Bowling Strikerates in test matches - how important are they?

[subshakerz]

Originally Posted by bagapath

to use your own examples, akram is the andy roberts of his team. he would have opened the attack whoever else was available. he is the 77-81 botham and the early 50s' alec bedser. if imran, akram and waqar were in prime form and available for selection imran and akram would open the bowling attack and waqar would come in next. that is why i said you are confusing yourself by conjuring up these exmples. it is plain and simple. akram was a superior new ball bowler compared to waqar; that he was better overall is a different issue. just as a new ball bowler waqar lacked akram's controlled swing and discipline. the reverse swing, pace changes and mixing up of deliveries would come in later with the old ball. for sheer conventional swing bowling with controlled line and length akram was the best in his team.

bingo. anyone who has watched Waqar and Akram consistently in the 90s would reach the same conclusion pretty easily...

[Richard]

Originally Posted by funnygirl

Please quote the autobiographies which says ''Waqar was not bowling short stuffs in Leeds test match or he was pitching up ''.Yeah a bit strange .I am asking because u r so cut and dry in your answer that u knew specifically about that test match or such a thing never happened.

I've never claimed I know everything about every Test Pakistan featuring Waqar played against England. Not once.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by bagapath

to use your own examples, akram is the andy roberts of his team. he would have opened the attack whoever else was available. he is the 77-81 botham and the early 50s' alec bedser. if imran, akram and waqar were in prime form and available for selection imran and akram would open the bowling attack and waqar would come in next. that is why i said you are confusing yourself by conjuring up these exmples. it is plain and simple. akram was a superior new ball bowler compared to waqar; that he was better overall is a different issue. just as a new ball bowler waqar lacked akram's controlled swing and discipline. the reverse swing, pace changes and mixing up of deliveries would come in later with the old ball. for sheer conventional swing bowling with controlled line and length akram was the best in his team.

As I say - if other people have watched more Wasim cricket than I have and come to this conclusion, that's fair enough.

But you're surely not telling me he was a better new-ball swinger than Imran?

[bagapath]

Originally Posted by Richard

As I say - if other people have watched more Wasim cricket than I have and come to this conclusion, that's fair enough.

But you're surely not telling me he was a better new-ball swinger than Imran?

i am more inclined to go 50.5 - 49.5 in imran's favor at their peaks. but since 84-85, when akram started, he was more or less imran's equal with the new ball, first as the next big thing and then as the spearhead. and towards the end of the great khan's career wasim did manage to overtake his mentor. but if we are taking their overall careers into consideration my assessment in the first sentence would hold true.

[Uppercut]

I think Wasim's superiority over Waqar in tests is a bit overstated sometimes because he was a much better ODI bowler. I'd be with Dicko here, not that it makes any great difference who opens when you've got Imran, Wasim and Waqar all in the team.