Best bowling attack you can think of

[C_C]

Ok, this is a hypothetical one- mix and match, throw them all in i dont care but limit your list to 5 bowlers tops..

Mine would be as follows:

Malcolm Marshall : IMO, best fast bowler ever. Period. Deceptive pace, brilliant cricketing brain and allround effectivenes everywhere

Wasim Akram : Brilliant swing, versatality, pace that could floor anyone, king of variety. Capable of long spells as well as short bursts of dizzying pace.

Glenn McGrath : Though Hadlee would always be in the team ahead of Pidge, i think Pidge is a marginally better bowler at doing the same metronome game style. Need a metronome in there somewhere.

Muralitharan : Best spinner ever- potent on any surface, capable of marathon spells- its scary how good he might've been if he had good pacers to punch through the top order consistently.

Last bowler for me would depend on pitch conditions:

a) Normal to pacy/seaming pitches:

Michael Holding : Extreme pace and extreme hotility. Nobody did that better than Mikey. For an extreme speedster, he was surprisingly effective on dead track. There have been other greater bowlers than Mikey perhaps but nobody has turned in as many mindboggling spells of utter domination and aggresion as Mikey- his over to Boycott, his schooling of Closey, the terror in Sabina Park, the Old Trafford.

b) Rained on pitches:

Derek Underwood : Deadly Derek. Enough said on sticky wickets.

c) Flat batting paradise or crumbling pitches:

[b] Anil Kumble [./b] : The Krumbler is a monicker for a reason.

[b]
So- this team has a metronome monster who'd irritate anyone, a bowler like Marshall who blends speed, aggresion, cunning and consistently better than anyone else in history, a magician like Akram and a spinner of the highest class. Not to mention, depending on circumstances, either a dizzyingly fast speed demon of the highest class , a true sticky wicket master or a master of the puff.
I cant think of a better balanced attack than this:

Marshall - Akram - McGrath - Murali - Holding/Kumble/Underwood

[honestbharani]

Marshall
McGrath
Akram
Warne
Murali



Beat that.

[BhupinderSingh]

Imran Khan
Richard Hadlee
Wasim Akram
Muttiah Muralitharan
Glenn McGrath/Shane Warne

[Poker Boy]

Marshall, Lillee, Warne, Sobers, Akram/Underwood (the last one depends on the pitch. Deadly gets in if its a turner otherwise Akram.

[BhupinderSingh]

Originally Posted by Poker Boy

Marshall, Lillee, Warne, Sobers, Akram/Underwood (the last one depends on the pitch. Deadly gets in if its a turner otherwise Akram.

Your team is going to lose miserably.Even Dennis Lillee doesn't deserve to be a part of an alltime attack.

[C_C]

Originally Posted by BhupinderSingh

Your team is going to lose miserably.Even Dennis Lillee doesn't deserve to be a part of an alltime attack.

This is merely about the best bowling attack you can think of - which has nothing to do with the best XI - if it did, McGrath would not be in the side and Hadlee would slot in for him.

[silentstriker]

Ambrose
Marshall
Murali
Warne
McGrath

Thats one long tail, but I don't think you can bench any of those if you have them in the side. It would be rare occasion indeed if the opposition can make more than 450 in the first innings on a perfect batting pitch, and I doubt any side can chase more than 200 in the fourth innings....ever.

[shortpitched713]

McGrath
Marshall
Waqar
Murali
Warne/Ambrose

Ambrose would play in place of Warne only on greentops. Yeah, I just don't see anything beating this.

[Jono]

Originally Posted by silentstriker

Ambrose
Marshall
Murali
Warne
McGrath

Thats one long tail, but I don't think you can bench any of those if you have them in the side. It would be rare occasion indeed if the opposition can make more than 450 in the first innings on a perfect batting pitch, and I doubt any side can chase more than 200 in the fourth innings....ever.

That's mine too. I was tempted to put in Akram to have the token left-armer, hence covering all bases of right arm pace, left arm pace, off-spin and leg-spin, but I can't drop Marshall, McGrath or Ambrose for Akram. IMO all slightly better bowlers.

[C_C]

IMO all slightly better bowlers

You are correct- all three names there i'd consider are slightly better bowlers than Akram.
However, is the best concievable bowling attack a collection of the best concievable bowlers or is it a collection of the best possible group that'd compliment each other ?
For eg, I consider Hadlee and McGrath both to be superior bowlers to Waqar- but is a Hadlee-McGrath combo a better option in reality than a McGrath-Waqar or Hadlee-Waqar situation ? I dont think so, simply because McGrath-Hadlee are much too similar while Waqar would complement either of the two perfectly.

[shortpitched713]

There should be a certain amount of diversity to an attack, you shouldn't pick 5 right arm pacers or 5 off spinners. Still in the end, the best bowlers will get you the most wickets, so IMO theres no need to pick a left arm bowler if he wasn't necesarily the best.

[Pothas]

Malcolm Marshall
Glen Mcgrath
Fred Trueman
Shane Warne
Imran Kahn

[Slifer]

Imran Khan
Hadlee
Marshall
Mcgrath
Murali

[Mahindinho]

Holding
Akram
McGrath
Murali
Warne / Marshall depending on the pitch

Mmmm...tasty!

[aussie]

Lillee
Akram
Hadlee
Murali
Warne