England's left arm seamers

[Poker Boy]

Something Mr Berry wrote in the Sunday Telegraph surprised me. In the history of English Test cricket no left arm seamer has took more than Bill Voce's 98 Test wickets. I wonder why that is when every one of the non Zim/BD Test countries has at least one 100+ wicket left arm seamer. JK Lever got off to a flier in India by swinging the ball (by fair means or otherwise - ball tampering wasn't just an issue in the 1990s) but the rest of his Test career rather fizzled out and in the 1990s we had left arm let arm seamers like Paul Taylor, Illott, Mulally, "Chubby" Brown and Mike Smith who all got a chance at Test cricket but most of them had the minor problem of not being very good. Now we have Ryan Sidebottom who has made a good start to the second part of his Test career but can he sustain it to give us an equivalent of a Chaminder Vass or a Zaheer Khan (if not someone of Wasim Akram's calibre?

 

[steds]

"Chubby" Brown

 

[NUFAN]

Ryan Sidebottom vs Wasim Akram LOL!! No chance

 

[Richard]

Left-arm seamers as a whole have been pretty rare. Sure, Mike Smith was treated terribly, but then so was, for instance, Ken Higgs. I don't think we have a particular problem either producing or understanding left-armers, just... well, the way the cookie's crumbled, TBH.

As for saying someone's good because he's emulated Zaheer Khan...

 

[open365]

Sidebottom is da man

 

[Prince EWS]

Now we have Ryan Sidebottom who has made a good start to the second part of his Test career but can he sustain it to give us an equivalent of a Chaminder Vass or a Zaheer Khan

I'd rate him somewhere in between those two, already. A poor man's Vaas really - similar bowlers, but Sidebottom is less accurate and hasn't shown the ability (yet) to plan out a batsman in the way Vass can. I'd take him over Zaheer Khan already though, even given his short career in favourable conditions against weak opposition.

 

[Pratters]

 

[open365]

I'd rate him somewhere in between those two, already. A poor man's Vaas really - similar bowlers, but Sidebottom is less accurate and hasn't shown the ability (yet) to plan out a batsman in the way Vass can. I'd take him over Zaheer Khan already though, even given his short career in favourable conditions against weak opposition.

Disagree with that, not that i'm saying he's better than Vass or anything.

Sidebottom's brain has been one of his biggest assets from what i've seen of him, look at the way he dismissed Laxman in the first innings, bowling a few bouncers then going wide of the crease and pushing the ball across him and getting the edge.

There have been other examples aswell, most notably the way he kept getting Ganga LBW (though tbf he isn't the only one) and Devon Smith by swinging them away then throwing in the straight one.

 

[Prince EWS]

Disagree with that, not that i'm saying he's better than Vass or anything.

Sidebottom's brain has been one of his biggest assets from what i've seen of him, look at the way he dismissed Laxman in the first innings, bowling a few bouncers then going wide of the crease and pushing the ball across him and getting the edge.

There have been other examples aswell, most notably the way he kept getting Ganga LBW (though tbf he isn't the only one) and Devon Smith by swinging them away then throwing in the straight one.

Yeah, I'd agree, but the way Vaas has done it with such regularity and consistency is not something Sidebottom can really show in 5 tests, IMO. The way he has bowled thus far prompted me to include the "yet" bit though, as he has shown the signs, as you mentioned.

 

[Richard]

Sidebottom is that great thing - a thinking bowler with the talent to put his thoughts into practice.

I do cringe when I see him getting all angry and yelling at thin-air, though.

 

[Pup Clarke]

I do cringe when I see him getting all angry and yelling at thin-air, though.

Especially since he's apparantly meant to be extremely quite and polite outside of his cricket. I imagine Donald's brought it into his game but his "come on" after an annocuous delivery is especially cringe-worthy imo.

 

[open365]

I think his attempts at being agressive are absolutely hillarious, he's like an actor who's forgot his lines, can't wait to see him bowl to Andre Nel.

 

[Pup Clarke]

His "oooooooooohhhhhhhhh" after every delivery is cringe worthy as well.

 

[open365]

Especialy when he gets his hair stuck in his face

 

[Richard]

Especially since he's apparantly meant to be extremely quite and polite outside of his cricket.

Well Andre Nel is there too (though TBH he does overdo it sometimes and that makes me cringe too), and Glenn McGrath certainly, but the thing is it's something I've only seen in Sidebottom since that game after his Test comeback. Which makes me as well as cringing. Indeed, perhaps it's because it's so that-doesn't-make-sense that I feel the need to cringe.

And Bowman - I'm astonished you can find it funny. It's borderline embarrasing for me.