C_C
International Captain
Quiete interesting reads-both of them.
And i agree- 1979 figures look odd.
Thommo was well past his fastest by that time but Holding bowling at 88mph ?????
Was he bowling spin ?
A few comments:
1. When it comes to brutish display of speed and menace, two overs of Holding comes to mind.
One was the legendary over to Boycott that was just picture-perfect. Each delivery was faster than the one before and the final one had Boycott bowled all ends up.
The other was his over to Brian Close. Closey was getting on the years but Holding nearly killed him on the pitch a few times that over.
2. I can certainly see Waqar Younis being the fastest man ever or at the very least, one of the top 5 fastest bowlers in cricket's history. He was timed at 95mph in 1995 or so, after having undergone two stress fractures of the back ! it only leaves to imagination how fast he bowled in the late 80s/early 90s before sustaining his back injury.
3. The author uses the term 'javelin throw' to describe Thommo's action. Now, Thommo had one of the cleanest actions ever- the kind action he had, it would be quiete a chore to chuck. Interestingly, Bedi often uses the term 'javelin thrower' to describe Murali.
Maybe the media has got it all wrong and Bedi is essentially saying Murali's action is clean as a whistle ?
4. A few notable omissions from that list are Srinath,Colin Croft, Rodney Hogg and Mohammed Zahid.
Srinath in the mid 90s was consistently clocking upwards of 90mph and the few times an actual speedgun was used, he upended Donald consistently when it came to speed.
Croft was one of the fastest and most hostile bowlers to ever take the field IMO.
Hogg- well he was known only for his speed so i am guessing he should've been ragingly fast. Feel free to correct me however- i don;t know much about Hogg.
And Zahid had a few tests (before he broke down) where he was clocking some serious speed.
I havn't seen that many pacers making Hooper look slow and lethargic( he always played a dumb shot after looking like he had all the time in the world to play a superfast delivery) but Zahid managed that.
Infact, he was bowling so fast that the keeper was standing closer to the ropes than to the stumps.
And i agree- 1979 figures look odd.
Thommo was well past his fastest by that time but Holding bowling at 88mph ?????
Was he bowling spin ?
A few comments:
1. When it comes to brutish display of speed and menace, two overs of Holding comes to mind.
One was the legendary over to Boycott that was just picture-perfect. Each delivery was faster than the one before and the final one had Boycott bowled all ends up.
The other was his over to Brian Close. Closey was getting on the years but Holding nearly killed him on the pitch a few times that over.
2. I can certainly see Waqar Younis being the fastest man ever or at the very least, one of the top 5 fastest bowlers in cricket's history. He was timed at 95mph in 1995 or so, after having undergone two stress fractures of the back ! it only leaves to imagination how fast he bowled in the late 80s/early 90s before sustaining his back injury.
3. The author uses the term 'javelin throw' to describe Thommo's action. Now, Thommo had one of the cleanest actions ever- the kind action he had, it would be quiete a chore to chuck. Interestingly, Bedi often uses the term 'javelin thrower' to describe Murali.
Maybe the media has got it all wrong and Bedi is essentially saying Murali's action is clean as a whistle ?
4. A few notable omissions from that list are Srinath,Colin Croft, Rodney Hogg and Mohammed Zahid.
Srinath in the mid 90s was consistently clocking upwards of 90mph and the few times an actual speedgun was used, he upended Donald consistently when it came to speed.
Croft was one of the fastest and most hostile bowlers to ever take the field IMO.
Hogg- well he was known only for his speed so i am guessing he should've been ragingly fast. Feel free to correct me however- i don;t know much about Hogg.
And Zahid had a few tests (before he broke down) where he was clocking some serious speed.
I havn't seen that many pacers making Hooper look slow and lethargic( he always played a dumb shot after looking like he had all the time in the world to play a superfast delivery) but Zahid managed that.
Infact, he was bowling so fast that the keeper was standing closer to the ropes than to the stumps.