Greatest west indian fast bowler of all time?

[Goughy]

Marshall, Ambrose and Holding. In that order IMO.

Ambrose though could be potentially have the 'McGraths' in that he is underrated in that he never did anything too dramatic apart from seldom bowling a bad ball and hitting a bugger of a length repeatedly.

Many will already know this, so I hope Im not accused of name dropping, but I netted with the West Indies as a young quick in the early 1990s. All the quicks were there but only Marshall stood out. Swinging the ball both ways and that whippy action.

It is entirely possible that I rank him #1 based on a few hours in the same net as him as an impressionable young teen.

Only 1 of the 3 I mention would make it into the WI attack I wouldnt want to bat against though.

Clarke, Patterson, Ambrose and Croft would be an attack to get a migrane rather than face.

 

[wpdavid]

It is entirely possible that I rank him #1 based on a few hours in the same net as him as an impressionable young teen.

Only 1 of the 3 I mention would make it into the WI attack I wouldnt want to bat against though.

Clarke, Patterson, Ambrose and Croft would be an attack to get a migrane rather than face.

Not nice, although I wonder if Gilchrist belongs in that attack ahead of Ambrose if we're talking about sheer unpleasantness.

The other guy who could be seriously unpleasant in his younger days was Holding. If accounts of the India game at Sabina Park are to be believed, he was quite prepared to send down a few beamers along witht the usual barrage of short stuff..

 

[SJS]

Strange, so he did. Maybe I'm mistaken then, because the only game that might (and this is a tiny possibility) have been televised in 1973 would have been this one against his countrymen. And there was certainly no TV in West Indies in 1974, so it wouldn't have been that.

Possibly it was just earlier on in '76 then.

Roberts did not play fir West indies in 1973 though may have been in the touring party. He made his debut in March next year when England toured West Indies.

 

[BhupinderSingh]

Not nice, although I wonder if Gilchrist belongs in that attack ahead of Ambrose if we're talking about sheer unpleasantness.

The other guy who could be seriously unpleasant in his younger days was Holding. If accounts of the India game at Sabina Park are to be believed, he was quite prepared to send down a few beamers along witht the usual barrage of short stuff..

Gichrist was good better than Ambrose?

 

[SJS]

Gichrist was excellent better than Ambrose?

Gilchrist was very fast and dangerous but I dont think he was ever considered a great fast bowler to be ranked amongst the games finest ever.

 

[BhupinderSingh]

Gilchrist was very fast and dangerous but I dont think he was ever considered a great fast bowler to be ranked amongst the games finest ever.

He probably wouldn't make my top 30 of alltime but why on earth are some people saying that he was better than Ambrose and some others?

 

[pasag]

He probably wouldn't make my top 30 of alltime but why on eart are some people saying that he was better than Ambrose and some others.

wpdavid never said Gilchrist was the better bowler.

 

[SJS]

He probably wouldn't make my top 30 of alltime but why on eart are some people saying that he was better than Ambrose and some others.

I am surprised too. He didnt do enough in his short career to indicate that. Whether he could have become a great bowler if things had gone differently in his career is pure conjecture. Its possible but there's nothing to go by to claim it authoritatively.

 

[Goughy]

Not nice, although I wonder if Gilchrist belongs in that attack ahead of Ambrose if we're talking about sheer unpleasantness.

Nah, the list wasnt purely on unpleasantness. I included Ambrose due to the difficulty of the bounce and not knowing whether to go back or forward. High prob of getting wrapped on the gloves.

Gichrist was a thug with the beamers and the iron incident and was a complete ****. However, he wasnt the fastest of his day and despite him being nasty Id rather face him than Ambrose.

 

[Bouncer]

How many people here have actually seen Andy Roberts bowl ?

Never Saw him bowl live though but thanks to PTV's cricket archive...got to see him bowl alot from specially from WI tours of Eng....mostly read about him alot.. i remember very first time reading about him in 6th grade while reading Imran's All round view where he described Pak tour of WI in 1977.....he wrote that till this day he still remembers how bravely Haroon Rashid(who was playing in his first season) took on Andy Roberts and pullled him for 2 sixes over mid wicket...while Imran was on non striker's end....he also wrote about how bravely Asif Iqbal and wasim Raja batted aginst Roberts who was the best of WI pace battery and at one point asif told Raja that I will take care of Roberts and you carry on playing +ively against rest of the bowlers....and Raja sure did play +ively and in that series he managed to hit 14 sixes in the series which stood as record for long time for max # of sixes in a series.....then read about Roberts in Other cricketer's interviews including, Zaheer, Majid, Javed, Sunil and Gooch...he sure was the best WI'ian fast bowler of the era....and was reightfully called as Brain of that pace battery

 

[wpdavid]

Gichrist was good better than Ambrose?

No, I was responding to Goughy's 2nd list which I interpreted as the 4 most unpleasant to face - he had already included a separate foursome who he considered to be the best.

As Goughy has subsequently explained, I slightly misunderstood his 2nd list, but I was never suggesting that Gilchrist was better than Ambrose. Nor was I suggesting that Patterson, Clarke & Croft were amongst the four finest ever produced by WI.

 

[Beleg]

hmm, colin croft seems like an ace bowler as well, at least from stats and old cricketer reports.

Among the post 90 crop, I thought Reon King had a lot of potential.

Edit: It is my opinion that several of them tried to be too Ambrose/Walsh-lite without trying to grow into their own as bowlers. This considerably hampered their natural style and abilities.

 

[neville cardus]

No, I was responding to Goughy's 2nd list which I interpreted as the 4 most unpleasant to face

Which, to my learned mind, would make for a far more robust and enkindling debate. I'd go for Gilchrist or Heine myself.

 

[Richard]

Roberts did not play fir West indies in 1973 though may have been in the touring party. He made his debut in March next year when England toured West Indies.

From what I can see he was in England in 1973 only to appear for Hampshire Second XI.

 

[Richard]

Marshall, Ambrose and Holding. In that order IMO.

Ambrose though could be potentially have the 'McGraths' in that he is underrated in that he never did anything too dramatic apart from seldom bowling a bad ball and hitting a bugger of a length repeatedly.

Many will already know this, so I hope Im not accused of name dropping, but I netted with the West Indies as a young quick in the early 1990s. All the quicks were there but only Marshall stood out. Swinging the ball both ways and that whippy action.

It is entirely possible that I rank him #1 based on a few hours in the same net as him as an impressionable young teen.

Maybe, but many others rank him as such for many other reasons.

In fact, I've never seen anyone who people tend to take seriously suggest that Marshall was not the greatest seam-bowler ever produced by the Caribbean.

 

[archie mac]

Which, to my learned mind, would make for a far more robust and enkindling debate. I'd go for Gilchrist or Heine myself.

Ah yes, Mr Heine and his partner were quite mean, but lets not forget Thommo, he was pretty nasty

 

[neville cardus]

Ah yes, Mr Heine and his partner

You are referring to Adcock, I assume.

but lets not forget Thommo, he was pretty nasty

At that bestial speed, nastiness comes with the territory.

By the way, is your email account still working, Archie? I'd like to know that you're getting the odd snippets that I've been sending you from time to time.

 

[archie mac]

You are referring to Adcock, I assume.



At that bestial speed, nastiness comes with the territory.

By the way, is your email account still working, Archie? I'd like to know that you're getting the odd snippets that I've been sending you from time to time.

I have a shocking email set up, but I have recieved the occasional one from you. Keep them coming always interesting stuff from you. By the way I can find nothing about CB Fry's 'Life Worth Living' being ghosted Where did you read that?

And yes Adcock, just wanted to make sure you know your stuff mate

 

[neville cardus]

I have a shocking email set up, but I have recieved the occasional one from you. Keep them coming always interesting stuff from you.

That's very kind. Will do.

By the way I can find nothing about CB Fry's 'Life Worth Living' being ghosted Where did you read that?

The Wilton biography that you rate so highly.

And yes Adcock, just wanted to make sure you know your stuff mate

I recently finished reading one of Jack Cheetham's tour books, so you weren't about to catch me out there!

 

[archie mac]

I will have to check that up