best bowlers in the 90s

[hang on]

the many a vs. b sorts of threads (mea culpa, too, in this regard) and the discussions that they have provoked have led me to think about the bowlers of the 90s, an excellent (arguably the best?) decade for both pace and spin bowling.

with some of the greatest bowlers to have drawn breath displaying their wares in this decade, i was wondering about how one would rate the best bowlers of the 90s. not an easy task to rank warne, murali, pollock, donald, ambrose, walsh, waqar, wasim, mcgrath.

and how one would go about choosing a bowling attack for a world team for the 90?

 

[mrcheek]

Difficult to pick the best out of those, but I guess if you were gonna pick a team of the decade, you would have a 5 man attack of Ambrose, McGrath, Waqar, Wasim, and Warne.

Wasim bats at 7 as the all-rounder, so whoever the keeper is in the World XI of the 90s had better be a decent batsman!

 

[hang on]

that seems like an excellent pick. to be perfectly frank, i really cannot pick a team for the 90s that stays constant! and it's the bowling that does it. no other selection exercise causes me as much trouble, whether the all time 11s or lefties vs. righties 11s.

 

[hang on]

to imagine that bowlers like donald and murali could conceivably be left out....mind boggling quality on offer.

 

[smash84]

Difficult to pick the best out of those, but I guess if you were gonna pick a team of the decade, you would have a 5 man attack of Ambrose, McGrath, Waqar, Wasim, and Warne.

Wasim bats at 7 as the all-rounder, so whoever the keeper is in the World XI of the 90s had better be a decent batsman!

that is an awesome bowling attack...........but can change on a rank turner with murali coming an and waqar going out.

 

[0RI0N]

Ambrose

Donald

Waqar

Warne

That would be my 4 bowlers of the decade.
The above 4 in my opinion were the best.


Wasim or Glenn could be very well get in easily.

 

[hang on]

would they form the attack of the team of the decade, too?

while some might be of the view that the top bowlers of the decade need to be in the team of the decade, others might have team balance etc. as a more important factor.

 

[Howe_zat]

I suspect your 'keeper for the 90s would be Healey, who you'd rather have at #7 to be fair. Given the dominance of ball over bat in the 80s-90s you'd consider going in with four bowlers, and so as much as I'd hate to do it Waqar would be left out.

Can't really think of a world class batting allrounder of that era to go #6 though, and given the quality of bowling on offer I'd be too tempted. Flower could play #6 and then you'd have the attack you suggested. Leaving out Donald and Murali a kicker.

Pollock could solve your allrounder problem, but he was at his best around 2000-05 rather than the late 90s.

 

[Blaze 18]

Curtly Ambrose, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shane Warne.

 

[Noble One]

Some incredible bowlers in the 1990's.

Such a shame that some killer bowlers like Ian Bishop, Heath Streak, Craig McDermott, Gus Fraser, Paul Reiffel, Anil Kumble, Merv Hughes and about 20 others wouldn't come close to making the first choice bowling squad of the 90's. Bowlers that **** all over the majority of quicks/spinners we have in the game now.

 

[bagapath]

the best bowlers of the 90s in terms of their standing in the world, were:

ambrose
warne
wasim
waqar
donald
mcgrath
kumble
walsh
murali
pollock
mcdermott
bishop
hughes
gough
srinath

 

[vcs]

Bagapath, you missed out Heath Streak, had a very good record in the 90s, IIRC.

 

[ankitj]

If we are not including record in 00's, my bowling attack would comprise Ambrose, Donald, Akram, Waqar and Warne.

I am treating McGrath and Murali as players who played more and better cricket in 00's

 

[Howe_zat]

Seems bizarre to leave out Wasim, especially if you're trying to put a balanced attack together.

 

[kingkallis]

For me :

Curtley Ambrose
Allan Donald
Wasim Akram ( he is a useful batsman so I can have him as 4th seamer ahead of Walsh, McGrath )
Waqar Younis
Shane Warne

 

[marc71178]

Would anyone select a keeper for a best of side who averages 22?

If not, then you cannot justify selecting 5 bowlers in this side.

 

[mrcheek]

Would anyone select a keeper for a best of side who averages 22?

If not, then you cannot justify selecting 5 bowlers in this side.

Pay attention, we're picking Andy Flower behind the stumps, average of over 50!

He might have to open in a team of the 90s as well, because we can have an awesome middle order with Sachin, Lara, Inzy and Waugh, yet theres no obvious openers.

 

[Ikki]

In the 90s Pollock was gun, also. He was on course to be one of the top greats (Marshall, Lillee, McGrath, Hadlee, etc). He didn't have a bad record home or away. It seems once he lost some speed he kind of tailed off.

 

[weldone]

Ambrose, Wasim, Waqar, Warne

 

[mrcheek]

In the 90s Pollock was gun, also. He was on course to be one of the top greats (Marshall, Lillee, McGrath, Hadlee, etc). He didn't have a bad record home or away. It seems once he lost some speed he kind of tailed off.

If youre picking a one day side, he's in. As long as he isnt captain. But in a test side, there are a few who were just that tiny bit better.

He would be great to have in a squad though. Bring him in for reliability in the 3rd Test of the series of 90s v 80s, when Ambrose is tiring and has lost his radar....