Most intimidating fast bowler of them all?

[smash84]

I remember beack in the 80s when the WI would come here every second year, and we'd play the first two tests in Brisbane and Perth. LOL, anyone who reckons Australia has prepared "home town" decks doesn't go back very far. We were usually 2-0 down after about 4.5 days' playing time.

haha........most of the teams suffered that fate at the hands of the WI during the 80s

Was reading Javed Miandad's autobiography yesterday regarding WI tour to Pakistan in 1986. Two great quality bowling attacks going at each other. In all the 3 tests not once did any team reach 200 and neither side's player made a century and these are tracks in Pakistan.

Some great battles on the field too. According to Miandad Imran was peppered with short balls by Malcolm Marshall and there was some heated exchange on the field. Imran was fuming when got out and came back to the dressing room and gave explicit instructions to Wasim Akram and Co to pay back Marshall in kind. Surely enough poor Marshall was given a real work over with some nasty short stuff by Akram who could be genuinely nasty early on his career (see Rob's 1985 footage of Pak vs NZ). Awesome stuff those Pak WI battles of the 80s. Epic stuff.

 

[Tom 1972]

Here's some of that over against Boycott

YouTube - Michael Holding to Geoff Boycott, 1981

Upon taking a look at that video, the 'keeper and slips were not standing very far back - looked about half a pitch back. May have been a great over but was he really express pace?

Generally for 150kmph bowling the 'keeper is approx a full pitch behind the stumps, maybe 18 yards on a low and slow deck.


or do the keeper & slips stand further back nowadays?

thoughts?

 

[Top_Cat]

Have wondered the same. Maybe the angle and the size of the WI slips fielders makes them look closer?

 

[robelinda]

Very hard to tell whats going on in that famous video, but the slips are very close, ive been saying that for 20 years whenever ive seen that video. Lots of myths that keep growing in cricket....

 

[Top_Cat]

You make a few assumptions, though. For example, it was clearly quick. Footage of Boycs facing Lillee I've seen, he faces him as you'd expect any Test player to face someone with good pace. Whereas in that footage, despite what the placement of the slips might indicate (there'd be some parallax error too), Boycs was clearly very hurried.

Whether it's the fastest over of all time and all that blah, who knows? Don't think we ever will for sures.

 

[robelinda]

The fact that he plays and misses a few balls in the first over a test doesnt mean all that much, par for the course for an opener. Ive got heaps of footage of Boycott playing and missing against Lillee in the early overs of tests and looking hurried, big deal.

 

[Top_Cat]

I'm not trying to say I know what's going on, just trying to explain what I see. Agree with you about mythology in cricket.

Even if it's 'only' Lillee-quick, it's still fawking fawst.

 

[robelinda]

Indeed!

 

[social]

YouTube - Michael Holding v England (Oval 1976 )

Fair to say that this was pretty rapid as he was beating guys with sheer speed through the air

Pitch was also good enough for Viv to score 291 against an attack including Willis, Underwood, etc

 

[Top_Cat]

Amiss with 200+ too.

 

[robelinda]

Amiss had real issues with the quicker bowlers too, so that does say much for the pitch in that match, he was a sitting duck for the WI quicks in previous series, had one real horrendous tour of the WI in 73 was it?? Saved his best for the flattest...Holding's bwling was amazing on such a road in 76.

 

[smash84]

Rob have you been able to find the Sylvester Clarke vids in your collection???

Holding was quick but that doesn't look like the fastest over ever......tbh Shoaib's over to Ricky Ponting looks quicker than this

 

[smash84]

Rob have you been able to find the Sylvester Clarke vids in your collection???

Holding was quick but that doesn't look like the fastest over ever......tbh Shoaib's over to Ricky Ponting looks quicker than this

 

[robelinda]

Yeah ive found some, but need time to edit them down

 

[smash84]

ok.....great

 

[smash84]

I think that on this forum we take it for granted that whatever cricket video we want to watch we can just ask Rob. It's great to have you around Rob. Being a big fan of cricket I can't thank you enough for being around.

 

[wpdavid]

Amiss had real issues with the quicker bowlers too, so that does say much for the pitch in that match, he was a sitting duck for the WI quicks in previous series, had one real horrendous tour of the WI in 73 was it?? Saved his best for the flattest...Holding's bwling was amazing on such a road in 76.

Amiss had a great tour of the WI in 1973/74 - one huge match saving innings (260 odd) in the 2nd test and another big knock that should have saved the first test. Perhaps he faded after that though. And, thinking about it, he may not have made many in the 1973 home series.

It was Aus that made mincemeat of him. He had a nightmare in 1974/75, started badly and then got dropped iirc in 1975, and was only brought back for the final test of the 1976 WI series.

 

[Mike5181]

Rob have you been able to find the Sylvester Clarke vids in your collection???

Holding was quick but that doesn't look like the fastest over ever......tbh Shoaib's over to Ricky Ponting looks quicker than this

Yeah, i think there is an element of past players from that era talking up bowlers they faced etc. It would be hard to look past Ahktar, Lee and Tait as the fastest bowlers in history to be honest. I doubt many other bowlers have gone past 160 clicks. We have to remember how strong modern day players are and what sort of gym equipment/trainers/shakes are available to them. Its like the 100m sprint. We get faster and faster as the years go by.

I would rate Shaun Tait's over against Pakistan as well.

 

[vcs]

No doubt that the WACA was a fast bowler's dream back then but check out vids of him at the Oval in '76 and his famous over against Boycott in the WI from about 79/80

Those wickets were flat and he was terrifyingly quick

This. I can never watch the highlights from his Oval '76 performance enough times.

 

[Maximus0723]

Gotta be Akhtar.