Shaun Tait- Could he be the man for Australia in this WC?

[Pup Clarke]

There are 4 bowlers in this WC that I would consider as RAF (Right Arm Fast)

Shaun Tait
Shane Bond
Jerome Taylor
Lasith Malinga

 

[Richard]

Kev's point is a valid one. Mahmood doesn't maintain that top pace after an opening burst of 2-3 overs. Unlike Bond, who can bowl at high pace for more than 70% of a spell. Mahmood doesn't appear to have that ability right now.

I've never seen any bowler who bowls as quick in a second spell with the older ball.

Bond usually (when his rhythm is good and the radar isn't a dodgy one like in the NZ-England game) is a 145-150 bowler with the new ball, same as Mahmood. Then, Bond is usually a 137-142 bowler in his later spells which I daresay is similar to Mahmood as well.

imo if you bowl consistently (as in, at least one or two balls game after game) over 150kph, and consistently (as in, 3 or 4 balls an over with the new ball) over 145kph, you can be regarded as RAF and probably "express" as well. Bond and Saj are borderline. Even Lee is borderline these days....Tait is the only certainty and possibly Malinga as well.

It's not merely about "as quickly". It's about bowling with genuine pace for a considerable amount of a full quota of overs. And Mahmood bowls fast medium for the majority of his quota.

I think it's time for me to start taking more notice of Mahmood's speeds, TBH.

I've not got a problem with what Kev says, and he appears to have taken more note of Mahmood's speeds than I have - but th is obviously quite right in that pretty much no-one bowls as fast at any other time in the game as they did in their opening spell. It's just basic common-sense.

 

[Richard]

What Hilfenhaus has going for him in terms of his career record is a good economy rate. At a tick over 4, he's started very well. But there are several bowlers who average a fair bit less than he does - Simpson, Bichel, Edmondson, Hopes, Harwood to name a few. Doesn't make them better bowlers. Just means they've accomplished more. Obviously the reason Hilfenhaus was picked is his potential more so than what he's accomplished thus far.

It could be argued that what Hilfenhaus has accomplished with his economy-rate is far more notable than Simpson, Edmundson and the like (I'd guess Hopes has been shown-up as not ODI-standard or close to it, regardless of his domestic wicket-taking) have.

It's not terribly unusual for young bowlers to take a few wickets in the one-day game early in their career - but it is most unusual for them to bowl economically early on.

Which is what makes Tom Smith such a big prospect in my book.

 

[Pup Clarke]

Agree with you there Richard.Tom Smith>>>Stuart Broad IMO.Will certainly be an England regular in the one day game in 2-3 years.An average of under 25 in List-A and an economy of 4.3 proves this.

 

[Richard]

I'm even beginning to wonder about next summer... It'd probably be too much, too young, but he strikes me as being someone better equipped than most to cope... if he started next season as well as he did virtually throughout last, I'd seriously think about picking him for ODIs at some stage in the season.

 

[Pup Clarke]

He probably isn't the sort of player DF would go for IMO no matter how good his record might be.They seem to be obsessed with bowlers who bowls fast and have terrible economy rates and only average domestic records.I wouldn't be holding your horses about Smith being picked next summer but you never know...

 

[Richard]

I was more talking about if I was a selector, TBH.

Anyhow - don't despair, this nonsense can't last too much longer.

 

[Pup Clarke]

Anyhow - don't despair, this nonsense can't last too much longer.

You mean the Plunkett's,Mahmood's,Bresnan's,Onions's,Khan's and Broad's?.

 

[Richard]

The crazy thing is, Bresnan is totally out-of-place there. He's not especially tall, he's never been remotely quick, though he does at least have in common that he's done virtually nothing of note in domestic cricket.

Onions and Broad have never been remarkably fast, either, unless I'm much mistaken. Amjad and Plunkett, too, only touch 90mph occasionally.

But yeah - eventually you just can't get around the picking-someone-who's-done-nothing and having it produce another wholly mediocre international bowler, you've got to change your ways. DF's a smart chap IMO - I genuinely don't believe it'll last much longer.

 

[Pup Clarke]

Bresnan List-A figures 80 wickets @ 39.10

I mean WTF?.Surely there are more effective one day bowlers than the extremely average Tim Bresnan or Graham Onions or Amjad Khan.IMO the likes of Sidebottom,Kirtley and Smith are way more effective and skilled one day bowlers.

 

[Richard]

Bresnan's selection really is one of the great mysteries of English cricket. I mean, it's even more baffling than Alex Wharf - Wharf had at least taken 6-5 the week before, even if that's as piss-poor a reason for selecting a bowler for internationals as they come.

I mean, Bresnan hadn't even done remotely well that season.

It just... well, I really can't find words to describe it. Never, ever, have I been more baffled by a selection.

 

[Prince EWS]

The crazy thing is, Bresnan is totally out-of-place there. He's not especially tall, he's never been remotely quick, though he does at least have in common that he's done virtually nothing of note in domestic cricket.

Onions and Broad have never been remarkably fast, either, unless I'm much mistaken. Amjad and Plunkett, too, only touch 90mph occasionally.

But yeah - eventually you just can't get around the picking-someone-who's-done-nothing and having it produce another wholly mediocre international bowler, you've got to change your ways. DF's a smart chap IMO - I genuinely don't believe it'll last much longer.

Bresnan fitted DF's other pet like - bowlers who can bat a bit.

 

[Prince EWS]

You mean the Plunkett's,Mahmood's,Bresnan's,Onions's,Khan's and Broad's?.

Hate to be a Neil on you, but none of those apostrophes are needed.

 

[Richard]

Bresnan fitted DF's other pet like - bowlers who can bat a bit.

But he can't even do that!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Prince EWS]

But he can't even do that!!!!!!!!!!

IIRC, he was picked on the back on some good form with the bat at Twenty20 level. Fletcher rated the batting obviously, even though it was quite ridiculous to do so.

Still is one of the worst selections of all time, though.

 

[Goughy]

Bresnans selection seems to have come down to 3 things. All of which are pretty unimportant when considering players.

a) He is young
b) He can bat a bit
c) He has a nice action

In a world where performance counts for squat, having a nice action seems to be as good a reason as any to pick a guy.

 

[Richard]

Even so, I can think of better actions!

 

[thierry henry]

There are 4 bowlers in this WC that I would consider as RAF (Right Arm Fast)

Shaun Tait
Shane Bond
Jerome Taylor
Lasith Malinga

I've seen Taylor a number of times and I've never seen him hit 150. He probably has, but every time I've seen he's been consistent mid to low 140s. That, ftr, is about 4-5kph slower on average than what I've seen from Mahmood this season.

Yes, I realise this is a fairly inane subject, but nevertheless one I can comment on with some authority due to my general pedantry when watching cricket.

btw I have little faith in the radars for this WC, apart from comparing bowlers for the same match. It seems to be a classic case of some games having "slow" radars and some games having "fast" radars.

 

[mikeW]

We should've taken Hilfenaus to the WC instead of Tait.

 

[Prince EWS]

We should've taken Hilfenaus to the WC instead of Tait.

Replace "Tait" from your post with "Clark" and you've got a winner.