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Ranking the candidates for best fast/pace bowler ever: The Rankings thread

mr_mister

mr_mister

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
15th. Waqar Younis (281 points)




Top 5 finishes: 1
Bottom 5 finishes: 0
Highest finish: 2nd (1 time)
Lowest finish: 17th (2 times)

Waqar Younis was a wicket taking machine. He had the best strike-rate of any modern quick before Steyn came along. He still holds a lot of 'fastest to x amount of wickets' records. This is a testament to how insane the first part of his career was. His first 35 tests yielded 194 wickets @ 19 with the crazy S/R of 36. After 1995 his career faltered a bit, mainly due to back injuries. His wicket taking slowed down drastically but he was still capable of the odd bit of magic right up until retirement in 2003.

Waqar, along with Wasim formed one of the most lethal new ball partnerships of the 90s right next to Ambrose/Walsh. They differed from Ambrose/Walsh though who loved to bounce players. Wasim and Waqar always aimed for the stumps. Both of them are in the top 10 for total wickets bowled and LBW, and these lists are mainly dominated by spinners. It was a good thing too as they didn't get much support from their fielders, so going for the stumps was the best option.

Waqar is known for the crazy banana swing he managed to get with the old ball, and him and Wasim were known as the masters of reverse swing. Waqar demolished many a top order in the early 90s with his partner in crime using this art.
 
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mr_mister

mr_mister

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
There's less than 40 points separating 10th-15th. Waqar unlucky to be on the bottom of that heap.
 
mr_mister

mr_mister

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
14th. Joel Garner (285 points)





Top 5 finishes: 0
Bottom 5 finishes: 1
Highest finish: 6th (1 time)
Lowest finish: 21st (1 time)

Big Bird, the 6'8 man from Barbados, had to share a lot of wickets with his ATG teammates. He only took 7 five fers and his best bowling in a test match was only a 6 fer, quite rare for someone held in such high esteem as him. But he still averaged under 21, nearly took 5 wickets per test and was the most economic of his peers.

Possessing a fearsome bouncer(naturally) and a super accurate yorker, Garner proved nearly impossible to score off, something which made him arguably the best ODI bowler ever.
 
trundler

trundler

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Haha, everyone's saying some of these guys ended too low, despite us voting them there. Imagine if any one of those left ended up here.
 
mr_mister

mr_mister

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Pretty crazy, there's a 3-way tie for the next spot. The first tie I've had in these lists and it's between 3 players ha. Will do their write-ups in chronological order.





Equal 11th. Ray Lindwall (306 points)





Top 5 finishes: 1
Bottom 5 finishes: 0
Highest finish: 4th (1 time)
Lowest finish: 18th (1 time)


Most pieces written about Lindwall talk about how beautiful his action was and what a joy it was to see him bowl. This action was modeled after Larwood, who Lindwall witnessed bowl as a young boy. He used yorkers, bouncers and changes of pace as his weapons. Lindwall may have been the first modern quick, as he was certainly one of the best paceman going around in the immediate post-war era.

He saved his best for the old enemy, taking 114 wickets from 7 campaigns against them @ 22, exactly half his overall test count of 228 and at a better average. Funnily enough it was only against minnows Pakistan that he struggled.

Lindwall was one of the few greats who forged not one but two very famous new ball partnerships throughout his test career, first with Miller then later with Davidson.
 
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mr_mister

mr_mister

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Equal 11th. Michael Holding (306 points)




Top 5 finishes: 0
Bottom 5 finishes: 0
Highest finish: 7th (1 time)
Lowest finish: 20th (1 time)

If Marshall was the most versatile, Garner the most cunning and Roberts the most fearsome, we have to acknowledge that Holding had the speed. He was arguably the quickest of the famed Windies quicks, and he did it with a silent run-up which lead to him being dubbed 'Whispering Death'.

Holding still posses the best ever match figures for a West Indian, 14/149. He had top performances all around the globe except in NZ, where his average of 47 from 4 tests is a rare blemish. Holding was crucial to the Windies domiance in the 80s.
 
jimmy101

jimmy101

Cricketer Of The Year
Whoever ranked Holding in 20th position needs to be dragged out into the street & shot, in front of their parents.
 
mr_mister

mr_mister

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Equal 11th. Allan Donald (306 points)




Top 5 finishes: 1
Bottom 5 finishes: 0
Highest finish: 2nd (1 time)
Lowest finish: 18th (1 time)


The perfect quick bowler. Average of 22, S/R of 47, he had an awesome action, could crank it up to express pace and had the mean stare to boot. White Lightning was South Africa's first ATG player after re-admission, and for a good while was their only consistent world class player before Kallis and Pollock joined him in the mid 90s. Donald had a huge burden on his shoulders in that sense.

He only played 72 tests which is less than any of his 90s fast bowling peers, and was nearly 26 when he made his test debut due to Apartheid. But he still managed a hefty 330 wickets, and was the first from his country to break the 300 barrier. He was very consistent throughout the 90s but it was in 1998 where he hit his absolute peak, taking 80 wickets @ 19 from 14 tests.

He averaged 23 or lower against every nation except Australia, against who he averaged 31, though this is no doubt affected by some poor performances very late in his career against them when he was nearly 36.
 
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