Wasim Akram the most talented of all pace bowlers?

[Harsh Thakor]

This list is based only assessing the fast bowlers natural talent,or raw ability.I have rated this list assessing the paceman in terms of natural talent,in order of merit.I have left out Sydney Barnes,arguably the best bowler of all as I have found it difficult to asses him in terms of pure skill and Fred Trueman.These 2 would always make my top 10 list amongst the best pace bowlers but I cannot make an accurate assesment of them in terms of their pure skill. 1.Wasim Akram- simply a magician.Posessed more natural skill than any paceman ever and could do things with the ball that no paceman could ever do.Mike Selvey describes a delivery he bowled to Robert Croft-an equivalent of a composition or artistry traversing any boundary .Wasim mastered the art of reverse swing more than any paceman ever and could reverse swing a ball both ways.No paceman was his equal with an old ball and he had a range of deliveries unparalleled. 2.Malcolm Marshall-A master at skidding the ball and inspite of lack of height was a master in deriving movement from the wicket.His skidding bouncer was more deadly than any bouncer ever and he had an armoury of deliveries whiocjh were his very own.He could produce amazing variations of swing and changes in pace being one of the most intelligent bowlers ever. Swung the ball at an incredible speed. 3.Ray Lindwall-Technically,the best paceman of all who posessed phenomenal control and pace and ability to swing the ball both ways.Many all -time greats rate Lindwall above Lillee .-,including Denis Compton,Fred Trueman and Tom Graveney. 4.Dennis Lillee-The most complete pace bowler of all who combined his pace and control with supreme agression.A master of the leg-cutter an outswinger who delivered the goods more than any paceman when required He could be oustanding on the most docile surfaces. 5.Andy Roberts-The closest to Dennis Lillee.No West Indian paceman was as versatile as Andy Roberts.He posessed 2 bouncer -a slower one and a quicker one ,the latter often getting the opponent's wicket.In addition he had an offcutter and an outswinger.To me the most versatile West Indian paceman ever.Sunil Gavaskar and both the Chappells rate Andy the best paceman they have ever faced,while Dennis Lille rated Roberts as the bset paceman he ever saw.Imagine the best opening batsman of that time and arguably of all time ,the greatset Australian batsman after Bradman and arguably the best pace bowler ever giving Roberts that rating must be considered.Barry Richards alos included Roberts in his all time 11. 6.Michael Holding-The most aesthetic paceman of all.No paceman posessed a better action and no pace bowler was consistently as fast in the 1970's or 1980's.His bowling was simply poetry in motion and in his peak could match strides with the likes of Marshall and Lillee.His spell of 14 wickets for 157 at the Oval in 1976 is the best exhibition of pace bowling in the history of the game and his over bowling to Boycott at Kingston in 1981 is the best over bowled ever. 7.Glen Mcgrath-posessed almost all the qualities of a great bowler and arguably no paceman ever had more control.He could also attain disconcerting bounce from a good length and was a master at understanding his opponent's weakness.eg Tendulkar.No paceman ever combined such a combination of line and length with control and bounce. 8.Richard Hadlee-On a green top the most lethal of paceman who could produce prodigious swing.Posessed more control than any paceman ever with Glen Mcgrath and was the ultimate master in exploiting his opponent's weaknesses.Reminded you of a computer programmed. 9.Imran Khan-The pioneer of reverse swing and the best paceman with the old ball of his era.He could perform understandingly on flat tracks with his ability to reverse swing a ball and at his best was amongst the fastest bowlers of his time,with Holding and Thomson. 10.Joel Garner-The most accurate paceman ever who could bowl all day at the stumps.His height enabled him to create disconcerting bounce from a good length which was unplayable.His yorker was lethal.

[Crookbond]

RKT - Is Harsh Thakor in any way your long lost judwa bhai? :dontknow:

[panther]

yeh no one comes close to his control or mastery of a cricket ball, had he had a slip corden that a mcgrath or donald had 1 can imagine his stats.

[vvvslaxman]

I am predicting.. who is most talented fielder thread from Harsh? or not?

[King Tendulkar]

Poor Lohmann never gets a mention

[Prakat]

Roberts, Marshall and Holding were the best in the business. They are also why I will always buy Gavaskar a beer. No Thommo?

[Raghav_12]

Harsh Bhai.. ap kuch bolate nahin hiain.. keval post karte hain.

[Ranvir]

The most complete bowler is not always the best. At their peaks even Waqar was better than Wasim. It's like Messi vs C Ronaldo. Even though Ronaldo is more complete Messi is more effective because his main skill is so destructive.