Will McGrath AND Pollock still be playing international cricket this time next year?

[marc71178]

Vaas is exemplary with respect to consistency

Erm, right...

I'm assuming this a joke?

 

[Deja moo]

Erm, right...

I'm assuming this a joke?

Dont think he is joking .

I agree . Vaas is consistent .

 

[marc71178]

He's the most inconsistent bowler there is!

 

[luckyeddie]

He's the most inconsistent bowler there is!

Not when you compare him with any other Sri Lankan seamer in their entire history of test cricket. Sure he goes for a few on occasion (got took apart by the Aussies in one innings at least recently), but his stats stand up far, far better than any number who have been adopted as the favourites by others - yes, even me (Cork, White, Caddick to name but three - I would take Vaas over any of those any day of the week in either form of the game)

 

[a massive zebra]

Not when you compare him with any other Sri Lankan seamer in their entire history of test cricket. Sure he goes for a few on occasion (got took apart by the Aussies in one innings at least recently), but his stats stand up far, far better than any number who have been adopted as the favourites by others - yes, even me (Cork, White, Caddick to name but three - I would take Vaas over any of those any day of the week in either form of the game)

I think Marc was refering to the fact that Vaas inevitably takes 18 wickets at 19 one series, then 3 at 100 in the next.

And he is more inconsistent than nearly any other Sri Lankan seamer in their entire history, because the rest are consistently bad.

Vaas may be a better bowler than any of those you mentioned, but he is not more consistent.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Australia have Shaun Tait

Things just keep looking better and better for the Ashes...

Pollock will definitely be playing international cricket this time next year, it's not like he can lose any more pace in his bowling and he's not that old anyway.

 

[Craig]

And how many of those names would worry the batsman the night before the game?

I never said they did, I just posted the next list of Australian seamers.

If you are talking about pace, Lee and Tait might.

 

[Neil Pickup]

I never said they did, I just posted the next list of Australian seamers.

If you are talking about pace, Lee and Tait might.

Going off this recent performances, the only way those two will affect the batsmens' sleep is by making them so excited at the prospect of a lot of quick runs and a career high score...

 

[tooextracool]

He's the most inconsistent bowler there is!

rubbish, a certain pakistani speedster comes to mind.......

 

[a massive zebra]

He has been very consistent.

Pakistan in Bangladesh, 2001/02 [Series]
Pak 1 17 63 4 4/48 15.75 3.70 25.5 0 0
Pakistan v West Indies Test Series in U.A.E., 2001/02 [Series]
Pak 2 60 178 10 5/24 17.80 2.96 36.0 1 0
New Zealand in Pakistan, 2002 [Series]
Pak 1 8.2 11 6 6/11 1.83 1.32 8.3 1 0
Australia v Pakistan Test Series in U.A.E./Sri Lanka, 2002/03 [Series]
Aus 2 43 114 9 5/21 12.66 2.65 28.6 1 0
Pakistan in Zimbabwe, 2002/03 [Series]
Pak 2 61.2 218 10 4/75 21.80 3.55 36.8 0 0
Bangladesh in Pakistan, 2003 [Series]
Pak 2 77.5 195 13 6/50 15.00 2.50 35.9 1 1
South Africa in Pakistan, 2003/04 [Series]
Pak 1 28.3 98 6 4/36 16.33 3.43 28.5 0 0
Pakistan in New Zealand, 2003/04 [Series]
Pak 1 38.3 78 11 6/30 7.09 2.02 21.0 2 1

It seems inevitable that the fastest bowlers will be labelled as inconsistent, irrespective of results.

 

[tooextracool]

He has been very consistent.

Pakistan in Bangladesh, 2001/02 [Series]
Pak 1 17 63 4 4/48 15.75 3.70 25.5 0 0
Pakistan v West Indies Test Series in U.A.E., 2001/02 [Series]
Pak 2 60 178 10 5/24 17.80 2.96 36.0 1 0
New Zealand in Pakistan, 2002 [Series]
Pak 1 8.2 11 6 6/11 1.83 1.32 8.3 1 0
Australia v Pakistan Test Series in U.A.E./Sri Lanka, 2002/03 [Series]
Aus 2 43 114 9 5/21 12.66 2.65 28.6 1 0
Pakistan in Zimbabwe, 2002/03 [Series]
Pak 2 61.2 218 10 4/75 21.80 3.55 36.8 0 0
Bangladesh in Pakistan, 2003 [Series]
Pak 2 77.5 195 13 6/50 15.00 2.50 35.9 1 1
South Africa in Pakistan, 2003/04 [Series]
Pak 1 28.3 98 6 4/36 16.33 3.43 28.5 0 0
Pakistan in New Zealand, 2003/04 [Series]
Pak 1 38.3 78 11 6/30 7.09 2.02 21.0 2 1

It seems inevitable that the fastest bowlers will be labelled as inconsistent, irrespective of results.

thats quite brilliant, you managed to edit all of his performances and come up with his 8 good performances from the last 3 years, 3 of which are against zimbabwe and b'desh.....shows alot about consistency

 

[a massive zebra]

thats quite brilliant, you managed to edit all of his performances and come up with his 8 good performances from the last 3 years, 3 of which are against zimbabwe and b'desh.....shows alot about consistency

I did not edit anything. Its consecutive series.

 

[tooextracool]

I did not edit anything. Its consecutive series.

yet you somehow managed to miss the series against india.....and all the series before 01

 

[Richard]

Assuming we have McGrath, Gillespie, and Kasprowicz as our front liners, Australia's next crop is of Shaun Tait, Brad Williams, Nathan Bracken, Damien Wright, MarK Cleary, Brett Lee, Matt Nicholson (could consider himself unlucky not to win his second Test cap against India, however, the selectors decided to recall Bracken and Lee) and that is the best I can thing of at the moment.

Whether any of that lot have the potential to be Test-class is debatable.
Certainly I don't think Williams or Lee do. Bracken, if he could swing the ball, would be a deadly bowler because he is usually very accurate, but he's been playing for a number of years and you'd really expect him to have learnt by now if he was going to at all. Same thing applies to South Africa's Charl Willoughby.
Nicholson is a bowler I've always liked in spells but he's yet to show the neccessary consistency, and he too has been playing for a number of years now. Wright can't be young exactly, and though he does seem like a decent bowler, I'm not sure he's always been very penetrative.
Cleary and Tait, meanwhile, might have all the potential in The World but right now they're two of the most overrated bowlers I've ever seen! Both come over here with the reputations of Australia's next big young quicks, having both had moderate Pura seasons, and both get the treatment.
If either were to be involved in next year's Ashes, I think Strauss and co. will be licking their lips.

 

[Richard]

Even with McGrath and Pollock gone, there are a lot of young promising fast bowlers in the world, and who knows? With the experience and some super performances we might have a really good new generation of fast bowlers.

Pakistan have Umar Gul, India have Irfan Pathan, West Indies have Tino Best, Australia have Shaun Tait, England ofcourse have Steve Harmison and James Anderson, not to mention guys like Simon Jones, Sri Lanka have Lasith Malinga, so there is really no shortage of exciting upcoming fast bowling talent.

With the right amount of time and experience, im sure most of the bowlers mentioned above will blossom into world class bowlers. (Key word here is most)

Personally I'd rate Maharoof way above Malinga - if he can bowl like he bowled in the Eng-SL Champions Trophy game with some consistency he'll be a phenominal bowler. History warns, though, not to automatically expect any young subcontinental seamer to repeat an early good performance for too long.
I'm not sure if Umar Gul will ever play again myself, seen too many nasty back-injuries result in the end of a career. He didn't look too bad from what I saw of him, but he did have rather an easy ride WRT playing mostly against Bangladesh. I know Shabbir's not quite as young, but he's certainly got much the higher potential IMO.
Everyone knows what I think of Tino Best - nasty piece of work if there ever was one. Don't think he's anywhere near as good a bowler as some seem to, either - might have made a few Englishmen look uncomfortable on some pretty poor wickets, but he's not done much besides.
Shaun Tait, meanwhile, the one thing I can say for certain - applies to Cleary, too - is that he's got one hell of a lot of work to do!
Malinga I'm yet to be convinced of. There's a reason no-one has ever really been successful with a round-arm action in the modern era - it's very, very hard to control where the ball's going, and a First-Class economy-rate over 4-an-over sort of suggests that.
The jury is, of course, out on Jones and Anderson.

 

[luckyeddie]

yet you somehow managed to miss the series against india.....and all the series before 01

He's not fibbing, though, TEC - 8 consecutive series. Just ignored the ones before and the one after. Hey, it's a trick many others use.

 

[Craig]

Going off this recent performances, the only way those two will affect the batsmens' sleep is by making them so excited at the prospect of a lot of quick runs and a career high score...

Out of interest have you seen Tait bowl or are you going off stats?

 

[Neil Pickup]

Out of interest have you seen Tait bowl or are you going off stats?

I'm going off this season's 18 overs for 176.

 

[Richard]

Not to mention the wholly impressive First-Class average of all but 30.
TBF he's not been quite so bad as last season (really that wouldn't be possible) but why he's rated so highly has always so far been a mystery to me.
Ditto Cleary.

 

[Craig]

Maybe it is because he has pace, movemoment, plus talent and potential.

If you get to see him play in the near future, then you can make your mind up.