West Indies (70's-80's) vs Australia (2000's)?

[usy]

Manee watch this...
link removed

Do you honestly think that batsman in the 70s & 80s faced bowling as quick as this without helmets? And on pitches that seamed aswell?

Mind you, this is probably one of the best delieveries bowled in the history of cricket.

My dad reckons when Shoaib Akhtar was at his best then that he was the best bowler he'd ever seen. Or atleast the most effective and dangerous and that he hates Akhtar because if he had a different attitude then he would've been probably one of the best bowlers ever. Mind you, he reckons Lilliee and Thomoson were better then McGrath and Warne.

tell you're dad 1 love, Shoaib would be a great player without being stupid.

 

[Dare]

We went from Australia vs West Indies to Sri Lanka dominating the West Indies greats some of you people really make me wonder if you guys aren't on something when you are writing these things.

 

[usy]

We went from Australia vs West Indies to Sri Lanka dominating the West Indies greats some of you people really make me wonder if you guys aren't on something when you are writing these things.

I most definitely agree with you, I?m sure a few people actually are on cookies.

erm.. annoyingdevil..

 

[aussie_ben91]

Dare, maybe you should actually read what people are saying when they put out a theory because it actually has some logic behind it. Muraliatharan & Warne are the two leading wicket takers in the history of Test Cricket and during the 70s & 80s, spin was supposedly going out of fashion until Shane Warne revolutionised it all over again. Perhaps the Windies are the ones who didn't face the true magicians of the game.

I watched the clips of Jeff Thomson and I'm now watching Jerome Taylor & Daren Powell bowl and they are bowling around 87mph and are looking equally as quick, if not a tad quicker then what Thomson was.

 

[King Pietersen]

Haha, even for your standards thats hilarious. Thomson would probably punch you if you said to his face that he's the same pace or slower than Daren Powell. Thomson was far, far quicker than Powell, Manee posted the stats from the World Fast Bowler competition, surely thats proof that he was quicker ? Really Ben, you make 1 good point and then are back on form with the next one, do you even read through what you've put before you post it ?

 

[manee]

I watched the clips of Jeff Thomson and I'm now watching Jerome Taylor & Daren Powell bowl and they are bowling around 87mph and are looking equally as quick, if not a tad quicker then what Thomson was.

Thomson may have been 160kph, he may have been 150kph but calling him a 140kph bowler really is something else.

 

[Will_NA]

Trust me, if Murali and SL don't run through the batsmen today, they certainly wouldn't have done it to the likes of Greenidge, Haynes, Richards, Lloyd...

 

[Dare]

Dare, maybe you should actually read what people are saying when they put out a theory because it actually has some logic behind it. Muraliatharan & Warne are the two leading wicket takers in the history of Test Cricket and during the 70s & 80s, spin was supposedly going out of fashion until Shane Warne revolutionised it all over again. Perhaps the Windies are the ones who didn't face the true magicians of the game.

I watched the clips of Jeff Thomson and I'm now watching Jerome Taylor & Daren Powell bowl and they are bowling around 87mph and are looking equally as quick, if not a tad quicker then what Thomson was.

Abdul Qadir was there as a spin bowler and they did fine against him. Obviously not as good as Warne and Murli but he was the best spinner at the time and they played him just as good as anyone else. I'm sure that they would have some problems against the 2 spinners but it wouldn't take them long to learn to play the 2. If Murali didn't bowl out the current West Indies lineup than there is no way he would do it to the greats of the past and same goes for Warne.

 

[Sureshot]

what i am saying is they were quick 140-150 but not express as some of todays bowlers

There were as many 'express' bowlers then as there are now.

I'm going to have to delete those youtube videos, you know the rules on them.

 

[Cricket_god]

Haha, even for your standards thats hilarious. Thomson would probably punch you if you said to his face that he's the same pace or slower than Daren Powell. Thomson was far, far quicker than Powell, Manee posted the stats from the World Fast Bowler competition, surely thats proof that he was quicker ? Really Ben, you make 1 good point and then are back on form with the next one, do you even read through what you've put before you post it ?

THe fastest bowler comp video shows his fastest delivery is 147 km/hr
so he is far from 160km and thats the only real evidence we have the
rest are websites claim.so ben is right

Cricket_god added 0 Minutes and 57 Seconds later...

There were as many 'express' bowlers then as there are now.

I'm going to have to delete those youtube videos, you know the rules on them.

at that time express meant 130-145

 

[King Pietersen]

I'm sorry, but Cricinfo provides factual statistics, they don't just make stuff up. You have absoloutely zero proof that express meant "130-145", what exactly are you basing that opinion on ?. Everyone who has played against Jeff Thomson regards him as the quickest bowler they've ever faced, most of these have gone on to be professional commentators, so have seen the pace of the current generation first hand, and will know that only Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee come anywhere near the pace of Thommo and Roberts.

 

[manee]

at that time express meant 130-145

Devon Malcolm timed at 141.6kph in 1998 at the age of 35 - are you seriously suggesting that he was not 4kph quicker in his physical prime?

 

[Sureshot]

THe fastest bowler comp video shows his fastest delivery is 147 km/hr
so he is far from 160km and thats the only real evidence we have the
rest are websites claim.so ben is right

Cricket_god added 0 Minutes and 57 Seconds later...



at that time express meant 130-145

No it didn't.

That fastest bowler comp was using speed guns which were proved to be very inaccurate. Thomson was timed at 99mph, after his shoulder injury. All batsman of that era say he dropped pace after his shoulder injury.

 

[manee]

As far as I know, the guns were accurate but measured the average speed of the ball from after release. But I agree that those figures cannot be taken seriously.

 

[aussie_ben91]

Haha, even for your standards thats hilarious. Thomson would probably punch you if you said to his face that he's the same pace or slower than Daren Powell. Thomson was far, far quicker than Powell, Manee posted the stats from the World Fast Bowler competition, surely thats proof that he was quicker ? Really Ben, you make 1 good point and then are back on form with the next one, do you even read through what you've put before you post it ?

I'm being serious. If you watch the ball out of the hand and how it pitches and how fast it hits the batsman, it is on par with the delieveries that Powell & Taylor were providing in the ODI earlier with the ones that Thomson was bowling on youtubes. You obviously didn't watch the match.

You are really failing to see logic. Players nowadays are allot more fitter (an example would be that Thomson was able to bowl in his debut with a broken foot) and a wider variety of bowlers can touch higher speeds more consistantly then bowlers of 30-40 years whilst it obviously seems that this was something amazing to do back in the day.

It's not just fitness that plays a vital role in just cricket but many other sports nowadays and it is now probably playing a bigger role in sport then it ever has. Players, particulary in the Australian side won't get selected if their fitness isn't extremely up to scratch. McGrath and Hayden both kept their fitness up extremely well towards the late tier of their careers and Phil Jaques was even told to go back and work on his fitness before Australia would select him again. Mitchell Johnson isn't International standard but he can still bowl 145kph consistantly for the vast majority of a day in Test Cricket mainly due to an outstanding fitness regime.

Thomson probably had the potential to bowl 100mph but I highly doubt that he often did. I think, judging from watching some of the current bowlers and watching him on youtube that he mainly bowled inbetween or around 85-90mph.

I have absolutely nothing against Thomson, I've met him before, shook his hand and he wished me luck with my cricket.

Abdul Qadir was there as a spin bowler and they did fine against him. Obviously not as good as Warne and Murli but he was the best spinner at the time and they played him just as good as anyone else. I'm sure that they would have some problems against the 2 spinners but it wouldn't take them long to learn to play the 2. If Murali didn't bowl out the current West Indies lineup than there is no way he would do it to the greats of the past and same goes for Warne.

It took far more successful batsman of the modern age, 10 years to learn how to play Muralitharan properly and read his doosra and action.

Warne, I think is the better bowler but I think the action of Muralitharan would be to complex and complicated for any other batsman of a different era to handle.