While most international cricketers who played against Australians in the late 1970s would nominate Jeff Thompson as our most feared bowler, who do we regard in the same light?
Thommo had his famous sand show crusher, but did our opponents have anything in their armoury besides pure pace?
This is a shortlist of five of the world’s most feared bowlers Australians have faced in Test cricket over the years. It is designed to generate debate, and as it’s limited to five, it’s therefore not a definitive list.
Harold Larwood is most famous as the bodyline bowler whose sole mission was to limit Don Bradman’s ability to post scores in the Ashes series of 1932-33. Hand-picked by England captain Douglas Jardine to bowl fast leg theory, which gave the batsman little choice but to shy a catch or get hit, he was hated by the Australian cricketing public.
A riot almost broke out in Adelaide when he hit and floored Bert Oldfield, which led the Australian captain to remark, “Two teams are on the field but only one is playing cricket”.
(Central Press/Getty Images)
Fred Truman took over 300 Test wickets for England and was a fearsome sight to the world’s batsman in the 1950s. The Yorkshireman is in the greatest England side of all time as voted in 2018 by the ECB. His credo was that he played to win, and with the pace he generated on uncovered pitches, he often did.
West Indian great Michael Holding would often start his run near the fence and earnt his nickname of ‘whispering death’. As part of the feared Caribbean fast bowling line-up of the 1970s and 1980s his smooth action helped create lift off the pitch, which intensified his pace. A veteran on 60 Tests, he took 249 wickets at 23.68.
Shoaib Akhtar was arguably Pakistans fastest ever bowler. In the 1990s he and Australia’s Brett Lee fought it out as the world’s fastest. The’”Rawalpindi Express’ clocked a speed of 161.3 kilometres and hour at the 2003 World Cup, which has been recognised as the fasted recorded ball ever. No batsman looked forward to his skipper throwing him the ball and telling him to, “Let ’em rip, Tiger”.
‘White Lightning’ Allan Donald is an ICC hall of fame inductee from 2019 who look 330 wickets in his 72 Tests. Making his debut in 1992 when South Africa returned to international cricket after the abolition of apartheid, Donald was one of the world’s most feared exponents of the bouncer, which had most of the world’s top bats bend their back in retreat. A hero to a nation and one of the world’s great bowlers.
jim
Guest
remember as a kid watching Wes Hall and he was always teriffying
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
And no Dale Steyn either..
JGK
Roar Guru
This match. Shame about the quality.
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
Thanks for writing stuff!
SteveO
Roar Rookie
Curtly Ambrose was fearsome as well as being highly skilled
Mark Scarfe
Roar Guru
Thank you for the comment.
raj
Guest
you forgot Colin Croft. I think he's retired more batsman than any other bowler.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
Surprised Wes Hall never got a mention. John Snow was another but his best efforts agaiunst Aus was the 70/71 series.
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
I don’t think I could stand the criticism so I choose not to write any articles discussing the weird ramblings that pop into my head … but hey … don’t let that stop you! When I saw this article I was hoping for a decent discussion of the Top 5 fearsome fast bowlers regardless of where they are from but I got this one instead. Oh well, at least it was free (apart from my time)!
Steven Howard
Guest
Malcolm Marshall with out doubt one of the greatest fast/express bowlers ever.
Leonard de Mel
Guest
Where is Malcolm Marshall, Denise Lilly,joel Garner and Andy Roberts
Denny
Guest
Two Kiwi's to ponder. Sir Richard Hadlee had pace, sublime control, guile and was able to out think most batters - he tormented the Ozzies many times. The other is Shane Bond who utterly harassed the Ozzies in the few times he played them - it is a shame his body let him down and curtailed his career way too early.
Mark Scarfe
Roar Guru
He did.
Mark Scarfe
Roar Guru
Thank you for your opinion. I look forward to reading your next article.
Trevor Scott
Guest
John Snow, Wes Hall
Stephen Partridge
Roar Rookie
Jeff Dujon has said the fastest spell he kept to was from Patrick Patterson. That would be one serious list to pick from.
Stephen Partridge
Roar Rookie
Michael Holding v Geoff Botcott. Kensington Oval Barbados c. 1981. Best opening over by a fast bowler. First 5 balls nearly decapitate him and the 6th sends the stumps cartwheeling.
Stephen Partridge
Roar Rookie
Andy Roberts - "watch out for the slow bouncer".
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
Clarke only played 1 more test after that brick throwing incident in Pakistan. He did take a rebel tour of South Africa (which led to another ban)!
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
Just looking at the title of the article, 'The five most feared fast bowlers Australians have faced' and wondering WHY NOT list the top 5! "Balance" seems to work against that objective ...