Is Mohammad Asif currently the best fast bowler in the world ?

[adharcric]

Its mainly the mismanagement and poor physiotherapy and un-wanted pressure of media plus I guess Shoaib was feeling unsecured by the taunts, tips and useless points by some people around him .
Inzamam is the basic problem in the Pakistani team because he is the authority now and he never could handle Shoaib well . Problem is not Shoaib but it was his bad luck and the people around him !!!!!!!

Right ...

 

[Richard]

It is a debatable issue which has never been debated

I'd forgotten how much I love your turn-of-phrase!

 

[Richard]

i think bracks is the best odi bowler at the moment and in test cricket it has to be asif but i have lost respect for him and even more for akthar(if i had any) after the doping issue

Anyone seriously contending that Bracken is not currently the best ODI bowler in The World needs their head examined IMO... seems incredible now that he didn't become a fixture in the side 6 years ago...

I think this was about Tests, though.

 

[Richard]

Is Mohammad Asif currently the best fast bowler in the world? I think he's vying with STuart Clark for the top spot......

IMO Asif is the Hussey of bowling - just keeps on and on doing well when no-one has any right to expect him to... repeatedly has lengthy breaks, and just keeps coming back every bit as good as before.

If he goes like this for much longer at all he'll be unparralleled... specially if you knock off his 1st Test.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

On recent form Asif certainly has a very strong case. He has 36 wickets in his last 5 Tests. Ntini has been sharp for longer though, so I'd peg him as the best.

 

[Pup Clarke]

My Opinion (Best Fast Bowlers)
Tests
1.Makhaya Ntini
2.Andrew Flintoff
3.Mohammed Asif
4.Shane Bond
5.Matthew Hoggard

One Dayers
1.Shane Bond
2.Andrew Flintoff
3.Nathan Bracken
4.Brett Lee
5.Chaminda Vaas

 

[silentstriker]

Pollock should be up there, surely?

 

[Pup Clarke]

Just because of one good series all of a sudden pollock is still a world class performer.1 bad series from Pollock and the likes of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel will be in the side.Remember him bowling off breaks in a test match.Everyone was saying he's never going to play test cricket again.

 

[Richard]

Pollock should be up there, surely?

Given that in Tests this season we've seen the sort of stuff from him we hadn't seen for 3 or 4 years previously, no.

 

[Richard]

One Dayers
1.Shane Bond
2.Andrew Flintoff
3.Nathan Bracken
4.Brett Lee
5.Chaminda Vaas

Explain how on Earth Pollock and McGrath are not massively superior to all, with the possible exception of Bond.

 

[Pup Clarke]

Come on you can't say Pollock is massively superior to Flintoff or Bracken who is so consistent and has a one day bowling average of just over 20.McGrath is still a very good one day bowler however and he would be in the top 5 instead of Vaas.

 

[shortpitched713]

Pollock is ranked 1st in the ICC Rankings amongst one day bowlers, and he bowls very similarly to McGrath, so I don't see why he wouldn't be on that list either.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

My Opinion (Best Fast Bowlers)
Tests
1.Makhaya Ntini
2.Andrew Flintoff
3.Mohammed Asif
4.Shane Bond
5.Matthew Hoggard

Flintoff > Asif? In what world?

Shane Bond? He plays less Test cricket than New Zealand... oh, wait...

Shoaib must be in there ahead of Bond if anything, because both have been injured often, but Shoaib less so. Matthew Hoggard is also a stretch to be in the top 5.

 

[Richard]

Come on you can't say Pollock is massively superior to Flintoff or Bracken who is so consistent and has a one day bowling average of just over 20.McGrath is still a very good one day bowler however and he would be in the top 5 instead of Vaas.

Forget averages, economy-rates are by far the most important thing in ODIs, and Pollock and McGrath's are and always have been exemplary while Bracken and Flintoff's of late have been no more than pretty good.

Vaas has too many 10-57-1s for all his 10-27-4s.

 

[aussie]

Explain how on Earth Pollock and McGrath are not massively superior to all, with the possible exception of Bond.

ye they both should definately be in the top 5 currently, but they aren't massively superior to Lee neither.

 

[Richard]

Which explains why their economy-rates are a whole 1-an-over or all-but superior...

McGrath and Pollock are a cut above any other bowler currently playing ODIs and that's mostly been true for the last 6 years.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

ye they both should definately be in the top 5 currently, but they aren't massively superior to Lee neither.

I'd say McGrath at least is way more than massively superior to Lee, actually. He takes wickets at a good rate and keeps the runs down whether or not he's taking wickets. Lee definitely can not say the same.

 

[silentstriker]

Agreed. If you only count fast bowlers, McGrath is still steps above anyone in world cricket. He'll take wickets, but even when he doesn't he'll give you 10 overs where the opposition won't score much. No other fast bowler can say that on a consistent basis (except Pollock).

 

[Richard]

Well... given Murali's recent form you could probably count spinners, too...

And seriously - aside from Murali and whoever-England's-latest-flavour-of-the-month-is, how many decent ODI spinners have there been recently? Since Kumble's decline in 1999 and Dharmasena's inexplicable axing in 2003, we've hardly had any.

EDIT: anyone ever heard of Harbhajan Singh...?

Mind, now I think about it he's not too often much of a wicket-taker, and that seemed to be the central bone.

 

[silentstriker]

Bhajji averages 42 in the last 20 matches.