Hardest bowling action to get used to...

[Richard]

Walsh was easily at his best in his last year or three. Most people seem to be of that opinion.
And no - I can't remember a single slower-ball before that Thorpe one, though there were several thereafter. Only that Old Trafford one, though, was what I've come to term the seemer-Beamer, of the type we saw Shoaib use several times in Pakistan.

 

[Richard]

Didn't Merv Hughes get Chris Broad with one?

What, a slower-ball, or a Stephenson seemer-Beamer?
I'm sure many bowlers have dismissed many batsmen with slower-balls down the years, but I doubt too many have ever bowled that particular type to great effect.
If Big Bad Merv was one of those, full credit to him.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Malinga would be a nightmare.

 

[Top_Cat]

I distictly remember Steve Waugh, a fantastic player of spin by the way, saying that he thought Murali was tough to anticipate. He said that his action makes it seem as if he's letting go of the ball sooner than you think so before you know it, the ball is at your end.

 

[Langeveldt]

Paul Adams must take a couple of overs to get used to.. Then you can smash him everywhere

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Paul Adams must take a couple of overs to get used to.. Then you can smash him everywhere

 

[SJS]

Paul Adams must take a couple of overs to get used to.. Then you can smash him everywhere

I think the striker shut his eyes as Adams bowls and as soon as the ball is released, the non-striker should shout "NOW" and the batsman should open his eyes and proceed to hammer the long hop to anywhere the fancy takes him. He wil never be short of time

 

[Francis]

I distictly remember Steve Waugh, a fantastic player of spin by the way, saying that he thought Murali was tough to anticipate. He said that his action makes it seem as if he's letting go of the ball sooner than you think so before you know it, the ball is at your end.

I remember that too and in fact Murali just might be my new pick. I remember Waugh saying he had a hypnotic action because you see his elbow and you think he's about the bowl, but a split second later the ball comes out. Waugh said he didn't stand a chance unless he got used to his action.

 

[Barney Rubble]

I faced a bowler in nets the other day who was ambling in to the crease off about 10 paces, but halfway through his delivery stride his whole action seemed to speed up, and the ball would hurtle down at about 80mph, usually towards my throat. That took some getting used to.

 

[dinu23]

I faced a bowler in nets the other day who was ambling in to the crease off about 10 paces, but halfway through his delivery stride his whole action seemed to speed up, and the ball would hurtle down at about 80mph, usually towards my throat. That took some getting used to.

lol! I know exactly what u mean. we had this new fast bowler at our club, the guy just ambles along to the crease to bowl. so obviously u think he's just medium pace,but once he releases the ball it comes at around 85mph, he was very deceptive.

 

[Nate]

Akhtar`s slower-ball was simply amazing in the Pakistan-England series. I was at a mates place and we were watching a replay of it in the early hours of the morning, and it was incredible. So hard to pick up.

 

[SJS]

We used to have a cricketer in Delhi called Dilbagh Singh (played Ranji Trophy for J&K. In club games he would bowl one, two or three steps before reaching the crease at times. Add to that the fact that he could bowl of the wrong foot and it was very difficult to get used to.

And he always put it on the spot !!

He ran one of Delhi's leading clubs, Delhi Gymkhana and his son Bantu Singh played Ranji Trophy for Delhi too.

 

[Richard]

I faced a bowler in nets the other day who was ambling in to the crease off about 10 paces, but halfway through his delivery stride his whole action seemed to speed up, and the ball would hurtle down at about 80mph, usually towards my throat. That took some getting used to.

I can't help feeling that, while it might've been quick, 80mph is pretty unlikely.

 

[Richard]

lol! I know exactly what u mean. we had this new fast bowler at our club, the guy just ambles along to the crease to bowl. so obviously u think he's just medium pace,but once he releases the ball it comes at around 85mph, he was very deceptive.

Has he been timed and found to be consistently bowling at 85mph?

 

[Barney Rubble]

I can't help feeling that, while it might've been quick, 80mph is pretty unlikely.

It was 75mph+ consistently for sure - the one that smashed into the bat handle just in front of my face was probably pushing 80. Perhaps not quite there, but either way, it scared the crap out of me.

 

[Richard]

How's your batting skill?
I know for certain that I'd have the crap scared out of me by a mere 70mph delivery that bounced a bit.
People used to say they were certain I must be bowling at 70mph or so, when I was timed I could only just hit 62-3, and that was when I was just hurling it down as quick as I could.
As I've said - batsmen are notoriously poor judges of speed, and no-one can really have much of a clue how fast someone is bowling without a speed-gun.
On that note, I'd be fascinated to bowl to a speed-gun again...

 

[cricketboy29]

Oh yeah, one of my friends had this incredibly awkward action where he almost fell over, just as he was releasing the ball. Terribly distracting, add to that his disconcerting inswing(he was a left hander), and the fact he bowled 70 Mph (timed with a speedgun). It was very very difficult to handle.

 

[Richard]

Is he on the books of a county?
If you can bowl left-arm-inswing with an awkward action at decent accuracy and 70mph you'd have to be close to the professional game.

 

[Barney Rubble]

How's your batting skill?
I know for certain that I'd have the crap scared out of me by a mere 70mph delivery that bounced a bit.
People used to say they were certain I must be bowling at 70mph or so, when I was timed I could only just hit 62-3, and that was when I was just hurling it down as quick as I could.
As I've said - batsmen are notoriously poor judges of speed, and no-one can really have much of a clue how fast someone is bowling without a speed-gun.
On that note, I'd be fascinated to bowl to a speed-gun again...

My batting skill is pretty poor. Ask Neil.

What I'm basing it on is how fast this guy was compared to a guy I've faced in the past, who I know for a fact (speed gun) bowls at around 75-77mph consistently. As for actually timing him, it's a shame there's no more net sessions before the season starts, or I could use Neil's stopwatch method to measure him fairly accurately.

 

[Richard]

As I say - just because he seemed a similar speed to this other guy doesn't neccessarily mean he was.
Batsmen and observers said Donald and Pollock were a similar speed at one point. Then came 1998, and Pollock was measured at 81-2mph and Donald at 88-9mph.