The most skilled or complete genuine right-arm fast bowlers of all time

[Harsh Thakor]

In this list I am excluding the great fast-medium pace bowlers and the great left arm fast and medium pace bowlers.I am also not making this analysis or rating with regards to statistical figures like strike rate or average but on the basis of the fast bowler's overall skill or completeness.It asseses in order of merit the fast bowlers in terms of the total package of speed,control,movement accuracy,versatility and agression.On figures Marshall .Lillee or even Imran would be ahead of Lindwall .Similarly statistically Imran khan or Alan Donald would overshadow Roberts or Holding . My best right arm genuinely fast bowlers in order of merit. 1.Ray Lindwall Although posessed a relatively low arm action with his left arm unusually coming down lower than other fast bowlers ,could produce devastating pace and movement in nay type of conditions.He could skid a cricket ball like none before Marshall and could cut and swing it at different speeds.He had an outstanding outswinger but later also developed a very crafty inswinger.Lindwall bowled on placid tracks that hardly have as much assistance as later paceman like Lillee,Holding or Andy Roberts got.He had marginally superior control,pace and movement to Lille and though his action was unorthodox it was as smooth as a Rolls Royce.Fred Trueman,Len Hutton Denis Compton ,Alan Davidson and Tom Graveney rated Lindwall as the best fast bowler they ever saw,while Harold Larwood rated Dennis Lillee as his equal.Ashley Mallet chose Lindwall above Lillee or Mrashall in his all-time xi.Lindwall bowled to stronger opponents than any pacemen.His avergae of 23.03 was remarkable for his time.I feel had be bowled in the 1970's he would have edged Lillee and Roberts or even Marshall later. 2.Malcolm Marshall No right-arm paceman could do things with a cricket ball like Malcolm Marshall.He was more adept than nay paceman in skidding a ball and disguised his deliveries more than any right-arm fast bowler.He swung the ball in and out with the same action and could be equally effective at different speeds.He was a master on flat tracks where he would deploy his shooters.Although lacking height he compensated it with his very quick arm action .I can never forget him in England in 1988 when he repeatedly blew out the Englsh top order.Also at his best in 1984-85 in Australia,particularly in the test at Adelaide.Alos devastating in India in 1983-84 when ripping off the top Indian batsmen at Kanpur and later in Kolkata.Arguably his best effort was on a slow turning track at Sydney in 1988-89.Although not classical with his open chested action or as versatile as Lille in the classical sense he posessed deliveries in his armoury which no paceman had.His bounce was more lethal than that of Lillee,Holding or Roberts.Had mastery in using the crease.Alan Border,Graham Gooch,Geoff Boycott ,Alec Stewart and Ian Healy rate Marshall as the best paceman they ever faced.Marshall had a bowling average of 20.94 as compared to Lillee's 23.92 and a strike rate of 46.7 compared to Lillee's 51.9. Marshall was like a surgeon and a magician moulded into one. 3.Dennis Lillee Posessed every component for the perfect fast bowler from pace to movement and control.The best exponent of the leg-cutter who had mastery in variations.Posessed an outstanding bouncer and could nip ball back in like nobody in his time.No paceman equalled Lillle's agression and hostility.There may have been quicker,more talented,more accurate pace bowlers but none equalled Lillee's determination to triumph against all odds.The centenary test of 1977 and the 1979-80 series in England rate a testimony to this.At his best in Kerry Packer supertests taking 79 scalps in 15 tests.Troubled Sir Viv Richards more than nay bowler of his time.Regarded as the best of all pace bowlers by Richard Hadlee,Martin Crowe,Greg Chappell,Richie Benaud,Colin Crof,Alvin Kalicharan and Ian Botham.Several experts rate Lillee the best but I feel Lillee did not posess Marshall's innovative ability on the flat sub-continent tracks or was a s lethal as Ray Lindwall at his best.On figures if you add Packer cricket Lillee could arguably be the best of all genuine quickies.He had more 31, 5 wkt.hauls and 7 -10 wicket hauls if you add Packer cricket which is significantly more than Marshall who had 22 ,5 wicket scalps and 4, 10 wicket hauls.Lillee was like a soldier and sculptor blended together. 4.Andy Roberts Almost a carbon copy of Dennis Lillee.The most versatile of all West Indian paceman in the classical sense with 2 bouncers at different speeds.Posessed mastery of the outswinger, leg-cuter and slower ball and deadly on the flattest of tracks.Single-handedly carried the brunt of the pace atack in India in 1974-75.His bouncers could be develish and in 1979-80 at Adelaide got the Chapppel brothers out in succesive deliveries with his disconcerting bounce.Holding was quicker but did not posess as much of a repertoire as Roberts had in his armoury.In terms of pure craft he was the equal of Dennis Lillee.Sunil Gavaskar,Ian and Greg Chappell,Dennis Lillee and Mushtaq Muhammad rate Andy as the best fast bowler they ever faced.Dennis Lillee thought Roberts was the best pace bowler he ever saw. 5.Freddie Trueman The most complete genuine English pace bowler of all time who could swing the ball in an out at great pace.Geoff Boycott described how Waqar Younus could not at blistering speed swing the ball out like Freddie. Quoting cricinfo:A classical easy action, a mop of unruly jet-black hair and a menacing scowl were the trademarks of Freddie Trueman, the Yorkshire fast bowler who was the first man from any country to take 300 Test wickets, a landmark he reached at The Oval in 1964. Since then many have gone past his overall figure of 307, but few have matched his average (21.57) and strike rate (a wicket every 49 balls). Trueman's tally might have been nearer 400 if he hadn't missed numerous matches and tours because of various disciplinary breaches, some true, some imagined - he was once hauled before the Yorkshire committee for some misdemeanour, and escaped punishment by pointing out that he was 200 miles away playing for England at the time. But on his day Trueman was fast and frightening: in his first Test series, in 1952, he helped reduce India to 0 for 4 on his debut, and took 8 for 31 - the best Test bowling figures by a genuinely fast bowler at the time - in the third match. In the second half of the '50s he formed an incisive new-ball pairing with Brian Statham, the legendarily accurate loose-limbed Lancastrian, who raced him neck-and-neck to the 250-wicket mark. By then "Fiery Fred" had great control of swing, and had some claim to being, as he only half-jokingly suggested to John Arlott as the title of his planned biography, "T'Greatest Fast Bowler Who Ever Drew Breath". 6.Michael Holding Np paceman ever posessed a more rhythymic or smoother action or obtained as much speed through the air.Unlike other great paceman Holding glided in to deliver his ball with the grace of a bird flying.At his peak era he was consistently faster than anyone including Jeff Thomson.The ball would strike a batsman like lightning but still look like the ripple of water in a stream.Holding's 14-149 at the Oval in 1976 is the greatest exhibition of sustained fast bowling ever seen in test cricket while his over to Geoff Boycott at Kingston in 1980-81 is the best by any pace bowler ever.Holding was like a technician and poet moulded into one posessing the gift of the divine.From and out and out quickie he learnt to swing the ball both ways with a shortened run-up and in 1981-82 in Australia bowled arguably better than any overseas pace bowler ever.Few sights were more majestic in cricket than Holding bowling.At his best he could have been the best of a Carribean paceman but was often beset by injuries.Although he was capable of doing everything with the ball from swinging to cutting it did not work as hard on his bowling like Lillee or Roberts.Consistently Roberts was more lethal. 7.Imran Khan Imran pioneered the art of reverse-swing and was deadly on the flat sub-continent tracks.He worked very hard to develop his pace and inswinger and in the early 1980's was the most complete pace bowler in the world In 1982-83 no fast bowler combined pace with such devastating swing.Imran may not have been as complete as Lillee or Roberts but with the old ball he was arguably the best pace bowler.His thunderbolt inswingers were a menace for the best Indian batsmen in Pakistan in 1982-83.Imran did not have as developed an outswinger or leg-cutter like Lillee or Roberts or was as accurate as Joel Garner but from 1981-83 before his injury wasthe best fast bowler in the world.Also brilliant in West Indies in 1988.Richard Hadlee was marginally better in 1980-88 overall but still lacked Imran's agression. 8.Curtly Ambrose On a bowler friendly pitch or a broken wicket to me the best of all fast bowlers .No paceman could be better in a 4th innings in rolling down batsmen like 9 pins.At Perth in 1992-93 and at Trinidad v England in 1994 Ambrose bowled spells that maybe even Marshall and Lillee have not equalled.His disconcerting bounce was a more daunting propostion on bad wickets than the guile of Wasim Akram or the skill of Marshall.Ambrose was a connoction of the pace of Holding the craft of Roberts and the accuracy of Garner.No paceman ever was as relentless.Close to the best new ball bowler ever.However he lacked the versatlity of the best paceman on flat,docile tracks like Wasim Akram or Malcolm Marshall. 9.Harold Larwood Devastatingly fast in the body-line series.Unfortunately he was victimized.Took 33 wickets and in a longer career could have been an equal of Truemna or Lillee. Quoting cricinfo:Around 5ft 8ins, but strongly-built with wide shoulders and long arms, he had a smooth, rhythmic approach and a high arm action. His speed was truly exceptional, and because of his lack of height, his bouncer tended to skid, veering into the ribs rather than wastefully over the head. The schoolboy Ray Lindwall drew upon this action after watching through the pickets at the SCG in 1932-33. In more recent times, the Pakistan express bowler Waqar Younis has had much of Larwood's movement about his run-up and delivery. Larwood's stock ball snapped in from the off, and in days when leg-before dismissals could be granted only from balls that pitched between wicket and wicket, he was denied many a dismissal that would have been given to succeeding generations of bowlers. 10.Alan Donald Posessed lightning pace combined with supreme craft.More versatility than Dale Steyn . 11.Waqar Younus The best ever right arm paceman at tailenders who at his peak could join the 5 fastest bowlers of all time.Posessed the best swinging yorker of any genuine quicker and combined blistering pace with phenomenal movement.When he lost his pace he could not compensate it with variations like Wasim Akram. 12.Dale Steyn A master in the modern era whose pace can be lethal and can deploy variations to good use.However in my opinion not as intelligent or versatile as Roberts ,Lindwall or even Alan Donald.At his best very close to the top but often lets the batsmna get on top of hi.Too much T-20 and One day cricket has perhaps prevented Steyn from doing full justice to his talent.Also the conditins today are unfavourable to fast bowling. 13.Courtney Walsh A bowling metronome with stamina no genuine quickie ever posessed.As Intelligent as Roberts or Holding who could create prodigious movement on flat sub-continent tracks.The angles at which he bowled would be a thorn in the flesh of the best batsman in addition to the late bounce and subtle changes in pace.At his bset in India in 1987-88 and in 1994-95.At his best his bounce could be lethal as well as his deceptive movement.On flat tracks perhaps could be more challenging than Ambrose. 14.John Snow Combined great pace with most technical control and movement. 15.Jeff Thomson At his best the fastest paceman of them all with Shoaib Akhtar..He created steep bounce from a good length which was unplayable.Did not have the repertoire in his armoury to compensate the speed he lost in the late 1970's

[kruiser]

Of all the bowlers I have seen, Walsh and Ambrose stand out. I dont know why Steyn is so hyped.. maybe there are no other good bowlers? he literally crumbles under pressure.. i would not count him as a great bowler.

[Vijy]

Thomson should be nowhere in this list - most of WI's pace brigade in this era were fast (not as fast as him, but still genuine pace) and better than him. Bond should have been there if not for injuries. Btw, Lindwall was closer to fast medium... it's known that Miller outpaced him when he chose to.

[Gollum]

If you are talking about complete fast bowlers Steyn should be nowhere on the list. He just cannot bowl the inswinger to the RHB. Also struggles big time against lefties.

[Vijy]

I forgot to mention that Imran Khan can also not be seen as express pace. Several other genuine pacers merit a mention: they may not be "complete", but they were darned good at what they did - Garner, Croft, Bond, etc from the 1980s onwards. If one goes backwards in time, Typhoon Tyson, etc emerge who were all deadly fast and had excellent avgs, etc. to boot. As I noted earlier, such bowlers may not be labelled "complete" but it didn't matter since they were so exceptional at what they did... and could blow away teams in the process.

[The Dark Horse]

No Bond?

[rkt.india]

Of all the bowlers I have seen' date=' Walsh and Ambrose stand out. I dont know why Steyn is so hyped.. maybe there are no other good bowlers? he literally crumbles under pressure.. i would not count him as a great bowler.[/quote'] Steyn isn't a great, hahaha.

[gazza]

Bond was awesome. And had it all but such a short career unfortunately, no hadlee?

[gazza]

Steyn statistically is a great but he doesn't give off the feeling like past greats.

[gazza]

Thomson should be nowhere in this list - most of WI's pace brigade in this era were fast (not as fast as him, but still genuine pace) and better than him. Bond should have been there if not for injuries. Btw, Lindwall was closer to fast medium... it's known that Miller outpaced him when he chose to.

Miller was faster, when he wanted to be. Miller is underrated imo, bowling stats comparable to lindwall but barely gets a mention in fast bowler discussions.

[rkt.india]

Steyn statistically is a great but he doesn't give off the feeling like past greats.

Its just a perception because of the kind of cricket is played these days. Ask any batsman who faces him. Cricket has changed a lot. No batsman really have that fear for any bowler. Even those past greats wouldn't have found it easy in this era. See what Akram says how bowling is so difficult these days.

[Vijy]

Bond was awesome. And had it all but such a short career unfortunately' date=' no hadlee?[/quote'] Hadlee was genuine fast-medium (not fast)... probably one of the best ever in this category.

[adi B]

Easily dale steyn when it comes to skills

[gazza]

Hadlee was genuine fast-medium (not fast)... probably one of the best ever in this category.

He was genuine fast when he was younger but decided to focus more on other things, I guess he got more of his success bowling slower but was still around 140+, not express, but that's genuine fast for me. Once you start saying 145+ or 150+ is genuine fast then you're really narrowing it down to a lot fewer pacers, Walsh for example was fast medium for a lot of his career, but when he was younger was genuinely fast.

[rkt.india]

He was genuine fast when he was younger but decided to focus more on other things, I guess he got more of his success bowling slower but was still around 140+, not express, but that's genuine fast for me. Once you start saying 145+ or 150+ is genuine fast then you're really narrowing it down to a lot fewer pacers, Walsh for example was fast medium for a lot of his career, but when he was younger was genuinely fast.

Hadlee and Walsh both were in James Anderson kind of pace bracket. Walsh might be even slower.

[gazza]

Hadlee and Walsh both were in James Anderson kind of pace bracket. Walsh might be even slower.

If Walsh can be in the list no reason why hadlee can't, if pace is a measure of why these guys are in the list...hadlee was a tear away when he was young.

[MechEng]

Ambrose bowled only off cutters with the odd ball holding it's line, his main weapon was the bounce he got on good-full length area.

[MechEng]

But I must say that Andy Roberts was easily the most complete fast bowler of all time. By the way, John Snow was a left arm quick.

[rkt.india]

If Walsh can be in the list no reason why hadlee can't' date=' if pace is a measure of why these guys are in the list...hadlee was a tear away when he was young.[/quote'] Hadlee was one of the lowest in that 1979 fast bowling competition.

[rkt.india]

But I must say that Andy Roberts was easily the most complete fast bowler of all time. By the way, John Snow was a left arm quick.

John Snow was right arm.