Bowlers not bowling fast

[jazz]

During the 2003 world cup in South Africa we saw bowlers such as Brett Lee, Shoaib Ahktar and Shane Bond consistently bowl 95+ mph.

In modern times I've only seen bowlers maybe touch the 90 mark but not as fast as the past.

Where have the fast bowlers gone?

Brett Lee steaming in always gave me goosebumps, its a shame that we don't see much of that anymore in the modern game.

 

[Ahmad94]

The faster it comes, the faster it goes.

There are still bowlers that can hit that pace, but nowadays, teams prefer to restrict the opposition rather than attack the opposition. Speed is used to attack, and can sometimes go the distance.

It is easier to defend, with a bowler who have good length and line, and swing it a little. Only a matter of time, when speed leaves the game.

Same as what is happening to spin. The likes of Jadeja who can't spin the ball to save his life, are the leading wicket-takers and at an exceptionally good economy.

 

[Cricketman]

Probably in an effort to prolong the careers of modern fast bowlers. I guess they are opting play longer bowling 140kmph rather than plaguing themselves with injuries bowling 150+.

The last true 150kmph bowler of this age was Shaun Tait and look where he ended up... I think it is better to bowl 140 consistently and be able to move the ball rather than flat out pace.

But I do agree with you, I miss TRUE FAST bowling. Shoaib, Lee, Bond, hell even a young Zaheer Khan!

 

[manee]

During the 2003 world cup in South Africa we saw bowlers such as Brett Lee, Shoaib Ahktar and Shane Bond consistently bowl 95+ mph.

In modern times I've only seen bowlers maybe touch the 90 mark but not as fast as the past.

Where have the fast bowlers gone?

Brett Lee steaming in always gave me goosebumps, its a shame that we don't see much of that anymore in the modern game.

Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar were once in a generation talents. It was sheer coincidence that they played at the same time. Lee had the perfect action and Akhtar had the incredible run up, flexibility and sling. Bond's speed can be compared to someone like Tino Best.

 

[sifter132]

Shaun Tait was bowling 160kph only 2-3 years ago vs England. But generally, I just don't think there have ever been many 160kph guys. Jeff Thomson definitely, maybe Holding? Who else in history has been that quick apart from Shoaib and Brett Lee? It's like bemoaning we don't have many batsmen averaging 65 - it's a pretty rare club.

I think generally pace bowlers are faster these days, on average at least eg. I think most specialist fast bowlers are 85mph/135kph+ bowlers these days. The medium fast bowler has almost disappeared a bit as batsmen have learned to bat out of their crease, and have no fear against them.

 

[Satan666]

Shaun Tait was bowling 160kph only 2-3 years ago vs England. But generally, I just don't think there have ever been many 160kph guys. Jeff Thomson definitely, maybe Holding? Who else in history has been that quick apart from Shoaib and Brett Lee? It's like bemoaning we don't have many batsmen averaging 65 - it's a pretty rare club.

I think generally pace bowlers are faster these days, on average at least eg. I think most specialist fast bowlers are 85mph/135kph+ bowlers these days. The medium fast bowler has almost disappeared a bit as batsmen have learned to bat out of their crease, and have no fear against them.

I disagree, the bowlers of 80's/90's maintained sustained speeds of 150kph, guys like Thompson, Lillee, Holding, Garner, Marshall, Griffith, then came Ambrose, Walsh, Waqar, Wasim, Lee, lets not forget Alan Donald, he did slowed down to the end of his career but for the greater part he bowled extremly fast was referred to white lightening in the 90's.

Its obvious that there are little or no fast bowlers at present, most are generally medium paced. Funny thing is guys are starting of fast and drops pace after only a handful of games, such as Steyn, Roach, Yadav, Ishant and the countless number of pacemen from Australia. Not sure if potential injuries is the main reason why the coaches are training these bowlers slow down, but may also partly due to the amount of games being played with the advent of T20 cricket, therein is the main problem.

Sad really, we can imagine if guys like Irfan with his height bowled at sustained speeds of 150kph what an effect he would've had on the batsmen.

 

[Cricket_god]

I disagree, the bowlers of 80's/90's maintained sustained speeds of 150kph, guys like Thompson, Lillee, Holding, Garner, Marshall, Griffith, then came Ambrose, Walsh, Waqar, Wasim, Lee, lets not forget Alan Donald, he did slowed down to the end of his career but for the greater part he bowled extremly fast was referred to white lightening in the 90's.

Its obvious that there are little or no fast bowlers at present, most are generally medium paced. Funny thing is guys are starting of fast and drops pace after only a handful of games, such as Steyn, Roach, Yadav, Ishant and the countless number of pacemen from Australia. Not sure if potential injuries is the main reason why the coaches are training these bowlers slow down, but may also partly due to the amount of games being played with the advent of T20 cricket, therein is the main problem.

Sad really, we can imagine if guys like Irfan with his height bowled at sustained speeds of 150kph what an effect he would've had on the batsmen.

When akhtar and lee first came they were 140-145ks but it took batsman by suprise as they were not used to even 140k+ for years.

 

[War]

The overpacked schedule & having 3 formats for me.

People like Steyn & Roach can bowl close to 155 mph, but i reckon because of the amount of cricket they have to play as their teams lead strike bowlers respectively, they manage their pace.

With Steyn for eg i see him bowling high 85-89 mph in tests/odi's most of the time. But in the IPL he goes as high as 93 mph.

 

[Satan666]

When akhtar and lee first came they were 140-145ks but it took batsman by suprise as they were not used to even 140k+ for years.

Ambrose, Walsh, Wasim, Waqar, Darren Gough, Dominic Cork, Caddick all maintained sppeds just under and sometimes above 145kph, do some research on these name on cricinfo, and you will see they were just before and coincided with the early years of Lee/Akthar.

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The overpacked schedule & having 3 formats for me.

People like Steyn & Roach can bowl close to 155 mph, but i reckon because of the amount of cricket they have to play as their teams lead strike bowlers respectively, they manage their pace.

With Steyn for eg i see him bowling high 85-89 mph in tests/odi's most of the time. But in the IPL he goes as high as 93 mph.

There is some talk that T20 cricket is evolving the way batsmen play shots, looking to spank a four as oppose to working around the ball, is T20 transforming fast bowlers to bowl slower in order to maintain accuracy so batsmen can make less runs off them?

 

[Cricket_god]

Ambrose, Walsh, Wasim, Waqar, Darren Gough, Dominic Cork, Caddick all maintained sppeds just under and sometimes above 145kph, do some research on these name on cricinfo, and you will see they were just before and coincided with the early years of Lee/Akthar.

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There is some talk that T20 cricket is evolving the way batsmen play shots, looking to spank a four as oppose to working around the ball, is T20 transforming fast bowlers to bowl slower in order to maintain accuracy so batsmen can make less runs off them?

I do not have to research on cricinfo i have seen most of them in stadia oron tv .IMO Akhtar was the only real fast bowler others were fast medium.In those days a bowlers who was Successful was automatically said to be fast,even mcgrath was called a fastbowler in overlays.

 

[sifter132]

Ambrose, Walsh, Wasim, Waqar, Darren Gough, Dominic Cork, Caddick all maintained sppeds just under and sometimes above 145kph, do some research on these name on cricinfo, and you will see they were just before and coincided with the early years of Lee/Akthar.

I don't think any of those guys come within 5kph (at least) of Lee or Akhtar to be honest. Waqar was the fastest of those you've mentioned, he would have hit 150kph, maybe Wasim as well and probably Donald too, but none of the other guys you list were as fast as you think (in my opinion of course-no guns to prove it). Cork and Caddick were medium pacers, I wonder if they ever cracked 140kph.

Also, Brett Lee charged in on debut bowling and got up into the 150s, he was definitely fast back then - he didn't ease in at 140-145 like you suggest. That's why cricket god was saying that those 2 were a big deal because they were 5% faster than everyone else.

 

[Satan666]

I do not have to research on cricinfo i have seen most of them in stadia oron tv .IMO Akhtar was the only real fast bowler others were fast medium.In those days a bowlers who was Successful was automatically said to be fast,even mcgrath was called a fastbowler in overlays.

Akthar averaged around 150kph in most cases above that. I agree that the bowlers I listed bowled slower than that 150kph but certainly they topped above the 140kph as you so erroneously posted earlier!

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I don't think any of those guys come within 5kph (at least) of Lee or Akhtar to be honest. Waqar was the fastest of those you've mentioned, he would have hit 150kph, maybe Wasim as well and probably Donald too, but none of the other guys you list were as fast as you think (in my opinion of course-no guns to prove it). Cork and Caddick were medium pacers, I wonder if they ever cracked 140kph.

Also, Brett Lee charged in on debut bowling and got up into the 150s, he was definitely fast back then - he didn't ease in at 140-145 like you suggest. That's why cricket god was saying that those 2 were a big deal because they were 5% faster than everyone else.

Cork was pretty fast, and Caddick did clock close to 90mph, obviously Lee and Akthar were faster than those guys, but to say that batsmen of the age never faced bowling at 140kph before Lee/Akthar's entry is surely an understatement as you have alluded to (Donald/Wasim/waqar).

 

[SiriusBlack]

edited

 

[angryangy]

Nobody has hard stats on this so it's all a fair bit of conjecture, especially in terms of what bowlers 20-30 years ago were doing regularly. At the moment, there are only a couple of bowlers who can bowl a fair bit faster than their stock speed. I think it's more about the talent pool than the pressures of the game.

 

[cricket_icon]

I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned pitches and the fact that they have become flatter all over the world. Perth isn't as fast as it used to be, in fact most Aussie pitches are fairly slow and dull...the same goes for a lot of pitches here in England. South Africa has some decent fast bowler's pitches which is why we've seen the likes of Steyn and Morkel bowl 90+.

Wahab Riaz while in England was bowling at 150 on numerous occasions but he lacked the overall quality of of control and line, which coupled with dry, batsmen friendly pitches meant he got hit around the park. So that's the problem, or at least the major issue here, pitches have become flatter and bowler's have to adapt to that, they have to bowl on a line and a length to see some rewards. The art of the yorker is also limited, so it's rare to see a 90+mph in-swinging yorker up rooting stumps these days.

There are a tonne of 85+ bowlers out there, all of whom are good and some verging on being great but the age of the beast is gone, I doubt we'll see another Waqar, Akhtar, Akram, Donald, Lee for a long time yet.