Did the great fast bowlers of earlier years bowl fast consistently throughout a Test match spell?

[MechEng]

Question is not about whether they can hit 90+ mph. They absolutely can but did they maintain such speeds throughout a spell??? We may never come to know about this, but the speeds Steyn is bowling in this series puts a question in my mind whether a pacer can bowl ALL deliveries in an 8 over spell at 90 mph speeds or not. Steyn has the ability to hit very high speeds but he's been in 130's throughout the series. EDIT : I'm not criticizing any player here, Steyn is a legend and we know that. The question here is more fitness based.

[Ultimate_Game]

No bowler goes flat out all the time. Great bowlers know when to go flat out and when to keep it tight. Best example of this is Wasim Akram. The guy used to keep it tight when batsmen were set or nothing much was going on but when he sensed a chance he would suddenly go flat out as if he flipped on a switch. Steyn is the same. When a new batsman comes in or when he senses pitch do something or ball beginning to swing a bit he suddenly turns it on and most of the time induces a collapse.

[Crookbond]

Intra Spell - YES (some) Inter Spell - NO

[vvvslaxman]

Marshall never dropped his speed in chennai test during Sunny's 236 by all accounts.

[Ultimate_Game]

Marshall never dropped his speed in chennai test during Sunny's 236 by all accounts.

But we never had speed guns in those days. Everything was subjective those days and I doubt people would be able to tell difference between 130s and 140s, especially since India hardly had a fast bowler and anything from a pacer would have looked fast to Indian viewers :haha:

[Kriterion]

No bowler goes flat out all the time. Great bowlers know when to go flat out and when to keep it tight. Best example of this is Wasim Akram. The guy used to keep it tight when batsmen were set or nothing much was going on but when he sensed a chance he would suddenly go flat out as if he flipped on a switch. Steyn is the same. When a new batsman comes in or when he senses pitch do something or ball beginning to swing a bit he suddenly turns it on and most of the time induces a collapse.

Was Wasim ever an express bowler? He didn't look like one.

[CG]

Question is not about whether they can hit 90+ mph. They absolutely can but did they maintain such speeds throughout a spell??? We may never come to know about this, but the speeds Steyn is bowling in this series puts a question in my mind whether a pacer can bowl ALL deliveries in an 8 over spell at 90 mph speeds or not. Steyn has the ability to hit very high speeds but he's been in 130's throughout the series. EDIT : I'm not criticizing any player here, Steyn is a legend and we know that. The question here is more fitness based.

Steyn is near 30 so he understands his game,somebody like morkel bowls with same pace through out a day.guys who had very good stamina might have bowled at their peak pace longer.i remember some spells of flintoff in india and johnson too.

[Ultimate_Game]

Was Wasim ever an express bowler? He didn't look like one.

He could be fast when he wanted to and used to bowl in 140s.

[rkt.india]

But we never had speed guns in those days. Everything was subjective those days and I doubt people would be able to tell difference between 130s and 140s' date=' especially since India hardly had a fast bowler and anything from a pacer would have looked fast to Indian viewers :haha:[/quote'] Agree. Marshall was not the fastest, but certainly quick. Likes of Holding, Patterson, Bishop could bowl faster than Marshall.

[rkt.india]

Steyn is near 30 so he understands his game' date='somebody like morkel bowls with same pace through out a day.guys who had very good stamina might have bowled at their peak pace longer.i remember some spells of flintoff in india and johnson too.[/quote'] Steyn has an elbow/biceps issue which prevents him go all out in long spells. Johnson is a beast who can bowl same pace for 20 overs throughout the day.

[jairamesh]

Pace, pace, pace. The greatest fast bowler hardly ever bowled fast or swung. Just impeccable off stump line and length. Even in this department, Indian bowlers are lagging, even with thousands of hours of practice they can't manage to get both their line and length sorted together, always lacking in one. :facepalm:.

[rkt.india]

Pace, pace, pace. The greatest fast bowler hardly ever bowled fast or swung. Just impeccable off stump line and length. Even in this department, Indian bowlers are lagging, even with thousands of hours of practice they can't manage to get both their line and length sorted together, always lacking in one. :facepalm:.

what? You undermine McGrath's skill. Mcgrath was not a swing bowler but more than swing it is the seam which troubles the batsmen because you don't found swing every where and then McGrath was pretty quick when he first started certainly clocked 140s in 90s. He slowed down with experience. A young bowler must have enough pace to survive because he does not have the experience or skills of a McGrath because even McGrath was not the Mcgrath we know from day one in his younger days. He had worse test start than Yadav or Sreeshanth, but he got better with experience that is why you dont see Mcgrath in fastest 100 or 200 test wickets lists because he grown up with more he played rather brilliant from the start like Styen, Marshall, Lillie, Waqar were.

[jairamesh]

what? You undermine McGrath's skill. McGrath was pretty quick when he first started certainly clocked 140s. He slowed down with experience. A young bowler must have enough pace to survive because he does not have the experience. McGrath was not the Mcgrath we know from day one. He had worse test start than Yadav or Sreeshanth' date=' but he got better with experience that is why you dont see Mcgrath in fast 100 or 200 test wicket lists because he grown up with more he played.[/quote'] I am not pointing fingers at younger lot like Yadav or Aaron. But definitely at the likes of Sreesanth, Ishant, Agarkar etc. They played enough games to get consistent. And anyways all these bowlers could bowl in 140s. But any improvement in maturity (line and length) with experience was distinctively lacking. I started watching McGrath post 96 WC, and he was the same Mcgrath as he was going to be over the years. Never felt he was consistently in 140s, when Gilliespie came onto the scene, you could tell he was quicker, just my opinion.

[rkt.india]

I am not pointing fingers at younger lot like Yadav or Aaron. But definitely at the likes of Sreesanth, Ishant, Agarkar etc. They played enough games to get consistent. And anyways all these bowlers could bowl in 140s. But any improvement in maturity (line and length) with experience was distinctively lacking. I started watching McGrath post 96 WC, and he was the same Mcgrath as he was going to be over the years. Never felt he was consistently in 140s, when Gilliespie came onto the scene, you could tell he was quicker, just my opinion.

Yeah Gillespie was quicker. McGrath's biggest strength was his wrist and use of the seam and his simple repeatable action and as he was a tall guy even at 135K he used to get bounce and zip with seam movement and he was accurate as well. BTW, in first 5-6 tests, McGrath 14 or so wickets. It is a different thing that our bowlers could not improve, but not everybody can be McGrath. McGrath is in different league altogether. He is used to play with the patience of the batsmen.

[the don]

Was Wasim ever an express bowler? He didn't look like one.

this is what justin langer had to say about wasim . Now bear in mind justin langer has always rated shoaib akhtar as the fastest he has ever faced in any form of crcket . Wasim Akram was like a snake-charmer and a spitting cobra rolled into one. He almost had the pace of Shoaib but delivered his poison off fifteen meters rather than 50. He also began his run-up from behind the umpire, like he was playing a scary game of hide and seek. He would appear suddenly from behind the umpire and sling a whipping, snaking delivery that could pitch and move either way. He could bowl in-swingers and out-swingers, leg-cutters and off-cutters, bumpers and yorkers, and sometimes even reverse-swinging thunderbolts. His favourite delivery to left-handed batsmen was delivered over the wicket, moving it towards the slips, but if you started creeping across to wicket to get behind the ball he'd produce a faster in-swinger to trap you LBW. Wasim was an incredible artist with a cricket ball in his hand, and had the movie-star looks to match.' as for the OP i think all the good ones know when to push it up a notch , the two Ws used to bowl a hell of a lot quicker when the bowl was reversing , similarly steyn senses the right moment to go for the kill .

[msb1991]

what? You undermine McGrath's skill. Mcgrath was not a swing bowler but more than swing it is the seam which troubles the batsmen because you don't found swing every where and then McGrath was pretty quick when he first started certainly clocked 140s in 90s. He slowed down with experience. A young bowler must have enough pace to survive because he does not have the experience or skills of a McGrath because even McGrath was not the Mcgrath we know from day one in his younger days. He had worse test start than Yadav or Sreeshanth' date=' but he got better with experience that is why you dont see Mcgrath in fastest 100 or 200 test wickets lists because he grown up with more he played rather brilliant from the start like Styen, Marshall, Lillie, Waqar were.[/quote'] Mcgrath's start to his Test career was hardly prolonged though. By his third year, he was taking wickets very regularly. Your post also does not make any sense. You argue that a young bowler should bowl quick to succeed and then note that the young Mcgrath was not that successful.

[msb1991]

Steyn is near 30 so he understands his game' date='somebody like morkel bowls with same pace through out a day.guys who had very good stamina might have bowled at their peak pace longer.i remember some spells of flintoff in india and johnson too.[/quote'] Haha, I rarely agree with you but here, I do. Steyn really understands when it is right to bowl quick and when it is right to slow down and swing the ball. Of course, he has the advantage of getting big swing when he bowls at 80mph. Not all bowlers have such skill.

[Kriterion]

this is what justin langer had to say about wasim . Now bear in mind justin langer has always rated shoaib akhtar as the fastest he has ever faced in any form of crcket . Wasim Akram was like a snake-charmer and a spitting cobra rolled into one. He almost had the pace of Shoaib but delivered his poison off fifteen meters rather than 50. He also began his run-up from behind the umpire, like he was playing a scary game of hide and seek. He would appear suddenly from behind the umpire and sling a whipping, snaking delivery that could pitch and move either way. He could bowl in-swingers and out-swingers, leg-cutters and off-cutters, bumpers and yorkers, and sometimes even reverse-swinging thunderbolts. His favourite delivery to left-handed batsmen was delivered over the wicket, moving it towards the slips, but if you started creeping across to wicket to get behind the ball he'd produce a faster in-swinger to trap you LBW. Wasim was an incredible artist with a cricket ball in his hand, and had the movie-star looks to match.' as for the OP i think all the good ones know when to push it up a notch , the two Ws used to bowl a hell of a lot quicker when the bowl was reversing , similarly steyn senses the right moment to go for the kill .

I have a tough time believing he was as quick as Shoaib. Langer must have been comparing Shoaib's slowest spell to Wasim's quickest. Very few guys have been in the Shoaib/Lee/Tait pace bracket.

[ravishingravi]

I have a tough time believing he was as quick as Shoaib. Langer must have been comparing Shoaib's slowest spell to Wasim's quickest. Very few guys have been in the Shoaib/Lee/Tait pace bracket.

I think when you swing the ball like Wasim Akram did, anything will look quick.

[Crookbond]

Pace isn't always about mph/kmph on the meter. Some bowlers are nippy - RP Singh, Nehra from India come to my mind. They don't look threatening unless you play them. Wasim Akram was fast enough to trouble the batsmen, combine it with swing and yes he was a spitting cobra. Our obsession with statistics will never end - after the England series sit has now come down to pace stats!