Most Dangerous Ball

[oitoitoi]

Have you ever heard of the sport Jai Alai? That's meant to be pretty dangerous, the ball travels insanely fast and even though it doesn't have the weight or hardness of a cricket ball it's speed through the air must make up for that somewhat. Wikipedia has the fastest Jai Alai ball clocked at 188mph! It's a bit like squash.

 

[Richard]

I just wish that the West Indies could produce actual fast bowlers who could hit 95+ mph these days, preferably with the accuracy and skill of the old school quicks.

Well Edwards is barely below said speeds and Lawson wasn't either. It's perfectly conceivable that the likes of Roberts, Croft etc. weren't 95mph quick, BTW (Holding almost certainly was and Marshall might have been for a time). Garner certainly wasn't - mostly he was just fast-medium.

What set the quicks of the 1970s and 1980s apart was their accuracy, and to a fair extent, their height (which, obviously, goes hand-in-hand with accuracy to increase parsimony). Most of the most recent bowlers - Franklyn Rose amongst them - have been characterised by average-to-low height, low-slung actions and inaccuracy. But the speeds are little different now to ever.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Have you ever heard of the sport Jai Alai? That's meant to be pretty dangerous, the ball travels insanely fast and even though it doesn't have the weight or hardness of a cricket ball it's speed through the air must make up for that somewhat. Wikipedia has the fastest Jai Alai ball clocked at 188mph! It's a bit like squash.

Yeah I've heard of it, one of the guys from Jackass stood at the front of the court and let the ball hit him I think. Left a decent mark.

 

[oitoitoi]

Yeah I've heard of it, one of the guys from Jackass stood at the front of the court and let the ball hit him I think. Left a decent mark.

Lol that's where I first saw it too

 

[zaremba]

Most of the most recent bowlers - Franklyn Rose amongst them - have been characterised by average-to-low height, low-slung actions and inaccuracy.

Franklyn Rose is hardly average-to-low in height.

Tony Cozier reckons 6'5".

 

[Richard]

Really? I confess I haven't ever actually studied his height. But he seemed tiny compared to Ambrose and Walsh in 2000. It's very possible I was merely looking at the calibre of bowling rather than actually studying the factor in question.

He certainly had a lovely high action and if he'd had more bowling nous and a touch more control could easily have been a pretty decent bowler.

 

[Noble One]

From what I remember of Franklyn Rose he had a lovely tall action. Made the most from his ample height, like his more illustrius bowling partners in Ambrose and Walsh. Never did alot with the ball though, not a huge mover of the ball. Bowled a relatively unthreatening back of a length delivery.

Just one of the many bowlers who never stood up quite to potential for the West Indies. Franklyn Rose, Mervyn Dillon and Reon King.

 

[Top_Cat]

From what I remember of Franklyn Rose he had a lovely tall action. Made the most from his ample height, like his more illustrius bowling partners in Ambrose and Walsh. Never did alot with the ball though, not a huge mover of the ball. Bowled a relatively unthreatening back of a length delivery.

Much like Flintoff, this was his standard length but when he threw it up there, got decent swing.

 

[Richard]

Yeah Rose was actually quite capable of swinging the ball when he pitched it up. As I say, he just seemed to me to lack the nous to do it. He generally went for runs wherever he pitched it, but if he'd bowled more full and less short he could at least have often presented a threat when doing so.

 

[Richard]

Just one of the many bowlers who never stood up quite to potential for the West Indies. Franklyn Rose, Mervyn Dillon and Reon King.

TBF I have always doubted Dillon ever had the potential to be a truly Test-class bowler. He was pretty good, but never quite good enough. Rose, as I say, might have been with more nous; King, IMO, would have been beyond almost all question but for injury.

 

[Noble One]

TBF I have always doubted Dillon ever had the potential to be a truly Test-class bowler. He was pretty good, but never quite good enough. Rose, as I say, might have been with more nous; King, IMO, would have been beyond almost all question but for injury.

Agree with you on Mervyn Dillon. Potential alone, he was never going to be of high test-class. But he showed glimpses often enough that he could have been a more effective test bowler.

He was very solid in Australia in 2000/2001, chipping away with constant wickets. Wasn't high in pace, but he had the ball nipping around. Then backed it up with a terrific series against South Africa back in the West Indies. Played the occasional decent series after that, was essentially leading the West Indian attack after Walsh retired. Never needed that pressure, was a 1st change bowler at best, but a good one.

 

[Manee]

Yeah Rose was actually quite capable of swinging the ball when he pitched it up. As I say, he just seemed to me to lack the nous to do it. He generally went for runs wherever he pitched it, but if he'd bowled more full and less short he could at least have often presented a threat when doing so.

I'm willing to say that you are right here, but there are days where it is just hard to pitch the ball up without floating it there. Days where the natural length is very short. At least, that is the case for me.

 

[Richard]

I wouldn't attempt to suggest otherwise, but Rose always looked far, far better (I'd imagine almost anyone would say that) on the relatively rare occasions he pitched it up. Oddly enough, one of the best examples was his opening spell of this match. I thought "wow, he only bowled anywhere near that well about two or three times in 2000". And his second spell was poor and he ended with, as you see, unremarkable figures of 8-33-1 (I think his first spell was something like 6-11-1).

I've heard (never seen) suggestions that, in his first season in 1997 (he played all seven Tests at home to India and Sri Lanka, averaged 23.69 and often stood alone with Bishop as Ambrose and Walsh both struggled that season), he did indeed pitch more up and less short. However, thereafter he was rarely in the Test team and only once did he ever apparently bowl that well again, in a one-off in South Africa in 1998/99.

 

[oitoitoi]

I remember when I was a kid Franklyn Rose played for a club side in Sunderland, I think it was called Ashbrook (played in a different league to my team in Newcastle), one of my friends dad's played along side him (infamous Applegarth of Northern Rock fame). Once we saw him at a match and we weren't sure if it was him (we didn't believe our friend who had told us Franklyn Rose was playing for his side). So another mate went upto him on the boundary and asked him if he was Franklyn Rose (in front of the entire pavillion plus members), Franklyn looked shocked and stuttered "Ya man", my friend left in shame as the pavillion was in histerics. After that if we ever saw Rose around we'd all shout FRANKY!!! as loud as we could in public, he'd get really embarrassed poor bloke. Merv Dillon played for the same club later, top bloke, would come out drinking with us, he even used to skip his fitness drills and net sessions to play tennis ball cricket with us. His captain used to get really angry.