Fast bowler survival - rank the best fast bowlers of all time

[stephen]

Hadlee. Done.

but what about ranks 2-32

 

[Thirdman1]

Players who are accused of ball tampering, taking drugs ,match fixing, using home umpires should be removed from the list.

 

[BoyBrumby]

V interesting idea. Will def vote when matches posted.

 

[stephen]

Players who are accused of ball tampering, taking drugs ,match fixing, using home umpires should be removed from the list.

You can't forget those players who use altitude training, have personal coaches and who play on greentops. In fact the only bowler who should qualify plays for the local 3rd grade club down the road.

 

[stephen]

V interesting idea. Will def vote when matches posted.

Thanks, I look forward to your contribution

 

[Sir Alex]

Nice idea.

But I've reservations against counting pre war bowlers. I find it puzzling how someone like Fred Spoforth can get in that list with less than 100 wickets.

 

[Migara]

Botham at his peak was sensational, but tbf, he ended up with a Career average of 28.5, If he is to be included, bowlers like Kapil, Thomson, Akthar and Gillespee should also be included. My vote would be to exclude Botham.

This

 

[fredfertang]

A few suggestions from the past if I may

England: Tom Richardson, Maurice Tate and John Snow

Australia : Ernie Jones, Tibby Cotter, Jack Gregory and Ted MacDonald

NZ: Jack Cowie

India: Amar Singh and Mohammad Nissar

 

[Prince EWS]

For the purposes of this, I am counting them as fast bowlers - their cricinfo profile calls them both medium-fast, which is good enough for me.

I know that they were probably more akin to cutter/spin bowlers, but they played in a very different era and so it's difficult to categorise them.

If we're going to go with the "not a spinner" definition of a fast bowler, how about William Lillywhite as a wildcard?

 

[vcs]

If we're going to go with the "not a spinner" definition of a fast bowler, how about William Lillywhite as a wildcard?

Or Kumble?

 

[Burgey]

Ooo Ahh.

 

[Days of Grace]

You are insulting Marshall & several other alltime greats by saying Dennis "Greentop Bully" Lillee is a better bowler than them.

You're beginning to annoy me.

 

[vic_orthdox]

You are insulting Marshall & several other alltime greats by saying Dennis "Greentop Bully" Lillee is a better bowler than them.

Don't rubbish other people's opinions, which is what you are doing here inadvertently.

 

[Matt79]

Botham should definitely make the starting list. Focusing on his career average alone is a daft way to rate him as a bowler, given his injury affected last third of his career. He was lethal for the bulk of his career. Deciding how much weight to give the different aspects should be done by the voters but he def. belongs on the list.

 

[Teja.]

Pakistani wickets have been as flat,if not more, than Indian wickets & Imran,Wasim,Waqar & Fazal have as good bowling averages as any other alltime great.
If you have a good average bu low wkts/match & bowled less as compared to others,it shows you lack stamina & hence don't deserve to be amongst those greats who did much better than you in those respective departments.Miller & Hall were very good bowlers but they are not alltime greats.You can't say someone is an alltime great by just looking at their average.You need to go through other variables as well.

I agree Mahmood is a great bowler and all that, but let us not for a second fool ourselves that he bowled on the 'graveyard' Pakistani wickets his descendants Imran, Wasim and Waqar have been successful in.

Artificial matting wickets were widely used in Pakistan in the 1950s and that is where Mahmood gained his name as a great fast bowler. Matting wickets were to Batsmen what Graveyards are to bowlers. Especially to a bowler like Mahmood whose main weapon were his cutters. Tbf, His 12 wicket haul against India in Lucknow also came on a matting wicket.

Please keep in mind that I am not for a second denying that Mahmood is a great bowler. I'm just putting the conditions in perspective.

 

[wfdu_ben91]

DK Lillee > Malcolm Marshall > Everyone else AFAIC.

Also, do SF Barnes and GA Lohmann really count as fast bowlers? Not taking anything away from their achievements, as I rate them highly, but they're not strictly fast bowlers as such.

Curtly Ambrose, Wasim Akram, Glenn McGrath are the best AFAIC.

If Frank Tyson is involved in the poll then Mohammad Asif, Shoaib Akhtar and Shane Bond should be in it aswell. At their best, Asif, Akhtar and Bond are probably better then the majority of that list at their best.

 

[Xuhaib]

I agree Mahmood is a great bowler and all that, but let us not for a second fool ourselves that he bowled on the 'graveyard' Pakistani wickets his descendants Imran, Wasim and Waqar have been successful in.

Artificial matting wickets were widely used in Pakistan in the 1950s and that is where Mahmood gained his name as a great fast bowler. Matting wickets were to Batsmen what Graveyards are to bowlers. Especially to a bowler like Mahmood whose main weapon were his cutters. Tbf, His 12 wicket haul against India in Lucknow also came on a matting wicket.

Please keep in mind that I am not for a second denying that Mahmood is a great bowler. I'm just putting the conditions in perspective.

Got a 12fer at Oval plus 2 more 10+ hauls at Barbados and Dhaka so don't disrespect him by calling him just a matting bully.

 

[Teja.]

Got a 12fer at Oval plus 2 more 10+ hauls at Barbados and Dhaka so don't disrespect him by calling him just a matting bully.

I did not call him a matting bully, It is just factually incorrect to state he got a majority of his wickets in graveyard wickets like Imran.

 

[Xuhaib]

I did not call him a matting bully, It is just factually incorrect to state he got a majority of his wickets in graveyard wickets like Imran.

fair enough just one of those days.

 

[archie mac]

You are insulting Marshall & several other alltime greats by saying Dennis "Greentop Bully" Lillee is a better bowler than them.

Lets mention his 3 Tests against Pakistan