Did Wasim Akram's test match bowling statistics do him true justice?

[Harsh Thakor]

Wasim Akram to me was fast bowling's equivalent of a magician.He could do things with a cricket ball which no pace bowler could ever do.Wasim was like a surgeon,sculptor and poet moulded into one.There have been quicker,more accurate.Wasim Akram posessed the total package of the complete fast bowler.Wasim was the equivalent of a magician to fast bowling.At his best he reminded one of a musical composer with his extraordinary innovations of reverse swing.He could do things with a cricket ball that no pace bowler could ever do.He could bowl six different deliveries in an over. Yet if we meticuluosly study his figures in terms of bowling average,strike rate or aggregate of wickets captured,top order wickets captured Wasim is by some margin behind Malcolm Marshall,Richard Hadlee,Glen Mcgrath and Dale Steyn and marginally overshadowed by Dennis Lillee,Imran Khan and Curtly Amrose.Ambrose has a significantly better bowling average,Lillee a better strike rate and Imran a better record in his peak.Wasim's best figures have also hardly matched upto the best of Hadlle,Mcgrath,Lillee,Ambrose and Imran.414 wickets in 104 tests with a strike rate of 54.6 and best figures of 7-119 do not rank him at the very top. To me had Wasim done full justice to his potential he should have had figures of the equivalent the legendary Sydney Barnes had in his era or been the 'Bradman' of fast bowling.No paceman posessed Wasim's creative genius who was the equivalent of a Michelangelo or Rembrandt to fast bowling.Wasim had deliveries in his armoury which greats like Marshall or Lillee did not have.He could bowl more unplayable deliveries or capture wickets with them than nay other pace bowler.Alan Donlad rated Wasim as the most complete fast bowler he ever saw.Was it lack of temperament that let him down statistically?Did he not try had enough as other great fast bowlers?Did his diabetes affect him?Did the continuous setbacks and politics of Pakistani cricket affect him?I think Wasim would have had a better record had he bowled for teams like West Indies and Australia in the 1970's and 80's .He was often let down by slip catchers.Perhaps the test statistics that did justice to Wasim were about 500 wickets at an average of around 20.5 and a strike rate around 44 balls per wicket.Hypothetically had Wasim played for a team like Australia in the 1990's he may have had figures close to those.At his best he could have been a terror on the tracks which Ambrose and Mcgrath bowled on their home pitches of West Indies and Australia.Perhaps Wasim was not sufficiently supported by his team's batsman at his peak while Imran was supported more by his team's batsmen.Maybe bowling with a great like Waqar cost Wasim more scalps and better best figures. Wasim to me is the equivalent of the West Indian maestro Rohan Kanhai to bowling On his day Kanhai could surpass even Bradmam,posessing more prowess for batting and natural genius than any batsmen ever.Kanhai averaged 47.53 but if he did not throw his wicket away could have averaged 87 according to John Woodcock. Below I am in parts showing how stats did not do justice to Wasim's ability. Best figures Curtly Ambrose has 2 -7 or more wicket hauls.They are 8-45 v England at Barbados in 1990 and 7-26 in Perth in 1992-93. Imran's best figures have been-8,58,8-60,7-40,7-52 and 7-80- 5 -7 or more wjkt.hauls Dennis Lillee -adding packer supertests and games against rest of the world had best figures of 8-29,7-23,7,83 and 7-89 Glen Mcgrath's best have been -8-24 and 8-38. Richard Hadlee's best has been -9-52 and 7-23. Kapil Dev's best has been 9-83,8-85,8,120,7-56 - 4-7 or more wkt hauls Malcolm Marshall's bset is 7-22 and 7-53. Wasim Akram's best has been 7-119-only 1-7 wicket haul. Ambrose.Mcgrath and particularly Imran have better best figures. Most 5 and 10 wicket hauls 1.Hadlee has taken 5 wickets 36 times and 10 wickets 7 times.Adding unofficial tests Lillee has 31 -5 wkt hauls taken 10 wickets,7 times in tests.Akram is however on level with Marshall,Ambrose and Mcgrath in this respect. Wasim has 25 -5 wicket hauls. 2.Bowling average Malcolm Marshal-20.94 Joel Garner-20.97 Curtly Ambrose-20.99 Glen Mcgrath-21.64 Alan Donald-22.25 Richard Hadlee-22.29 Wasim Akram with 23.62 significantly behind Marshall or Ambrose 3.Strike rate Waqar Younus-43.3 Malcolm Marshall-46.7 Alan Donald-47.0 Michael Holding-50.9 Glen Mcgrath-51.9 Dennis Lillee-52.0 Imran Khan-53.8 Curtly Ambrose 54.5 Wasim Akram's strike rate is -54.6-significantly behind Marshall and Waqar. Most wickets by fast bowler in a career 1.Glen Mcgrath-563 2.Courtney Walsh-519 3.Dennis Lillee-460(counting Packer and unofficial tests) 4.Kapil Dev-434 5.Richard Hadlee-431 Wasim has 414 scalps Most percentage of top order wickets captured Percentage of top-order and lower-order wickets Bowler Positions 1-6 Percentage Positions 9-11 Percentage Malcolm Marshall 238 63.30 66 17.55 Glenn McGrath 377 66.96 99 17.58 Allan Donald 222 67.27 62 18.79 Curtly Ambrose 258 63.70 78 19.26 Richard Hadlee 262 60.79 86 19.95 Waqar Younis 234 62.73 79 21.18 Imran Khan 229 63.26 77 21.27 Wasim Akram 233 56.28 115 27.78 Marshal has 63.3.Mcgrath has 66.96.Donald has 67.27,Ambrose has 63.7,while Akram only has 56.28% of top order scalps.Was it because he was partnered by Waqar?How did Marshall bowing with such graets like Holding and Garner take 63.3 % of top order wickets or Mcgrath bowling with Warne have 66.96%? Best bowlers in wins Best averages in Test wins for bowlers (Qual: 150 wickets) Bowler Tests Wickets Average Strike rate 5WI/ 10WM Wkts per Test Richard Hadlee 22 173 13.06 33.5 17/ 8 7.86 Imran Khan 26 155 14.50 38.3 11/ 6 5.96 Dale Steyn 33 225 15.79 29.9 17/ 5 6.82 Muttiah Muralitharan 54 438 16.18 42.7 41/ 18 8.11 Malcolm Marshall 43 254 16.78 38.1 17/ 4 5.91 Allan Donald 33 187 16.79 35.5 14/ 3 5.67 Curtly Ambrose 44 229 16.86 44.4 13/ 3 5.20 Fred Trueman 34 177 17.30 40.8 11/ 2 5.21 Waqar Younis 39 222 18.20 35.0 14/ 4 5.69 Dennis Lillee 31 203 18.27 39.0 17/ 6 6.55 Shaun Pollock 49 223 18.30 47.5 9/ 1 4.55 Michael Holding 31 152 18.36 40.1 6/ 1 4.90 Wasim Akram 41 211 18.48 42.3 13/ 2 5.15 Anil Kumble 43 288 18.75 44.4 20/ 5 6.70 Lance Gibbs 30 154 19.16 60.4 14/ 2 5.13 Glenn McGrath 84 414 19.19 47.7 18/ 3 4.93 Courtney Walsh 52 239 19.72 46.2 10/ 2 4.60 Marshall averages 16.78 and Ambrose 16.86 in wins compared to 18.48 of Wasim.Lille is close at 18.27.Although taking only 173 and 155 wickets respectively Hadlee and Imran have better bowling averages than Wasim.Hadlee averages 13.06 and Imran averages 14.50. Best bowlers on the sub-continent Best Test fast bowlers in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka (Qual: 100 wkts) Bowler Tests Wkts Average Strike rate 5WI/ 10WM Imran Khan 51 205 20.28 48.8 12/ 3 Waqar Younis 41 191 21.07 39.2 13/ 4 Wasim Akram 57 211 22.67 52.9 11/ 1 Shoaib Akhtar 26 108 24.87 45.2 6/ 1 Imran overshadows Wasim in average and strike rate as well as Waqar. To me the most positive statistical element in Wasim's career Best Test bowlers between Jan 1990 and Dec 1997 (Qual: 150 wickets) Bowler Tests Wickets Average Strike rate 5WI/ 10WM Wasim Akram 48 240 20.05 46.4 16/ 3 Curtly Ambrose 57 247 20.50 52.8 17/ 3 Waqar Younis 46 232 21.23 40.1 19/ 4 Allan Donald 36 171 23.27 48.8 9/ 2 Glenn McGrath 36 164 23.42 53.0 9/ 0 Shane Warne 62 289 24.08 62.9 12/ 3 Wasim has a better average than Ambrose,Waqar and Donald at his peak.His strike rate was significantly better than Ambrose.

[MCcricket]

Who is better Waseem or Akram , Waseem has 4 5 wkt haul n Akram has 3? Waqar or Yunus? Shoaib or Akhtar? Imran or Khan ? Who is the prettiest Left handed Ganguly or Gower ? Whose father was faster Akram or Thomson????