Fast bowling is a thing of beauty.
A pacer pegging the red cherry down is a sight to be marvelled at.
The last 50 years of Test match cricket have seen numerous great fast bowlers leave their mark. Here are the six best.
Malcolm Marshall
81 Tests, 376 wickets, average 20.95, strike rate 46.77, 22 five-fors, four 10-wicket hauls, best figures of 7/22 against England at Old Trafford in 1988.
The late West Indian pacer could do everything with the ball. He could move it both ways. He had every delivery that is available in a pace bowler’s repertoire.
He was one of the many gifted fast bowlers to come out of the Caribbean during the Windies’ era of dominance from 1975 to the mid-1990s.
Marshall has the best average for bowlers with over 200 wickets, averaging less than 25 against every nation he played and in each country he visited during his career.
Most of his career wickets were top-order batsmen – in total, 238 of his 376 wickets, or 63 per cent.
Sir Richard Hadlee
86 Tests, 431 wickets, average 22.29, strike rate 50.48, 36 five-fors, nine 10-wicket hauls, best figures of 9/52 against Australia at the Gabba in 1985.
Richard Hadlee traps another victim. (Simon Bruty /Allsport)
Initially an express pace bowler, Hadlee resorted to line and length with variations to get wickets. The strategy worked and he ended up with a marvellous record.
He has the third most five-fors in Test history behind Murali and Shane Warne. He also has the second most ten-wicket hauls in Test history after Murali.
Hadlee averaged less than 29 against every Test-playing nation and he averaged lower away from home than in New Zealand.
He has the best bowling average in Test wins at an astonishing 13.06, taking 41 per cent of his team’s wickets in those triumphs.
Sir Curtly Ambrose
98 Tests, 405 wickets, average 20.99, strike rate 54.48, 22 five-fors, three 10-wicket hauls, best figures of 8/45 against England in Bridgetown, Barbados in 1990.
The 200-centimetre giant from Antigua was a nightmare for batsman during his career.
Ambrose wanted to be a basketball player but decided to change his career path at the age of 17 on the advice of his mother.
Ambrose was one of a legion of great West Indian bowlers that dominated cricket during the ’80s and early 1990s.
He has the best bowling average against England, with 164 wickets at 18.79.
Ambrose formed the most successful bowling pair in Tests with fellow West Indian great Courtney Walsh. Walsh and Ambrose played 95 Tests together, picking up a staggering 762 wickets at 22.26 as a pair.
Glenn McGrath
124 Tests, 563 wickets, average 21.64, strike rate 51.95, 29 five-fors and three 10-wicket hauls, best figures of 8/24 against Pakistan at the WACA in 2004.
The tall and lanky pacer from Dubbo relied heavily on the strategy of accuracy with subtle variations to reap rewards at the highest level.
The man nicknamed Pigeon troubled batsman from all over the world – even great players like Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara had their fair share of troubles in negotiating the great Aussie fast bowler.
He dismissed Lara a record 18 times, and former England skipper Mike Atherton 19.
McGrath has an astonishing record at Lords, playing three Tests, picking up 26 wickets at an average of 11.
He became the first bowler to play 100 Tests for Australia and he has the second best figures for his country, with 8/24 against Pakistan in 2004 at the WACA.
He played 30 Tests against England and won 22 of them, taking 10 five-fors against the arch-rivals.
He was the second pace bowler to go past 500 Test match wickets after Courtney Walsh, and the first pacer to go past 550.
McGrath and Shane Warne have the best overall record as a bowling pair, with 1001 wickets from 101 Tests together.
Dennis Lillee
70 Tests, 355 wickets, average 23.9, 23 five-fors, seven 10-wicket hauls, best figures of 7/83 against the West Indies at the MCG in 1981.
Has there been a more lethal partnership than Lillee and Thommo? (Photo by PA Images via Getty Images)
DK Lillee, the legendary pace bowler from Western Australia, tormented opposition batsmen throughout his career.
Despite suffering from stress fractures that kept him out of the game for a long period of time, Lillee accumulated a great record. He did struggle in Asia and the West Indies, but he only played a few games in those regions.
He has the record of the most ten-wicket hauls in Ashes history along with three other bowlers, as well as 11 five-fors, second only to Sid Barnes.
In the 29 Test matches he played against the English, Lillee picked up 167 wickets at 21.
Wasim Akram
104 matches, 414 wickets, average 23.62, strike rate 54.65, 25 five-fors, five 10-wicket hauls, best figures of 7/119 against New Zealand at Wellington in 1994.
The greatest left-arm pacer of all time, and arguably the most skilful bowler of all time.
Akram could make the ball talk and was a fine exponent of reverse swing.
He is one of four bowlers to claim two Test hat tricks, achieving the feat by claiming back-to-back hat tricks against Sri Lanka in consecutive games. He also has the third most number of man-of-the-match awards with 17.
Akram formed a lethal fast-bowling partnership with Waqar Younis, taking 555 wickets from the 107 Tests they played together.
His record in the subcontinent – which is considered a graveyard for pace bowlers – reads 57 matches, 211 wickets, an average of 22.67, and a strike rate of 52.9.
Spanner
Roar Rookie
I watched that 200 in Adelaide. He was 100 not out o-night and dedicated the ton to the birth of his twins. His wife reportedly said to him when he phoned - "well there are two of them " ! He duly completed the double ton the next day. He was on 197 and Karsen Ghavri sent back a deep mid off and mid on. Of course the maestro took up the challenge, charged Ghavri and smashed it over deep mid off's head for four. What a player !
Paul
Roar Guru
That SA attack you named would be scary on any deck, Neel. Great pace and plenty of aggression & skill. I could only imagine a Border or Boon being able to face these guys with any sort of confidence. Completely agree they as a bowling unit would be amongst the best for sure.
Neel
Roar Guru
True about that Paul. Imran inspired a whole generation and I heard a story from the great man, Wasim Akram about Imran picking up a young, lanky teenage Wasim Akram from the nets and he made his debut for Pakistan after a while. He was not only a great player and overall and all-rounder but he also had a really good eye for handpicking special talent. I think he also noticed Waqar and he did choose Inzamam Ul-Haq for the WC Semi against NZ in 1992 which Pakistan won and they eventually won the World Cup. Great leader. In regards to South Africa, imagine if they had an attack of Donald, Pollock, De Villiers and Brett Schultz. That could have potentially been one of the greatest fast bowling attacks of all time. What do you think Paul?
Caleb
Guest
Michael holding
Peter Warrington
Guest
I'm reading the Ryan book for the 10th time and I wonder if they had dropped him after that charge against India at the SCG, would have (a) have been able to be captain; and (b) been as disciplined from 81 on as he was from 82-3 on? of course with G chappell not touring England and Walters being dropped he had to be picked - and was captain. Seems a strange decision in hindsight, not just the Chappells/Marsh thing, but when you look at his batting that summer (the glorious double in Adelaide put to one side.)
Paul
Roar Guru
hi Neel, just out of internet range the past little while, so all good!!! You chose an easy topic in one way & a tough topic in another. If you look at countries like the West Indies or Australia, both had at least a half dozen outstanding quicks EACH in the past 50 years. That makes choosing 6 really good ones relatively easy,based onfigures. I wonder if a better measure is to look at 6 quicks that had a significant impact on cricket in their country as well as the game in general. The most obvious one is Hadlee, who had to carry the NZ attack for a decade or more. Lillee reminded Australia it had this great line of really outstanding quicks, that we really hadn't seen since the 50's. He then changed how bowlers went about their business as they got older (Hadlee did likewise). South Africa needed instant success when it came back into world cricket and Donald helped provide that. Kapil Dev showed Indian cricket it didn't have to rely on world class batsmen & spinners. They could actually win Tests away from home on pitches favouring pace. Imran Khan did much the same for Pakistan cricket, as did Chaminda Vaas in Sri Lanka. The toughie is the West Indies and that's where Wes Hall was crucial. Not only a seriously fast bowler, but a huge personality who played the game with everything he had but could still smile after a tough day on the field. I wonder how many kids took inspiration from these particular guys? I know in Australia & New Zealand, there'd be thousands, so maybe it's not ONLY about numbers?
Neel
Roar Guru
My honourable mentions list: Dale Steyn, Imran Khan, Joel Garner, Allan Donald, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Fred Trueman, Ray Lindwall and Waqar Younis.
Neel
Roar Guru
Thanks a lot Paul. I haven’t seen you in a while on the Roar. I hope everything’s good with you. Mate, Donald was a part of my honourable mentions list, which I will give below in a separate comment. You are right about Donald being a legend. He was a great strike weapon for the South Africans. He is definitely up there with the greats. He did debut late because of the apartheid which was so unfortunate. Cricketing fans were robbed of his early years and Donald might have been able to build on his already legendary career. I just don’t know who I could replace Donald with out of the 6 I mentioned. There was a bit of a tussle between Lillee, Steyn, Garner and Imran before I decided to go with Lillee. Who else would you give a mention Paul?
Paul
Roar Guru
hi Neel, another terrific piece though I'm a tad surprised Allan Donald didn't rate a mention? SA cricket came out from behind the apartheid curtain and totally needed him to be THE go-to guy in their attack. I'm convinced he is a huge part of the reason why they've produced so many quality quicks in the past 30 years.
Spanner
Roar Rookie
Good on you for swimming against the NSW tide, Pete. We do have a bit in common, I followed Graeme Watson as well and idolised Kim Hughes. I have always believed he was the most talented Aussie batsman I have seen. (not the best but easily the most talented) His treatment by the senior players when the captaincy eas thrust upon him was one of the most shameful chapters in our cricket history !
Brendon
Roar Rookie
26 of Sobers 93 test matches were against bad Indian and Pakistani teams. That's 28% Take out those 26 tests and Sobers average drops to under 50. Murali played 25 of his 133 tests against Zimbabwe and Bandgladesh which is 19% I will acknowledge that Sobers was one of the greatest players of spin but his ability to play seamers and bounce was inconsistent. Also, around the early 2000's Zimbabwe had a decent team. Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Heath Streak, Alistair Campbell were very good players.
Neel
Roar Guru
One of his best spells came against England at Lord in 2005. He got his 500th wicket in that game and bowled superbly.
Neel
Roar Guru
Gilly is a good pick. He would go after them from ball one.
Neel
Roar Guru
Yeah fair enough Pope. Hadlee carries that team on more occasions than one though.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
I wasn't aware of his record against those two. However all countries would've played each equally, back then, whereas I believe Sri Lanka sought out Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. I stand to be corrected.
Peter Warrington
Guest
We moved from Hobart to Sydney at the end of 67 and there was no Tas, everyone else was going for NSW eg Dougie, and WA chucked up Lillee Marsh Massie Invers etc My hero was Beatle Watson and when he moved west in 71-2 the deal was sealed I sweated hope and fear for everybody Craig Serjeant run. Boosted Roo Yardley long before he was a star. Was a Kim Hughes tragic, as was half the country These days I follow maligned players more Eg maxy and watto. And Pat Cummins, because he is Lillee and Thor combined. And his bowling in India in 17 was just unbelievable. And the women’s stuff. go Thunder!
Brendon
Roar Rookie
How is that different to Sobers inflating his batting average by beating up weak Pakistan and Indian teams?
Brendon
Roar Rookie
Ok, Sobers had a legendary innings against Australia in the tied test. Dean Jones had a better innings against India in that tied test. Should we call Dean Jones the GOAT now? I mean Dean Jones was a good fielder too … As for bowling pace and spin in the same match. Its not like he did either particularly well. Average of 34 and a horrible strike rate of 90. The all-rounders from the 80’s, Hadlee, Kapil Dev, Imran and Botham, were all vastly better bowlers though inferior batsmen. Sobers bowling record was more a sign of the lack of depth in West Indies bowling and Sobers just bowling a lot. If Sobers was playing durin the LLoyd era he would have been only a part-time spinner.
Peter Warrington
Guest
Lillee benefits from mythic reference to his comeback, and his lost years in Packer. fair enough. context matters. also his sanctity in the triumvirate that did so much for Australian cricket. Nevertheless: - these are the series Lillee dominated among our quicks: 71-2 v the world 72 in england - he was magnificent 76-7 v Pakistan/England and NZ 79-80 v england and Windies 80-1 v NZ and India - a magnificent summer 81-2 (but we churned through Alderman Lawson Pascoe and Thommo looking for an attack) Thommo did more damage in the 74-6 summers and Lawson was already leading the attack by late 82. Now bowlers are allowed to come in and out of form and longevity matters. to me Lillee personifies the Ashes primacy in Australian cricket, and the investment in the idea that WSC was the best cricket ever (which I don't support) whereas McGrath personifies the more global emphasis, the relentless schedule, the flatness of decks.
Magic
Guest
And my pick is Adam Gilchrist because I never seen sir viv so I will go with Ac Gilly to dismantle that attack