Bowlers' days have gone.

[Trichromatic]

"He got a double hundred because there are no bowlers around. Gone are the days of combination of great bowler combinations - Waqar-Wasim, Srinath-Kumble, Donald-Pollock, McGrath-Warne, Ambrose-Walsh". :hmmm:

[amiret]

Sreesanth-Mishra

[Blue Panther]

For india, not for england.

[Septimius Severus]

Steyn/Morkel u mirin OP?

[Trichromatic]

Steyn/Morkel u mirin OP?

Those are not my words.

[rkt.india]

havent any batsmen got hundred or double hundred against above-mentioned bowlers?

[Jayaram_IND]

havent any batsmen got hundred or double hundred against above-mentioned bowlers?

But you had to work hard and these inns are valued more.Which hundred is more remembere Sachins 114 in perth or his 248* vs Bangladesh.

[Trichromatic]

1990-2006 was great period for test cricket. We saw many great bowlers during this period and great batsman. Almost every team had a pair of good bowlers especially pacers. Donald-Pollock, McGrath-Warne, Wasim-Waqar, Murli, Kumble-Srinath etc After the great Australian debacle, test cricket seemed be bit diluted especially after the game becoming more and more batsman friendly. While there were few batsmen with average over 50 during that period, we saw almost all batsmen averaging over 50 in later half of 2000s. Low 20 was considered good average for pacer and mid 25 for spinners, but since 2006 only Steyn averaged in 20s. While adding superior protective gears, good bats and restrictions were not enough to stop world from producing fast bowlers, recently flatter pitches and packed scheduled started crush them more than anything else. There is a good statistical analysis of fast bowling since 2006. http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/537305.html

Pace and spin in each country in Tests since Jan 2006 

Host country 	Pace 	Avg 	SR 	Spin 	Avg	SR 	Wkts ratio-Pace:Spin
South Africa 	752 	29.12 	54.0 	183 	35.43 	71.1 	4.11
New Zealand 	519 	32.11 	58.0 	198 	32.95 	75.1 	2.62
England 	987 	32.61 	58.8 	323 	36.35 	69.0 	3.05
West Indies 	458 	32.92 	63.7 	280 	34.27 	71.2 	1.64
Australia 	649 	34.01 	62.6 	205 	45.71 	84.1 	3.17
Bangladesh 	211 	35.97 	62.8 	260 	32.35 	62.8 	0.81
India 	        371 	37.83 	69.8 	351 	42.24 	83.2 	1.06
Sri Lanka 	368 	39.23 	68.8 	380 	33.81 	67.6 	0.97
Pakistan 	157 	43.36 	73.6 	88 	59.32 	107.5 	1.78

SA's high pace to spin ratio reflects their long continued drought of spinners. They are always struggled to find a good spinners. SA is only country where average of pacers in less than 30. This gives some idea about condition of fast bowling in the world. Another surprising part is that India's spin average is over 40 which shows how despite having long tradition of producing world class spinners India has struggled in this department also. Fast bowling is not the only issue they have to solve. They have to look for some good genuine spinners who can carry on this rich tradition. Very rarely pace department matches with spin department for India. Wickets ratio of almost 1 shows that pacers have contributed equally to India's success in recent past - something which doesn't happen too often. Australia and NZ which were considered best places for fast bowlers have become flatter. In Australia this can be seen as an attempt to put an end to Waugh era when tests used to end in 3 days and local cricket associations have to suffer loss. They have tried to give flatter tracks since Ponting's time so that tests can last long. NZ doesn't has fast bowling resources to take home advantage of fast tracks like they did in 2002 with India. For WI, nothing seems to going good for them. They had to see the situation like Viv Richards sand pit. Situation looked even worse during England-India series. No 1 team playing without any threatening fast bowler was a big disappointment. When Nasser Hussain was talking to Haroon Lorgat during 1st test, he asked what ICC is doing to improve quality of fast bowling in world cricket. He raised questions about the condition of fast bowling and stated many problems faced by them. At that time, Lorgat had no answer and tried to avoid the question. At that time I was thinking is the situation really this bad. Now I feel that fast bowling is in transition phase. Recently many new fast bowlers have drawn attention of world and respective selectors.

It's not surprising young Patrick Cummins' arrival in the Australian team has created a lot of interest. Genuine fast bowlers are only slightly behind swing bowling and legspin as vital factors in cricket's success. The fact that Cummins' hasty arrival has created such interest is proof of the need for genuine fast bowlers. That he's being hailed as a prospect, though he has very little prior history, is also an indication there aren't enough of his type in the game at the moment.

Cummins is not alone. Almost all countries are looking genuine fast bowlers who can create an impact in the international arena. With arrival of some new prospects in almost all teams, we can say that we will have some interesting time in future. Future of spin bowling doesn't look bright at this moment. There are very few decent spinners like Swann, Ajaml and Bhajji, but all are over 30 and there are very few young upcoming spinners who have shown some light. Bishoo is one of them. I hope that future gives us greater contests between bat and ball.

[retterimp]

i don't understand this obsession with batting. after all, what is cricket without a good contest between bat and ball? i can't believe most spectators(even non-indian) value watching a six more than a well thought out or even brutal dismissal.

[jairamesh]

The past players might be great, but hugely assisted by the curators. Today, pitch curators are under intense pressure from broadcasters and Boards to make sure the pitch ensures a 5 day match. Even some of the pitches in England barring Trent Bridge, were batting friendly made to last 5 days. If we had more pitches like the recent one in West Indies Test Series or in the SL-Aus series, then plenty of averages of both bowlers and batsman will come down. Leave the pitches uncovered (when appropriate) or else we will get more venues turn into like UAE, the cradle of double hundreds!

[Kumar]

the 00's was a terrible decade for fast bowling in comparision with the 90's, hopefully the 10's will prove to be better! (the pitches dont really aid as well)

[Clarke]

Vinay/Aravind is the next outstanding pair.