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Ashley Mallet's 5 picks

watson

Banned
Quick picks
Five all-time great fast bowlers who had pace as well as every trick in the book

Ashley Mallett on the five best fast bowlers he has seen | Opinion | Cricinfo Magazine | ESPN Cricinfo
Ashley Mallet's 5 picks were;

1. Ray Lindwall
2. Dennis Lillee
3. Wasim Akram
4. Alan Davidson
5. Malcolm Marshall.

It's interesting that he puts Lindwall at the top of the list as Lindwall rarely gets into peoples ATG A-team on this forum;

Ray Lindwall heads my list of the five best fast bowlers I have seen.
Other interesting comments were;

Lillee played World Series Cricket for a couple of years, during which he worked diligently on his approach to the wicket and his delivery. He became an even better bowler technically, if that was even possible. The famous "caught Marsh bowled Lillee" dismissal appears on Test match scorecards 95 times.
To me, cricketing heaven would be Wasim Akram and Shane Warne bowling in tandem to Victor Trumper and Don Bradman.
I've seen some fabulous left-arm pace bowlers in my time, including Alan Davidson and Garry Sobers, but none of them at their top quite gets above Wasim.
While he didn't have the bustle or rapid bowling arm of Wasim, Davo had a nice rhythm. He used his front arm to good effect and had the ability to swing in late to the right-handers or angle the ball away. It was, of course, his ability to swing the ball that made his away angle so dangerous. So many of his Test victims were caught behind by the ever reliable Wally Grout.
Like Wasim, Marshall possessed a wickedly fast arm that took him at will from fast-medium to express. Marshall did not have the height of a Garner or a Holding, and like Lindwall's, his bouncer skidded at the batsman. In being very front-on, he was much like South Africa's Mike Procter; also in that he was relentlessly at you: both bowlers were hunters.
 

Dan

Hall of Fame Member
Ashley Mallett on Malcolm Marshall said:
He excelled for West Indies and for Hampshire, the county team he loved. He may well have been the greatest quick of them all. Vale Malcolm Marshall.
Based on that, I'm not sure he was ranking them from 1 to 5.

A fast-bowling attack of Marshall, Davidson, Akram and Lindwall would be incredible, IMO.
 

Jager

International Debutant
I was glad to see Lindwall and Davidson in the mix, they deserve more credit IMO.
 

bagapath

International Captain
it will be tough to improve this bunch of pacers though; although hadlee, mcgrath, ambrose, imran and truman can make an equally intimidating combination.
 

Dan

Hall of Fame Member
it will be tough to improve this bunch of pacers though; although hadlee, mcgrath, ambrose, imran and truman can make an equally intimidating combination.
Very true.

I think one of the biggest problems with making ATG XIs, in particular, is that over time we have had such good quality pace bowlers. Very few eras have been punctuated by poor pace bowlers.

The difference between a ATG XI pace bowler and a 3rd or 4th World XI quick is negligible, really.

Marshall, Imran, McGrath, Hadlee, Ambrose, Trueman, Barnes, Waqar, Lindwall, Davidson, Wasim, Lillee - that gives you 4 sides worth, right there.

Even if you rank them in order, there isn't a huge amount of difference between them.
 

kyear2

Cricketer Of The Year
Great article, not sure if he was ranking them in order as he did finish by saying that Marshall may have been the best fast bolwer of them all.

He also did previously the best five batsmen that he saw with Harvey, Barry Richards, Sobers, Viv Richards and Tendulkar.
He also did a top five spinners, but would have to go back to check the results.

Back to the fast bowlers though an Mcgrath or Ambrose would have made itespecially based on how they played in or againts Australia, but its was his list and Davidson had made quite the impression on him.
 

smash84

The Tiger King
totally agree with him regarding a cricketing heaven being Wasim Akram and Shane Warne bowling in tandem

Really the two most exciting bowlers that I have seen
 

kyear2

Cricketer Of The Year
Davidson had an amazing average, but also a strike rate of 62, which is high for any era, and while Wasim may have been one of the most talented fast bolwers ever, his production never mated his potential. Waqar to me was still the most feared and productive fast bolwer, he was too expensive but he took wickets, and more importantly, top order wickets which Wasim struggled to consistently do. As I said previously Trueman, Ambrose and Mcgrath would have been candidates for me, but once again it was his list and he could choose who he wanted, just surprised mainly by the Davidson pick.

Unless I remember incorrectly he also named Harvey as the best batsman he has seen, so it was skewed towards who he grew up watching. No disrespect to Neil Harvey intended.
 

bagapath

International Captain
Davidson had an amazing average, but also a strike rate of 62, which is high for any era, .
not true. all great fast bowlers of his era - miller, lindwall, bedser, statham - had very high strike rates. only truman stood out with a sub-50 SR. like all champions, davo would have become an all-time great in any era.
 

grecian

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I'm surprised Trueman didn't make it, was genuinely quick at the start of his career, and then apparently learnt the craft brilliantly to remove batsmen when his pace dimmed.

Oh, and I'd put Hadlee ahead of Wasim, from those I've seen.
 
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Top_Cat

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Waqar before his first shoulder injury out of those two. Rob's (finally!) put up some footage of him in England in 1992, was an incredible period for him. Have not seen anything like it before or since. Just a bulldozer.
 

fredfertang

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Waqar before his first shoulder injury out of those two. Rob's (finally!) put up some footage of him in England in 1992, was an incredible period for him. Have not seen anything like it before or since. Just a bulldozer.
He was playing for Surrey back then - in 1991 he was on TV a few times, just limited overs stuff, but on occasions he might has well have been bowling at me so clueless were some of the less skilled county batsmen - just taking that couple of years in isolation I simply don't believe there can ever have been a better pace bowler than Waqar
 

Migara

Cricketer Of The Year
Very true.

I think one of the biggest problems with making ATG XIs, in particular, is that over time we have had such good quality pace bowlers. Very few eras have been punctuated by poor pace bowlers.

The difference between a ATG XI pace bowler and a 3rd or 4th World XI quick is negligible, really.

Marshall, Imran, McGrath, Hadlee, Ambrose, Trueman, Barnes, Waqar, Lindwall, Davidson, Wasim, Lillee - that gives you 4 sides worth, right there.

Even if you rank them in order, there isn't a huge amount of difference between them.
Holding, Garner, Roberts, Donald and I'd make the 5th XI too.
 

smash84

The Tiger King
He was playing for Surrey back then - in 1991 he was on TV a few times, just limited overs stuff, but on occasions he might has well have been bowling at me so clueless were some of the less skilled county batsmen - just taking that couple of years in isolation I simply don't believe there can ever have been a better pace bowler than Waqar
Imran at his peak in 1982 was a different beast too......

just check out the 5 wicket spell from 0:50 onwards.....the quality is pretty good too

Rare Video....Imran Khan destroying India 1982-83 Pakistan Vs India Test Cricket Series - YouTube
 

ankitj

Hall of Fame Member
totally agree with him regarding a cricketing heaven being Wasim Akram and Shane Warne bowling in tandem

Really the two most exciting bowlers that I have seen
Imran at his peak in 1982 was a different beast too......

just check out the 5 wicket spell from 0:50 onwards.....the quality is pretty good too

Rare Video....Imran Khan destroying India 1982-83 Pakistan Vs India Test Cricket Series - YouTube
Now you have praised all 3 of them. Done for this thread? :ph34r:
 

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