ill say bond.... Poor guy didnt plày a lot due to fitness . 

[rkt.india]

Shane Bond. 

[rkt.india]

Bond is probably the greatest ODI bowler ever.

[kirkutfan]

Munaf Patel

[rkt.india]

On 4/4/2020 at 9:54 PM, Jimmy Cliff said:

Macko.

He wasn't that good in ODIs.

[Suhaan]

I found Brett Lee a very good odi bowler avg of 23

Tests,yes he was averaging 30s

[raki05]

It's debatable who was complete fast bowler of all time. But there shouldn't be any debate that all Pakistani bowlers were,is or will  either be cheater, fixer or chucker.

[rtmohanlal]

Mine will always be Ambrose....great record in  both formats, fast enough, nasty , generated good bounce,longevity,belonged to a not so great team..

On a side note I do not consider any Pakistani bowler with great stats  in the same class as some of the ATGs from other countries, especially PM kaptaan saheb who operated completely in the pre multi camera days

[maniac]

Dale Steyn. He could bowl 135ks with lime and length on a swinging pitch and suddenly on a flat surface once  reverse swing kicked in can up the pace to 150ks effortlessly.  Now that’s range. Don’t think any other bowler did that.

Closest who did that was Wasim Akram.

 

 

[rkt.india]

17 hours ago, maniac said:

Dale Steyn. He could bowl 135ks with lime and length on a swinging pitch and suddenly on a flat surface once  reverse swing kicked in can up the pace to 150ks effortlessly.  Now that’s range. Don’t think any other bowler did that.

Closest who did that was Wasim Akram.

 

 

Akram was never 150 bowler. Just didn't have the right bowling action to generate high pace. His pace was more like Ashish Nehra, both had quick arm action, quick enough around 135-145 range but never really quick someone like Steyn was.

Edited April 15, 2020 by rkt.india

[Straight Drive]

18 hours ago, raki05 said:

It's debatable who was complete fast bowler of all time. But there shouldn't be any debate that all Pakistani bowlers were,is or will  either be cheater, fixer or chucker.

Most Pakistani bowlers without home umpires and bottle caps are like most girls without makeup.

[Suhaan]

22 minutes ago, Straight Drive said:

Most Pakistani bowlers without home umpires and bottle caps are like most girls without makeup.

Yes this is true but i liked Gul,he was quite good, generous if you compare him with their recent overrated bowlers

[raki05]

Yes i never understand hyping the past especially fast bowlers when they were allows to do ball tampering blatantly there were no cameras to monitor pitches were really bad and grounds were not that well maintained as it's now where it's difficult to get wear and tear as it was earlier. If you need so much to become a great bowler i don't consider them great especially if it's pakistani. They are GOAT in cheating and exploiting loop holes in system, in spite of having so much monitoring we still find so many chuckers and cheaters with PCT .  Besides other than Aus, Wi none of the team were great to the larger part of history and more so before 90s. 90s to 2000 were most competitive era with so many great batsmens and bowlers. But for bowlers it's until 2007 onwards ICC has started putting more restrictions on chucking and ball tampering still we saw few instances where bowlers still got away with cheating. By considering all these i consider McGrath, Steyn as greatest bowlers of all time.