Bowling attacks of today

[chicane]

A lot is said about how weak today's bowlers are compared to bowlers of the past. Well there are so many outstanding bowlers even today who would have made it into teams of the past....Shoaib, McGrath, Murali, Ntini, Pollock, Gillespie, Bond, Warne, Kumble to name a few. Definitely its not all a piece of cake for batsmen on good surfaces, even with all the protective gear, heavier bats etc.....What do y'all think??

 

[hellnback]

Of those you mentioned only two IMHO are of 'world class', Pollock & McGrath. There is a lack of 'world class' bowlers in todays sides, this with the coupling of more batter friendly manicured wickets has seen the present dominance of batters.

The 'other hand' to this is batsmen now are more aggressive and try to score quicker (mainly due to the abundance of ODI's) thus are more likely to offer up chances by playing 'loose' or try shots to balls that 15 or so years ago would not have tried.

 

[marc71178]

I would add Warne to the World Class list from that lot, and Murali.

The rest wouldn't necessarily get in other recent attacks.

 

[krkode]

McGrath, Murali and Pollock are the only ones who'd make my side (assuming I can go for as much quality as I like).

But yes, in general, it does seem like the batsmen are taking over cricket. It's only because batting has evolved so much from its start, whereas bowling not-so-much. (?) Bowlers are still trying to bowl fast, they're still trying to turn the ball, they're still trying to swing it, and seam off the pitch. And they have always been doing so.

Some innovater must enter the World's bowling picture...

Like the Über-aggressive batsmen of the 70s and 80s (ex. Richards) who revolutionized batting, there must be some bowler...around the corner. After all, it shouldn't all be about emulating your heroes.

 

[Adamc]

McGrath, Murali and Pollock are the only ones who'd make my side (assuming I can go for as much quality as I like).

But yes, in general, it does seem like the batsmen are taking over cricket. It's only because batting has evolved so much from its start, whereas bowling not-so-much. (?) Bowlers are still trying to bowl fast, they're still trying to turn the ball, they're still trying to swing it, and seam off the pitch. And they have always been doing so.

Some innovater must enter the World's bowling picture...

Like the Über-aggressive batsmen of the 70s and 80s (ex. Richards) who revolutionized batting, there must be some bowler...around the corner. After all, it shouldn't all be about emulating your heroes.

Bowling has changed considerably, though mostly in the first half of the 20th century. They used to bowl underarm! Hard to think of ways the bowling could be revolutionised further though...

 

[Slow Love™]

Bowlers are still trying to bowl fast, they're still trying to turn the ball, they're still trying to swing it, and seam off the pitch. And they have always been doing so.

Some innovater must enter the World's bowling picture...

Like the Über-aggressive batsmen of the 70s and 80s (ex. Richards) who revolutionized batting, there must be some bowler...around the corner. After all, it shouldn't all be about emulating your heroes.

This conjures up a picture of a bowler charging halfway down the pitch, and throwing the ball directly at great speed at the gap between the helmet and the grille. I mean, what else is left for the bowlers to try?

I'd pay to see that though, as long as the batsman was Graeme Smith (whiny and graceless) or Daniel Vettori (in his case, only because the spectacular crash of shattered spectacles will get the crowd really roaring).

Time for the bowlers to strike back. In truth though, the only thing that's made bowlers such fodder in recent times is too much science in the wicket preparation.

 

[luckyeddie]

This conjures up a picture of a bowler charging halfway down the pitch, and throwing the ball directly at great speed at the gap between the helmet and the grille. I mean, what else is left for the bowlers to try?

Waqar's retired

 

[Slow Love™]

Waqar's retired

Yeah, but he only made it to halfway down the pitch AFTER the delivery, to tell Symonds to f*** off.

And nobody's ever accused Waqar of chucking his bean ball. Otherwise the Pakistan board would have told him to stop bowling it.

 

[luckyeddie]

Yeah, but he only made it to halfway down the pitch AFTER the delivery, to tell Symonds to f*** off.

Twice, although it was Symonds who said something off (see DD's World Cup Essentials)

 

[krkode]

I mean, what else is left for the bowlers to try?

You and I may never know it until we see it, and that's why we're not playing cricket for our respective countries.

And definitely it's hard for us to think of ways in which bowling can be revolutionized and there's a reason for that. If we could think of these ways, we'd probably be playing/coaching/teaching cricket.

But just because we can't think of it doesn't mean it doesn't exist or that nobody else can think of it.

Apparently, Bill Gates said in 1982 or something, that (and I paraphrase) nobody will ever need more than 780 kb of RAM in their computers. He couldn't see it then. Now look at us...512 MB, 1 GB, 1 TB...my point is, there is no limit to creativity, originality, and magnificense. There is no end.

 

[Bapu Rao Swami]

This era of today definitely is a batting era, this has been proven statistically at Cricinfo stats, this has also been proven at the official cricket ratings at PWC. Never evere has test cricket looked so positive and never ever has the amount of runs scored been so high for each team.

I think Mcgraa and Pollock are the only world class fast bowlers in the game today.

Gillespie is the nearest bowler to them.

Wonder what this coming generation will produce....the likes of Simon Jones, Andre Nel, Tino Best, Mohd Sami, Fidel Edwards, Irfan Pathan, Shaun Tait and Nathan Bracken will be the rulers around world cup 2007...now that in itself is scary.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Wonder what this coming generation will produce....the likes of Simon Jones, Andre Nel, Tino Best, Mohd Sami, Fidel Edwards, Irfan Pathan, Shaun Tait and Nathan Bracken will be the rulers around world cup 2007...now that in itself is scary.

One can only hope that Best and Edwards will stay fit. I'm not a big Simon Jones fan. Potential yes, but he's very raw still and isn't the youngest of them.

 

[marc71178]

And I wonder where Harmison is in that list...

 

[Eclipse]

And I wonder where Harmison is in that list...

And why is Bracken in there

 

[krkode]

I think you people misunderstood the reason why Bapu put up that list there. (or perhaps I have?)

It isn't to say that these bowlers are great, but to say that these bowlers are the future. And there's really no debating that. They're young, they're in their respective national sides, and they have some hints of potential. What Bapu intended to say (I think) is that these bowlers may not be so good as to carry on the legacy of their superior predecessors, namely the McGraths, Akrams, Goughs, and Ambroses.

 

[Eclipse]

I think you people misunderstood the reason why Bapu put up that list there. (or perhaps I have?)

It isn't to say that these bowlers are great, but to say that these bowlers are the future. And there's really no debating that. They're young, they're in their respective national sides, and they have some hints of potential. What Bapu intended to say (I think) is that these bowlers may not be so good as to carry on the legacy of their superior predecessors, namely the McGraths, Akrams, Goughs, and Ambroses.

But I dont think Bracken will get any more game's for Australia not test's any way.

If he improves his action he is a chance otherwise I dont think so.

 

[chicane]

One can only hope that Best and Edwards will stay fit. I'm not a big Simon Jones fan. Potential yes, but he's very raw still and isn't the youngest of them.

Yeah Tino Best looks good. Several of the new guys are looking good. Edwards, Irfan Pathan, Mohammad Sami can all be world class.

I think only the past 5 years or so have seen a decline in bowling. It could just be a passing phase. It could be different by 2007. Then there's also the chucking issues. I think the past few years have seen the most number of bowlers reported for chucking. Maybe the UWA's proposals for a change in the legal bending limits should be accepted.

 

[luckyeddie]

Yeah Tino Best looks good. Several of the new guys are looking good. Edwards, Irfan Pathan, Mohammad Sami can all be world class.

I think only the past 5 years or so have seen a decline in bowling. It could just be a passing phase. It could be different by 2007. Then there's also the chucking issues. I think the past few years have seen the most number of bowlers reported for chucking. Maybe the UWA's proposals for a change in the legal bending limits should be accepted.

I quite agree that a few bowlers are looking exceprional prospects, although I sometimes worder about Mohammad Sami.

I think that the reason for an increased number of bowlers being reported is twofold, and quite obvious to one who has watched this wonderful game intently for almost 40 years.

So obvious, in fact, that I won't patronise you all by naming them here.

 

[Ford_GTHO351]

Never evere has test cricket looked so positive and never ever has the amount of runs scored been so high for each team.

It is great that test cricket is played in a positive and attacking way. The influence of ODI's on players has also been brought over to test cricket. The Australian's often score at 4.00 per over in tests, with players like Adam Gilchrist having a test batting strike rate which is like an ODI batsman's strike rate (Tests: 82.35, ODI's: 94.04). Great to watch.

 

[luckyeddie]

It is great that test cricket is played in a positive and attacking way.

Now if only we could get bowlers to walk back to their marks a little quicker...