Longest bowling run up

[Hurricane]

Which players had particularly long run ups? Who had the longest?

 

[thierry henry]

I dunno if this is a general trend but I watched some footage of a test in England in the 70s once and several of the bowlers had massively long run-ups. One in particular (I forget who) had a ridiculous run up of about 30 paces on a huge angle.

Also, check out David Lawrence's run-up from 1:24 onwards. Appears to go 25-30 paces (you miss a few at the start) for no apparent reason except extra exercise.

England v West Indies in 1991 - YouTube

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Loved David Lawrence. Shame his career was wrecked at the Basin.

 

[fredfertang]

Not actually quite as long as I remember but Denis Lillee circa 1972 immediately sprang to mind

 

[Hurricane]

I dunno if this is a general trend but I watched some footage of a test in England in the 70s once and several of the bowlers had massively long run-ups. One in particular (I forget who) had a ridiculous run up of about 30 paces on a huge angle.

Also, check out David Lawrence's run-up from 1:24 onwards. Appears to go 25-30 paces (you miss a few at the start) for no apparent reason except extra exercise.

England v West Indies in 1991 - YouTube

TH that is gold. Thanks for posting.

 

[thierry henry]

I count 20 paces on the bit you see and there is a large chunk you don't see, might even be 30+. Also on a bizarre angle and his momentum is all over the place.

 

[Zinzan]

Bob Willis immediately springs to mind, but none of the highlights of him online show his full run

 

[kiwiviktor81]

Waqar Younis used to run in from near the boundary sometimes, before his injuries at least. Worked for him though, can't argue with an ODI strike rate of 30.

 

[kingkallis]

Ravindra Pushpakumara!

 

[smash84]

Shoaib Akhtar had a pretty long run up initially

 

[smash84]

lol.....check out Shoaib Akhtar in this run up

Shoaib Akhtar Vs Matthew Hayden - YouTube

 

[Midwinter]

Micheal Holding was about 10 yards in from the fence at the MCG in the early 80's

Geoff Lawson looked like he ran 5 yards too far.

 

[four_or_six]

My brother I reckon when he was about 10 years old... came in pretty much from the rope, and he was tiny. He was seriously flagging by the time he got to the stumps.

 

[Himannv]

I think Wes Hall had quite a long runup. Was a bit like Holding when he ran in based on the limited footage I've seen.

 

[Himannv]

My brother I reckon when he was about 10 years old... came in pretty much from the rope, and he was tiny. He was seriously flagging by the time he got to the stumps.

Remember a bloke I used to play with in Maldives who did something similar. He steams in all the way from the boundary line with his arms tucked in and excessively long strides. Fixes you with a nasty glare as he charges in. As soon as he comes to the crease, he stops abruptly, stands still bellows at the top of his voice. With no momentum at all used from his runup he hurls the ball at you with a bent arm and promptly falls to the ground. I remember the only reason we found it hard to put the ball away to the boundary was because we were laughing so hard.

 

[zaremba]

In terms of unnecessary length, Martin Bicknell is hard to beat. Accelerated over his first couple of paces then kept the same pace for a further about 30 yards before bowling at a gentle loopy medium pace. Decent bowler, though.

 

[The Sean]

My brother I reckon when he was about 10 years old... came in pretty much from the rope, and he was tiny. He was seriously flagging by the time he got to the stumps.

Geoff Lawson looked like he ran 5 yards too far.

Lawson adopted his exceptionally long run-up, I believe, in order to alleviate some of the strain that his action put on him.

Personally, I reckon Wes Hall must be a contender for the title - from watching highlights of the 60/61 series it seems that his full run-up starts down near the sightscreen.

 

[Z-Man]

Shoaib Akhtar Run up against MC XII HD - YouTube

Pretty long imo.

 

[Z-Man]

Or this..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVaOR-sgXuw&feature=player_detailpage#t=166s
Sheer pace with great run up. Never fails to amaze me.

 

[smash84]

such an awesome run up