Is bowling really fast (90mph and over) natural or a learned skill?

[smash84]

Yes those are his stats but on the field, do you really think he made the most of the pace he had?personally I thought Lee was much more effective with similar pace..

Yorks, did you actually see Shoaib bowling in test matches?

As Pratters said, he could be absolutely lethal when he turned up at the park. And even when not running through line ups he could hold up an end and not leak runs like Mohammad Sami.

Look up some of his test match spells against Aus or SA on youtube.

 

[weldone]

Ya Akhtar was very good - definitely not at the level of Imran, Wasim or Waqar; but he's a contender for Pakistan's 4th best pace bowler ever (along with Fazal).

 

[Spark]

Ryan Harris, yo. Started a medium pacer, then turned himself into, well, Ryan Harris.

 

[harsh.ag]

Akhtar > Lee for me as well

 

[Gob]

Birt lee could've had better numbers if he hadn't played the enforcer role under waugh but yeah shoib was better.

 

[Gob]

It's all bout that meat. Eating meat increases your pace by atleast 10mph, gives you better wrist position, the ability to not bowl filthy deliveries every over, and most importantly, gives you a brain.

#PoorVeggieIndians

Totally.Otherwise you'd end up like peter siddle.

 

[smash84]

Ya Akhtar was very good - definitely not at the level of Imran, Wasim or Waqar; but he's a contender for Pakistan's 4th best pace bowler ever (along with Fazal).

yeah, that's a fair assessment. I would rate fazal ahead because he would actually be available for selection. Otherwise there isn't much between their match winning abilities.

 

[Pratters]

With Akhtar, I do wonder how much some one like Waqar as coach would have helped, like it helps with Wahab Riaz, say. Fast bowlers do need proper care. Imran was a genius in himself. Then, he was there to take care of Akram and Waqar when they were young. When Shoaib was playing, he wasn't mentored as much, one feels. He talked in a recent interview how he played most of his career with a lot of injections. He He broke down so much. Over stretched himself, you would think.

 

[smash84]

With Akhtar, I do wonder how much some one like Waqar as coach would have helped, like it helps with Wahab Riaz, say. Fast bowlers do need proper care. Imran was a genius in himself. Then, he was there to take care of Akram and Waqar when they were young. When Shoaib was playing, he wasn't mentored as much, one feels. He talked in a recent interview how he played most of his career with a lot of injections. He He broke down so much. Over stretched himself, you would think.

that's true. There's no doubt that Wasim and Waqar never mentored other bowlers as Imran did. For most of the 90s Wasim and Waqar were busy playing petty politics to further their own career rather than looking after other bowlers.

Which is not to say that Shoaib was blameless. Shoaib was a **** of the highest order who could prickle people and ruffle a lot of feathers. Also his stupid statements like "wasim and waqar are old timers, I am the new ****" didn't go down well with the Ws. You also need to show a good attitude if you want to be mentored. Sadly Shoaib lacked that.

 

[Midwinter]

Fred Trueman used to say that he never suffered injuries due to his bowling action.

 

[OverratedSanity]

I would like to see Brett Lee's bowling average from the first five years in FC cricket and first three in tests. I think injuries ruined his career because, if I recall correctly, there was talk early in his career that he was going to be one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, both in terms of speed and bowling figures. I wouldn't hesitate to say a 21-22 year old Brett Lee was better than Shoaib at his peak.

Haha no way. Shoaib at his peak in the early 2000s was several levels above what Lee could produce at his peak (99-2000, 2007-08). I think Shoaib averaged something ridiculous like 16 that time.The real problem was obviously that the way he bowled wasn't sustainable. Even at his peak, he kept getting injured.

 

[Furball]

No Dan, it was pace for Bollinger. Gloss it all you want. The selectors were furious he dipped into the 120 km/hs and claimed he was clearly not match fit else he would have bowled faster.

Likewise Clark was thought to bowl too slow, hence other bowlers were preferred and he was not given the same international opportunities after recovering from injury.

Hilfenhaus dropped from first class cricket even for a lack of pace.

Bird may have been given a go due to injuries, but not a serious contender for a regular place until he gets more pace despite a test average of 23.30.

Lehman did not just create this mandate of 140 km/h with some novel thinking. There would have been far more criticism if it was novel.

I agree that performance should be a greater criteria than pace. Stuart Clark was a champion that any other team would have played - bar maybe South Africa. Ever wondered how Shaun Pollocks career abruptly ended?

Pollock likely to be dropped for the first Test | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo



I edited above some nice stuff for you about McGrath's bowling and his views on bowlers slowing down for you to view.

If you find it hard to believe that Thommo bowled at 160kmh and Lillee at 154.8 kmh because of the 1970's measurement tools (speed cameras weren't they or were they radar?) then you're welcome to fly in the face of many batsmen's accounts of facing them as against other bowlers.

Bollinger was dropped because frankly he embarrassed himself at Adelaide.

It wasn't the lack of pace he got dropped for, it was for being so unfit that by his 3rd spell he was trundling in and getting smashed everywhere.