Top 3 fast bowlers in tests ATM?

[Spark]

Bowler domination over cricket! Johnson is rarely or hardly ever at his best atm and even when he was on form he still sprayed it(to his advantage). But tbh he isn't the best I rate Hilfy ahead of him.

On his best form he averaged two an over.

 

[Faisal1985]

Johnson being anywhere near the top 3 bowlers reflects poorly on batsmen across the world more so than it says anything about his own bowling which for all intents and purposes remains somewhere marginally above rubbish.

ATM he seems pretty ordinary...needs to adjust his length.... especially after the Australian series he seemed quite down.....but i don't agree that he is no where near the top 3....he is a very good bowler once he finds the right area to bowl i think.....and he has very good pace...

When he came in the international cricket i thought he would go to be better then Brett Lee because he is a lefty....but still a very good bowler...

 

[tooextracool]

You've not seen him bowling well, have you? A Johnson near his best is nigh on unplayable under almost any conditions.

EDIT: I wonder if Johnson's struggles against Eng/Pak have anything to do with the fact that all their openers are left-handed. I have a feeling that Johnson is much, much better against right-handers than left-handers.

I've seen Johnson at his best, this was undoubtedly in SA where he did in fact bowl brilliantly. However, that series was an exception because it was the only time he got the ball to swing in his entire career. He's been a completely ordinary career both before and after that being mostly fortunate to capitalize on poor batting and the novelty of his bowling approach rather than his own bowling skill.

And yes, Johnson is poor against lefties, but thats because his stock ball is getting the right hander to nick the wide ball that he angles away and he obviously cant apply the same approach against the lefties.

 

[tooextracool]

ATM he seems pretty ordinary...needs to adjust his length.... especially after the Australian series he seemed quite down.....but i don't agree that he is no where near the top 3....he is a very good bowler once he finds the right area to bowl i think.....and he has very good pace...

When he came in the international cricket i thought he would go to be better then Brett Lee because he is a lefty....but still a very good bowler...

Does Johnson have accuracy? No
Does Johnson swing the ball? No
Does Johnson have variety in his bowling? No with the exception of his slower ball
Does Johnson have a good cricketing brain? No evidence of it yet

Theres only so far you can go with pace alone. If he was right handed, he wouldnt make his domestic side.

 

[Faisal1985]

You can't say he doesn't have accuracy,swing....he has these 2...you don't just get 158 wickets in 36 tests at 28 with none of those things...yes he may lack the cricketing brain a bit where he fails to adapt to the conditions....and perhaps can add a bit more to his variety.....but he is not as crape as you are making him out to be....his numbers are right up there...

 

[tooextracool]

I'd like to hear how many games Johnson has consistently swung the ball for outside of that series in SA. My guess would be zero.

 

[Sir Alex]

I'd like to hear how many games Johnson has consistently swung the ball for outside of that series in SA. My guess would be zero.

I agree with this. He has thrived on Australian pitches which always reward hard work (with bat or ball), and on SA pitches.

 

[Faisal1985]

I'd like to hear how many games Johnson has consistently swung the ball for outside of that series in SA. My guess would be zero.

He was reversing the ball in Sydney against Pak. Kamran Akmal was out to it...yes Pak batting is a joke atm but that doesn't mean he didn't swing the ball..only Umar was picking his reverse in that game....

 

[tooextracool]

I remember that game well and would like to politely disagree. Not only did he not get the ball to reverse consistently in the 2nd inning, but he was also bowling with a newish ball (given that Pakistan were all out in under 40 overs) making it even less likely. Was an incredibly inept batting performance that one from Pakistan, even by their own standards.

 

[Uppercut]

He's failed to get to grips with English conditions certainly, however his record in England isn't as terrible as you'd think.

His efforts against South Africa are too easily overlooked: check statsguru for how well South Africa's batsmen have done since Feb 2007 - they've been outstanding in that period, and Johnson completely and utterly owned them.

Just to add to what others have said, the bowler playing for Australia at the moment bears no resemblance at all to the one that bowled two of the greatest spells I've ever seen in South Africa last year. His action isn't even the same.

He's still good, but you simply can't use those matches in a debate over his current quality.

 

[Top_Cat]

I'd like to hear how many games Johnson has consistently swung the ball for outside of that series in SA. My guess would be zero.

Well, for one Johnson isn't and shouldn't really be considered a swing bowler. Bowls better when he just hits the seam outside off and mixes in good bumpers, only trying to swing it when he's in good rhythm, rather than looking for swing first up.

Second, he swung the ball plenty in the second dig at Leeds last year and a big reason why he took 5. That's undeniable.

 

[Top_Cat]

Just to add to what others have said, the bowler playing for Australia at the moment bears no resemblance at all to the one that bowled two of the greatest spells I've ever seen in South Africa last year. His action isn't even the same.

He's still good, but you simply can't use those matches in a debate over his current quality.

YouTube - mitchell johnson bowling great spell injures batsmen as well as great start!

Some good swinging deliveries there but generally, just hostile stuff. More of that please Midge.

 

[vcs]

Just to add to what others have said, the bowler playing for Australia at the moment bears no resemblance at all to the one that bowled two of the greatest spells I've ever seen in South Africa last year. His action isn't even the same.

He's still good, but you simply can't use those matches in a debate over his current quality.

YouTube - mitchell johnson bowling great spell injures batsmen as well as great start!

Some good swinging deliveries there but generally, just hostile stuff. More of that please Midge.

I see where Uppercut got his avatar from.

 

[Jezroy]

I'd like to hear how many games Johnson has consistently swung the ball for outside of that series in SA. My guess would be zero.

He also bowled well in the series in NZ. 12 wickets in 2 tests at 23.

 

[Top_Cat]

I see where Uppercut got his avatar from.

Yeah, nasty. WAUpperC.

 

[Jezroy]

Also on Johnson, he's played 12 series, and averaged under 30 in half of them.

Bowling records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | Cricinfo.com

 

[TT Boy]

Steyn, Asif, Morne.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Gonna have to say Aamer to join Steyn and Asif now, I think. Might even be tempted to take him ahead of Asif too, tbh. When Asif doesn't bend his back and his pace drops he looks a lot less threatening because he's no more than medium fast when he bowls flat out. Beautiful seam position, but at 75-77mph it looks easy for the batsmen to adjust.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

They won't though.

Wanna bet?

 

[Uppercut]

YouTube - mitchell johnson bowling great spell injures batsmen as well as great start!

Some good swinging deliveries there but generally, just hostile stuff. More of that please Midge.

Compare it to the video of his 7fer against them earlier that Aussie summer- his arm comes down much, much straighter. The point where I disagree with TEC is that he can still be a good bowler with a low arm, and that 7fer is a good example of him bowling very well. But in South Africa he briefly touched the realms of superhuman. None of the pace was gone- if anything he was bowling faster than ever- and he had excellent control of line, much better than he ever manages bowling with a low arm. And of course, he swings it. That makes a huge, huge difference, even when it isn't the swinging deliveries that get the wickets. You can say he doesn't need the inswinger to be effective, but it certainly makes him a much better bowler when he can swerve the ball towards the stumps at the last minute bowling 150Ks. I say "one of the best", but really it's the single best bowling spell I've ever seen.

The point is that I don't see him reproducing that again, or at least, not often enough that we can consider it when thinking of his current quality as a bowler. Headingley was the closest he's come but in truth that spell didn't even come close. There are two Midge Johnsons as far as I'm concerned- the quality bowler that comes on first change for Australia and the all-time great that bowled for two tests in South Africa last Spring. And I don't think the former is the third best bowler in the world at the moment.