Test Fast Bowlers With Long Run-Ups

[TheGreatest]

Michael Holding in has early years had a pretty long run up.

 

[TheGreatest]

Not sure how long it was but Bob Willis used to run from quite a distance.

 

[Jayro]

I don't know about the longest but Waqar seemed to have the fastest run up before releasing those fast banana yorkers.

 

[Midwinter]

Geoff Lawson always seemed to be running too far.
It looked like he had to slow down for a bit in the middle for a bit of a rest.

 

[Burgey]

Yeah he had a really long run up.

There was a Pommy bloke who toured here in the mid-70s who had a run up which started from about wide mid-on which I seem to recall was really long. Maybe it was just the angle he ran in which makes me recall him though. Can't think of the name.

 

[Starfighter]

Yeah he had a really long run up.

There was a Pommy bloke who toured here in the mid-70s who had a run up which started from about wide mid-on which I seem to recall was really long. Maybe it was just the angle he ran in which makes me recall him though. Can't think of the name.

John Lever? Mid-on implies he's leftie, unless you've got more Border than usual on the brain.

Peter Lever had an extraordinarily long one but his was straight.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

There was this dude named Darren Powell, he once run through to halfway along the wicket and ‘tried’ to ‘bowl’ it

 

[Burgey]

John Lever? Mid-on implies he's leftie, unless you've got more Border than usual on the brain.

Peter Lever had an extraordinarily long one but his was straight.

Yeah sorry, mid off. I can't recall the bloke's name. I thought I might have been getting him confused with Ken Higgs but he played in the 60s and had a pretty short run up, so it's not him.

 

[honestbharani]

Those angled run ups are always fascinating to watch. IIRC Dominic Cork use dtp have that kind of a run-up

 

[Burgey]

Yeah Merv Hughes too. Actually, his run up was pretty long as well.

 

[smash84]

Yeah he had a really long run up.

There was a Pommy bloke who toured here in the mid-70s who had a run up which started from about wide mid-on which I seem to recall was really long. Maybe it was just the angle he ran in which makes me recall him though. Can't think of the name.

You might be referring to Graham Dilley..had long, weird angling run up. Was especially long for the low pace IMO.

 

[smash84]

He's opening the bowling in this test match. Running in from almost wide mid off and cover it seems

 

[Burgey]

Yeah Dilley is a great shout for this thread but not the fella I’m thinking of. Cheers mate

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Peter Lever had an extraordinarily long one but his was straight.

Decent bowler, but ran a hell of a long way for someone who didn’t really generate a lot of pace.

 

[NotMcKenzie]

Greig's was very angled, but it wasn't particularly long.

@Starfighter mentioning Peter Lever on the other hand:

Got belted around an awful lot in this test.

 

[Starfighter]

Yeah Dilley is a great shout for this thread but not the fella I’m thinking of. Cheers mate

Are you sure it was mid-seventies or pommy? You'd have been only six or seven around then.

The only ones who fit the description of the angle are Hendrick and Greig, and neither were tremendously long. If it's one of them I'd bet Greig, he ran practically sideways.

 

[the big bambino]

If it's the 70s then you're right the first time with Peter Lever. Bowled on a curve from mid off direction much the same as Dilley. As for their pace I think Dilley was a lot quicker than what's been said here. Had a good out swinger and a pretty good series in 86/87. Lever was swift. He was the one who felled and almost killed Ewan Chatfield in the latter's debut test. Kerry O'Keefe (who, unlike Chatfield, could bat) remembers being hit by a Lever short ball and described it like being knifed.

 

[Starfighter]

Bowled on a curve from mid off direction much the same as Dilley.

In 70/71 yes, but after that series he adopted a straight run after seeing Snow's success with it (here's him in 1971). Not sure even Burgey is going to remember such as a detail from when he was less than two.





Ken Shuttleworth, who played in the same series, also bowled off a huge and more dramatically curved run.

 

[wpdavid]

Yeah he had a really long run up.

There was a Pommy bloke who toured here in the mid-70s who had a run up which started from about wide mid-on which I seem to recall was really long. Maybe it was just the angle he ran in which makes me recall him though. Can't think of the name.

John Price used to run in from very wide mid-off, but I don't think he ever toured Australia. If memory serves, he may have played a test against you in 1972, but that was before your time wasn't it?

This from cricinfo:
John Price was a solidly-built right-arm fast bowler with a distinctive angled approach to the wicket and an exceptionally long run-up.

 

[Burgey]

Hmmm, maybe I’m thinking of someone I saw on highlights rather than one who toured here. I’ll have a look back through some old scorecards/ clips to see who it is.