Overseas fast bowlers I could watch all day

Cricket fans in Australia have been treated to some brilliant overseas fast bowlers across the years.

As recently as last summer, Pakistan produced two teenage quicks, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi, who look great Test prospects.

I saw my first fast-bowling choice at the SCG in 1969. Even then, at the end of his career, Wes Hall was terrifyingly to my young eyes. He must have looked the same to Keith Stackpole when he had his stumps sent flying.

Over the years I’ve watched many replays of the tied Test but one of my favourite recordings is Hall describing the last over. It is seriously funny.

Hall epitomised all the great characteristics of West Indian cricket. He took his bowling seriously and his record speaks for itself; 48 Tests 192 wickets at 26.4. His batting though was pure tailender and his ability to enjoy the game was on show every time he played.

It will come as no surprise this article is dominated by West Indian bowlers, after they towered over most sides for more than two decades.

My next choice had a wonderfully athletic runup, similar to Hall in terms of its length. Michael Holding was simply wonderful to watch.

I went to all days of the Sydney Test in 1976 and had the pleasure of watch ‘Whispering Death’ bowl from both side-on and front-on. I didn’t appreciate just how fast he was moving until I saw him from the point fence.

The other thing I didn’t appreciate was just how fast the ball got to the other end. What was scary was being able to bowl that quickly and still get the ball to move. Holding’s record shows he’s a truly great bowler, while the videos show he was also wonderful to watch.

I’ve always thought looking mean helped fast bowlers. Dennis Lillee with the flowing locks, dark eyes and big moustache looked mean. So did my next favourite, Andy Roberts.

ESPNCricinfo describes Roberts as “deadpan and deadly” and that’s the way he must have seemed to all who had to face him. He had a really aggressive action, a skiddy bouncer and he surprised a lot of batsmen with genuine pace. It was and still is a great pleasure to watch him and Holding bowling together.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to be really saddened to hear the great Malcolm Marshall passed away in 1999. For 13 years from the late 1970s he’d been if not the best fast bowler in world cricket, certainly in the top two or three.

He could do anything with a cricket ball, often at searing pace. He had terrific control, but it was his short bowling I remember most. Batsmen who faced him talked about how quickly the ball skidded onto them and how difficult it was to evade his bouncer.

He looked like he was really trying to attack with every delivery. His run-up was fast and his action seemed super quick.

It’s often said stats don’t tell the real story about a bowler but with 81 Tests, 376 wickets at an average of 20.94, an economy rate of 2.68 and a strike rate of 46.7, I’d suggest that statement doesn’t apply to Marshall.

There have been surprisingly few quality left-arm quicks come to Australia but Wasim Akram bucked that trend. He was to world cricket in the ’90s, what Marshall was in the ’80s. Both had relatively short run-ups – in Akram’s case, it almost looked like he was strolling into the crease – both had quick arm actions, both could make the ball ‘talk’, and both ended up with elite records.

Pakistan has produced some wonderful fast bowlers – Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Aktar – but none were as capable as Wasim of being effective on any surface. Throw in his batting as well as his captaincy and Wasim was a truly great cricketer.

Of India’s fast bowlers, my favourite to watch is Ishant Sharma.

He really caught my eye with a brilliant spell against the best batsman in cricket at the time, Ricky Ponting. This was in the 2008 Perth Test and the 19-year-old had the nerve to completely rattle one of the game’s great players of fast bowling.

Sharma loves to get at batsmen, had a simple run-up and action, and he could bowl long spells when needed. He also looks mean, with the long hair and aggressive appeals. Is he one of the greats of the game? By no means, but he’s certainly been great for India.

Speaking of being great for their countries, that comment has to apply to Danny Morrison and Darren Gough. Neither could be classed as elite, but each made the most of the talent they had and both gave 100 per cent every time they played for their countries.

Both did some exceptional things in Test cricket, Gough claiming a hat-trick at the SCG in 1999, while Morrison took 6 for 37 against Australia. Both also suffered from injuries and not having a lot of quality support – their records could have been considerably better if they had a top-line seamer at the other end.

My final choice and the bowler I’d happily watch all day combines elements of all those already mentioned. He could appear mean like Roberts, could make the ball do anything like Marshall and Wasim, had a wonderful run-up and bowling action like Holding, was seriously quick (like all of these guys), and gave it everything when he represented his country, like Gough and Morrison.

My favourite quick is ‘Fiery’ Fred Truman. The first man to 300 Test wickets and all-round Test figures that suggest he’s in the elite category.

I grew up listening to Truman commentating for the BBC when Australia toured England and it was obvious the other ex-players held him in awe.

Thankfully there’s plenty of footage so we can all enjoy his genius.

There are at least a dozen more I could probably include, but the two who rate a special mention are Shoaib Akhtar and Jasprit Bumrah.

You’re not a true cricket lover if you didn’t enjoy watching Akhtar in full flight and Bumrah is showing the sort of potential that could make him one of the all-time best. Hopefully we’ll see more of him in the coming months.