Quote:
Originally Posted by Arrow
Stop mentioning mcgrath he was medium fast. Averaged about 130s.
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He was probably faster than that. He did himself no favours in the speed stakes by employing that steepling length which, as a hallmark of his bowling, was eclipsed only by the consistency with which he held it. Although greatly unsettling (chiefly for said metronomic steadiness), it completely duped the speed gun.
I do not know how closely you study, and how much credibility you give to, that delightful piece of technology creatively dubbed "Hawkeye", but it shows (with what may be called conclusiveness only if you believe in its fabled accuracy) that a cricket ball, when trundled, loses an enormous amount of pace after hitting the deck.
This always seemed the case with Glenn McGrath. Had a he bowled a foot or so fuller, he might not have been as great or as temperate a bowler, but he would have maintained his status as a genuine speedster for far longer than he did.
Still, whatever the facts about his speed and how much of it he lost after his deliveries introduced themselves to cricket wickets, he hardly deserves mention in a thread devoted to medium-pacers.