Starfighter
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
As some of you may have noticed, mr_mister has been doing a sterling job with his threads where we vote for the best of a certain category of cricketer. And while this celebration of excellence is all well and good, I feel like there's something missing. What about those cricketers who have entertained us, not with their greatness, but with their incompetence? Who's looking out for not just the highlights, but for the lowlights too? Wait no more, for here is your chance to vote for the worst pace bowler ever.
Your criteria are your own. Do you vote for Johnny Warr, whose average of 281 is the worst for any test pace bowler, ever? Perhaps a single test disaster will tickle your fancy, like Tony Pigott whose unexpected callup had him conceding four an over on a pitch where England failed to reach double figures twice? Or perhaps you prefer sustained lack of excellence, I which case may I present Rubel Hossain, whose bowling average after 26 matches is reaching nearly Bradmanesque heights? What about those who flatter to deceive, like Mohammad Sami, a man with all the pace and swing, and an average of 53 to go with it? Or one of those where you can't work out why they kept picking them, like Daren Powell who was responsible for one of crickets greatest comedy moments, but seriously, the team that once boasted Marshal, Holding and Garner was reduced to that level? But then again, they had Patterson Thompson. You Indian fans out there would certainly know a few of the shorter spokes on the wheel, perhaps someone like David Johnson is worthy of the accolade. Or you might like to reach back in time and pick someone like Des Hoare, who most of you will never have heard of, let alone seen, but who I once ran across in a worst Aus XI posted by as esteemed a member as Burgey. Speaking of Australians, Chris Matthews is worth a shout too, picked due that misleading post-Lillee impression that WA produces good players, when it in fact doesn't. Of course, there's also England in the late eighties or the nineties, but that's too deep a black hole for me to explore right now. But to talk of England, there is always Sajid Mahmoud. So get listing your candidates.
The main conditions here are that the bowlers in question must have been picked for their bowling, and must bowl pace. Do your research, go to as much depth as you can, try to tease out the truly rubbish from the merely poor.
With that post your list of who you consider to be the 20* worst pace bowlers pace bowlers ever to grace a test match, in order. Nominations will remain open until about Friday the 31st, or longer if I forget about this thread (or shorter if I lack self-control) with rankings and write-ups (I may need some help with those) posted in due course.
So, who is the ultimate merchant of muck, the biggest purveyor of piss? It's up to you all to decide.
*If 20's too onerous vote for 15 and I'll sort it out somehow.
Some suggestions:
Australia: Chris Matthews, John Hastings, Des Hoare, Harry Alexander, Brad Wiliams, Mervyn Waite, Dave Gilbert, John Watkins, Alan Thomson, Shaun Tait, Charlie MacLeod
Bangladesh: Rubel Hossain, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Rubel Hossain, Shahadat Hossain, Mohammad Sharif, Tapash Baisya, Manjural Islam, Rubel Hossain
England: Sajid Mahmood, Harry Howell, Abe Waddington, Aggers, Ian Thomson, The 90s in general, Martin McCague, Johnny Warr
India: David Johnson, Debashish Mohanty, Atul Wassan, Harvinder Singh, BS Sandhu, Vinay Kumar, VRV Singh, Tinu Yohannan, Dodda Ganesh, Paras Mhambrey, Sanjeev Sharma
New Zealand: Murray Webb, Geoff Allott, Chris Pringle, Brent Arnel, Chris Harris
Pakistan: Mohammad Sami, Bilawal Bhatti, Mohammad Talha
South Africa: Dewald Pretorius, Charl Willoughby
Sri Lanka: Pramodya Wickramesinghe, Ravindran Pushpakumara, Charitha Buddhika, ASA Perera, Eric Upashantha, Chamila Gamage, Hasantha Fernando, Lahiru Gamage
West Indies: Patterson Thompson, Daren Powell, Uton Dowe, Ian Bradshaw, Prof Edwards
Zimbabwe: Mluleki Nkala
And lots more a few pages either side of here: Bowling records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPNcricinfo
Your criteria are your own. Do you vote for Johnny Warr, whose average of 281 is the worst for any test pace bowler, ever? Perhaps a single test disaster will tickle your fancy, like Tony Pigott whose unexpected callup had him conceding four an over on a pitch where England failed to reach double figures twice? Or perhaps you prefer sustained lack of excellence, I which case may I present Rubel Hossain, whose bowling average after 26 matches is reaching nearly Bradmanesque heights? What about those who flatter to deceive, like Mohammad Sami, a man with all the pace and swing, and an average of 53 to go with it? Or one of those where you can't work out why they kept picking them, like Daren Powell who was responsible for one of crickets greatest comedy moments, but seriously, the team that once boasted Marshal, Holding and Garner was reduced to that level? But then again, they had Patterson Thompson. You Indian fans out there would certainly know a few of the shorter spokes on the wheel, perhaps someone like David Johnson is worthy of the accolade. Or you might like to reach back in time and pick someone like Des Hoare, who most of you will never have heard of, let alone seen, but who I once ran across in a worst Aus XI posted by as esteemed a member as Burgey. Speaking of Australians, Chris Matthews is worth a shout too, picked due that misleading post-Lillee impression that WA produces good players, when it in fact doesn't. Of course, there's also England in the late eighties or the nineties, but that's too deep a black hole for me to explore right now. But to talk of England, there is always Sajid Mahmoud. So get listing your candidates.
The main conditions here are that the bowlers in question must have been picked for their bowling, and must bowl pace. Do your research, go to as much depth as you can, try to tease out the truly rubbish from the merely poor.
With that post your list of who you consider to be the 20* worst pace bowlers pace bowlers ever to grace a test match, in order. Nominations will remain open until about Friday the 31st, or longer if I forget about this thread (or shorter if I lack self-control) with rankings and write-ups (I may need some help with those) posted in due course.
So, who is the ultimate merchant of muck, the biggest purveyor of piss? It's up to you all to decide.
*If 20's too onerous vote for 15 and I'll sort it out somehow.
Some suggestions:
Australia: Chris Matthews, John Hastings, Des Hoare, Harry Alexander, Brad Wiliams, Mervyn Waite, Dave Gilbert, John Watkins, Alan Thomson, Shaun Tait, Charlie MacLeod
Bangladesh: Rubel Hossain, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Rubel Hossain, Shahadat Hossain, Mohammad Sharif, Tapash Baisya, Manjural Islam, Rubel Hossain
England: Sajid Mahmood, Harry Howell, Abe Waddington, Aggers, Ian Thomson, The 90s in general, Martin McCague, Johnny Warr
India: David Johnson, Debashish Mohanty, Atul Wassan, Harvinder Singh, BS Sandhu, Vinay Kumar, VRV Singh, Tinu Yohannan, Dodda Ganesh, Paras Mhambrey, Sanjeev Sharma
New Zealand: Murray Webb, Geoff Allott, Chris Pringle, Brent Arnel, Chris Harris
Pakistan: Mohammad Sami, Bilawal Bhatti, Mohammad Talha
South Africa: Dewald Pretorius, Charl Willoughby
Sri Lanka: Pramodya Wickramesinghe, Ravindran Pushpakumara, Charitha Buddhika, ASA Perera, Eric Upashantha, Chamila Gamage, Hasantha Fernando, Lahiru Gamage
West Indies: Patterson Thompson, Daren Powell, Uton Dowe, Ian Bradshaw, Prof Edwards
Zimbabwe: Mluleki Nkala
And lots more a few pages either side of here: Bowling records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPNcricinfo
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