Best left arm test seamer?

[TT Boy]

You may be surprised by the former. Pathan came leaps and bounds after his last MRF Pace Foundation stint, I hope another does the same. Pathan is improving day by day and merely needs some more bounce.

Was useless with the ball against South Africa, no pace (of great note, 130-35kph is nothing) and the only thing he was swinging all game was his bat. He still can be a useful/good one day bowler but until he gets that 'zip' he use to have back, his going to be a nothing test bowler.

 

[TT Boy]

Current, Sidebottom. Most talented, Johnson.

 

[Craig]

Good choice........if only he could bowl straight and had played in a Test.

Burn.

 

[FBU]

13 Tests 53 wickets 26.60 econ 2.83 s/r 56.3 - Ryan Sidebottom
21 Tests 76 wickets 28.19 econ 3.59 s/r 47.0 - James Franklin
104 Tests 343 wickets 29.09 econ 2.68 s/r 65.0 - Chaminda Vaas
6 Tests 24 wickets 32.12 econ 3.08 s/r 62.5 - Mitchell Johnson
29 Tests 100 wickets 32.26 econ 3.28 s/r 58.8 - Irfan Pathan
53 Tests 170 wickets 33.60 econ 3.29 s/r 61.2 - Zaheer Khan
32 Test 106 wickets 34.63 econ 3.16 s/r 65.6 - Pedro Collins
13 Tests 40 wickets 39.10 econ 4.02 s/r 58.2 - RP Singh

I like Zaheer Khan the best. After a season in county cricket he has stepped up a level and can have an impact from both sides of the wicket to left and right hand batsmen. Mitchell Johnson my next favourite.

 

[Flem274*]

Dunno how Zaheer Khan is getting so many votes. Seriously.

 

[Flem274*]

Franklins accuracy is fine Phlegm, its just his consistency. James Franklin when bowling at his peak has a wicket taking ball every ball of the over, and can even out perform Bond. Yet the problem with Franklin is that when he isn't in the rhythm the wicket taking ball is hid amongst 20-30 other mediocre ones. And not every ball that looks like it should get a wicket gets one. In ODI cricket he's our current second best bowler behind Mills, he should walk back into the side if the selectors know anything about the game of cricket. In Tests he is our best.

He bowls a half volley quite often though. I'm not saying the accuracy is poor, just that there is room for improvement. Also think (In ODIs only) he should whack it into the pitch a bit more otherwise he'll only be effective on greentops.

 

[gettingbetter]

Dunno how Zaheer Khan is getting so many votes. Seriously.

Lot of Englishmen on the site. Khan did well against England.

 

[Leslie1]

To be fair on Sidebottom, he hasn't had to do much to dismantle the Black Caps' batting lineup. I wonder how he'd fair against better batting lineups.

 

[Flem274*]

To be fair on Sidebottom, he hasn't had to do much to dismantle the Black Caps' batting lineup. I wonder how he'd fair against better batting lineups.

The main gift wickets wer Bell and Sinclair. The rest were capable. We'll just have to follow his progress through the summer.

 

[chaminda_00]

To be fair on Sidebottom, he hasn't had to do much to dismantle the Black Caps' batting lineup. I wonder how he'd fair against better batting lineups.

Ditto to Sri Lankan batting line up bar Sangakkara and Jayawardene.

 

[Leslie1]

The main gift wickets wer Bell and Sinclair. The rest were capable. We'll just have to follow his progress through the summer.

Add Martin, Vettori and Oram. I think a lot of those bowlers listed would rip through these three.

Agree with Chaminda's sentiments. Sri Lanka and NZ test series would be interesting with their current batting lineups.

 

[NZTailender]

Not really. Sangakkara would batter us like in the last test he played against us, and I imagine someone like Silva would stand up again with another contribution, while we'd get shot out for under 200 thanks to Vaas getting LBW's, Malinga being too fast and Murali being gun.

 

[Migara]

At current form it's Sidebottom followed by Vaas and Zaheer. When you consider the career, Vaas is miles ahead. And in World stage, i would think only Wasim and Davidson are better than him.

 

[aussie]

Dunno how Zaheer Khan is getting so many votes. Seriously.

I'm surprised Franklin is getting so much hype TBH.

 

[Flem274*]

I'm surprised Franklin is getting so much hype TBH.

Maybe because he's good? Go look at his record. What does a swing bowler who isn't from a nation that hypes everybody they have up (England, NZ, WI, SA) have to do to get recognized? Be world class aka Sidebottom, thats what. Zaheer Khan is good lately and in ODIs he's awesome but he's no where near Franklin, nevermind Sidebottom or Vaas. Can't see how he's getting so much hype from only having two votes compared to Zaheers six

Rant over. TBH I'm getting sick of hearing Franklin is a pie chucker (not accussing you of this) just because of ODI form.

 

[pasag]

Thats a fair call. I went for the more proven option though.

Will be interested to see pasags reasoning for Zaheer Khan.

Don't have a lot of time, so much uni work and I wasn't planning on posting for a while, but since you asked (won't be able to reply either). I'm going on who I'd want in my team right now and it's Zaheer without too much thought needed. Vaas obviously is miles ahead career wise though.

Franklin hasn't played a Test since late 2006 so I don't know why he's even brought up besides a mild case of fanboyisim here (), Vaas has been on the decline for a short while now, so much so that he was dropped in Australia and it's clearly the twilight of his career (although I'm the first to admit that the actions of stupid selectors have little place in cricketing discussions).

Johnson has been good, so has Sidebottom who has been impressing everyone but has benefited from idiotic batting, at times. Not knocking him at all and I'm a big fan, but I'd like to see him against some tougher opposition before getting on that particular bandwagon (am rooting for him though).

That leaves Zaheer, who has been really special whenever I've seen him in his latest stint. It had little to do with wickets or averages either (it usually doesn't with me), it's the fact his bowling has looked amazing and often the batsmen have little clue against him. He has been very, very impressive and if I were picking a side now with the names in the poll above, he'd be my first bowler on. But as I said, Vaas careerwise no questions asked, he's a generational great.

 

[Laurrz]

Midge - most different bowler out of that lot imo [yes i know thats not the criteria]... and id choose him out of that list.. cant wait to see how he goes in more friendlier conditions for swing bowling

 

[Goughy]

Id probably go with Zaheer, though there is no guarantee he will be bowling well in 12 months time.

Of the bowlers listed I think he poses the most challenges to a batsman and forces the batsman to answer questions over which way the ball is going.

A dangerous bowler that could have a few very productive years left in him. He is at the age where he needs to be finding a consistent peak.

Sidebottom bowls half a yard too short IMO and is destined to always be an unlucky bowler as he isnt pitching it far enough up to regularly get the edge. He is a good pro though and does a decent job. Currently a good player for England.

Vaas has been a great servant to Sri Lankan cricket. He never really excited me but deserves respect for both the success and longevity of his career..

Irfan Pathan: I dont rate his bowling particularly highly at all. Its possible that he could become a good allround cricketer at Test level. I just dont see it at the moment. Put an ordinary bowler together with an ordinary batsman and you still have an ordinary cricketer.

Mitchell Johnson: Nice to watch and certainly capable of rushing the batsman. I think we are still waiting to see whether the predictions about him were accurate and whether he can be as good as people said he could. From my own point of view, Ive only seen him a few times and each time Ive thought his pace was over-hyped and he didnt hit the speeds I was expecting.

Bracken- Interesting to see people think he would do well in Tests. I love watching him bowl in ODIs. He has one of the best changes in pace Ive seen and uses the change down cutters with amazing success. A real nightmare to deal with in limited overs when trying to force the runrate. However, I dont believe those skills would translate to success at Test level. What makes him so good in ODIs will not help him in Tests.

James Franklin- not really seen enough to have a strong opinion. I must have watched him many times but he is pretty anonymous and forgetable and Id have to re-watch footage to have a strong opinion on him. Doesnt mean he isnt a good bowler, just that he doesnt capture the imagination.

Pedro Collins: not really seen enough to have a strong opinion
RP Singh: not really seen enough to have a strong opinion

 

[Laurrz]

Mitchell Johnson: Nice to watch and certainly capable of rushing the batsman. I think we are still waiting to see whether the predictions about him were accurate and whether he can be as good as people said he could. From my own point of view, Ive only seen him a few times and each time Ive thought his pace was over-hyped and he didnt hit the speeds I was expecting.

which spells were they? through the summer i think he bowled pretty much high 140s low 150s... the impressive thing about him is that the pace doesnt go down really.. he is always up there throughout

 

[Manee]

He was hyped up as a 100mph bowler, IIRC.