Who is the quickest left armer?

[BoyBrumby]

As we're talking about Bodyline in another thread just now, what about Bill Voce? Supposedly not quite so rapid as Larwood, but quick enough to give the batsmen a hurry-up still.

& I'm sure I read somewhere that his 98 wickets is the highest return still for an English seam-up bowler. I'd fancy Sidebottom to go past it if he stays fit tho.

 

[Richard]

I think Voce is generally assumed to be of "Darren Gough" sort of speed - low 90s tops, mid-late-80s on standard. Whereas Larwood was of more "Allan Donald" sort of speed, the speed we can assume Donald bowled in the mid-1990s at 27-28 - 95-96-97mph tops, regularly over 90. Larwood could conceivably have been the first bowler to regularly bowl over 90mph. On the other hand, Charles Kortwright could have been.

As for Davidson - think he's generally held to be standard Andy Caddick \ Dominic Cork sort of speed? Low 80s normally, 86-87 for the real effort-balls.

 

[Burgey]

Absolutely. One of the saddest stories around. What made it worse was that there were others around the time or just after - McDermott, Hughes, Reiffel, Fleming, Gillespie for a time - who also fell victim, if not quite as badly as Reid, to the injury curse.

Nothing I hate more than a potentially superb career ruined by injury. Who knows how good any of the above might possibly have been had they had completely injury-free times of it.

Interestingly, I heard Ian Healy on the radio the other day say that the consistently fastest bowler he kpet to was Merv Hughes, though one or two spells fom Gillespie in the 97 Ashes series were faster than Merv.

Maybe Merv was under-rated on the pace front - I've never really heard him described as real quick - thought he was more fast-medium.

 

[Top_Cat]

Interestingly, I heard Ian Healy on the radio the other day say that the consistently fastest bowler he kpet to was Merv Hughes, though one or two spells fom Gillespie in the 97 Ashes series were faster than Merv.

Maybe Merv was under-rated on the pace front - I've never really heard him described as real quick - thought he was more fast-medium.

Early days he was rated as quick as anyone in Australia. From about 1992 onwards, when his knee troubles really started to bite, he was around fast-medium. I don't recall too many out-and-out speedsters of the time, though. Certainly none in the Aussie side. Dennis Hickey, Wayne Holdsworth and Dunc Spencer come to mind but none played internationals.

And Jack, reeeeow.

 

[JBH001]

Brett Schultz of those I have seen.

Saw him bowl live in SL in 1994 (I think) and he was simply fearsome to behold. Scarily fast.

 

[Migara]

Brett Schultz of those I have seen.

Saw him bowl live in SL in 1994 (I think) and he was simply fearsome to behold. Scarily fast.

only three SL batsman were able to handle him with some conviction.

with De Silva you expect it not to defend but go out an attack the speedsters, and he was the only one who took to Donald and Schultz in that whole series.

Ranatunga somehow managed to score runs against these pacers.

Jyasuriya came in for one match and walloped Donald and Schultz all over the place for a half century. He did not know another way of playing.

Other than those three, against Schultz and Donald, rest of SL batters were shell-shocked.