Are fast-bowlers with short height as effective as taller ones?

[All_Rounder]

Hello,
My question is : "Anyone with 5 feet height can become a Good fast bowler?"

And, what is the height of Bilawal bhatti? He looks like 5' 4".

Anyhow, I want to know, How much height is important for fast bowlers..

Name Any Good Fast bowler you know with short height.?

 

[Syed1]

In short no )

 

[coolkhu]

it depends on his pace...like Dale Steyn he is 5,10 not that tall but he is effective with his pace and swing..

of course line and length must be there...

 

[coolkhu]

btw Bilawal Bhatti is 5' 6"

 

[cricketfanfirst]

Not sure, but I think the greatest genuine fast bowler with relatively short height was Malcolm Marshall; Even then, I think he was around 5'9 to 5'10;

With 5'0, you will be playing U-12 as a fast bowler;

 

[coolkhu]

Not sure, but I think the greatest genuine fast bowler with relatively short height was Malcolm Marshall; Even then, I think he was around 5'9 to 5'10;

With 5'0, you will be playing U-12 as a fast bowler;

hahaha U-12

 

[StreetSmart]

Hello,
My question is : "Anyone with 5 feet height can become a Good fast bowler?"

And, what is the height of Bilawal bhatti? He looks like 5' 4".

Anyhow, I want to know, How much height is important for fast bowlers..

Name Any Good Fast bowler you know with short height.?

Yaar atleast dont make fun of that guy he is just asking. I am 5.5 or 5.6 i have no problem and there was a guy in my team he was 5 or i think 5.2 and he was good fast bowler to be come fast bowler you need to make sure few thing your build , runup , make sure where to pitch and how fast your hand movement is thats it proper follow through and practice and you can become fast bowler. Better try to bowl dont ask any one.

Bilawal Bhatti is the only example in my mind right now

 

[StreetSmart]

Not sure, but I think the greatest genuine fast bowler with relatively short height was Malcolm Marshall; Even then, I think he was around 5'9 to 5'10;

With 5'0, you will be playing U-12 as a fast bowler;

Marshal was not small he looked small because because they Holding , Garner, Walsh, Ambrose type of bowlers in your team who are good 6.6

 

[FusedBulb]

Arun Lal vs Glen McGrath

 

[Robert]

Name Any Good Fast bowler you know with short height.?

1. Harold Larwood

2. Malcolm Marshall

 

[cricketfanfirst]

Marshal was not small he looked small because because they Holding , Garner, Walsh, Ambrose type of bowlers in your team who are good 6.6

Yes, I agree. He was not small, but only relatively small compared to giants like Garner/Ambrose/Croft who all were well above 6'5 and also Holding was around 6'3 and Roberts around 6'2;

No man, I'm not making any fun of him. As you said, it is more to do with attitude, stamina, practice to be good at anything. For a fast bowler, with height you got some awkward bounce which bowlers like McGrath, Garner, Ambrose used devastatingly, so that's why height is a major advantage for a fast bowler. Another good example is Irfan who gets such great bounce.

 

[iafzal]

Depends what you mean good fast bowler, question is at what level?
If at the top level with big boys then you for sure not gonna make it at 5'.
the sweet spot is between 5'10" to 6'4". If you are outside it you have to make appropriate adjustments to compensate.
There have been a number of fast bowlers who have been great with height over 6'4" (Garner, Holding, Walsh) but most have been in the sweet spot of 5'10" to 6'4".
I am not aware of any good international fast bowler who is shorter than 5'8".

 

[StreetSmart]

Yes, I agree. He was not small, but only relatively small compared to giants like Garner/Ambrose/Croft who all were well above 6'5 and also Holding was around 6'3 and Roberts around 6'2;

No man, I'm not making any fun of him. As you said, it is more to do with attitude, stamina, practice to be good at anything. For a fast bowler, with height you got some awkward bounce which bowlers like McGrath, Garner, Ambrose used devastatingly, so that's why height is a major advantage for a fast bowler. Another good example is Irfan who gets such great bounce.

Bounce Depends upon how straight your body is when you deliver the ball but if you are with slinging action that will be difficult. Bowlers with short height normally dependent upon their line length

 

[justarslan]

Not sure, but I think the greatest genuine fast bowler with relatively short height was Malcolm Marshall; Even then, I think he was around 5'9 to 5'10;

With 5'0, you will be playing U-12 as a fast bowler;

Marshall was 5'11. He looked shorter because other West Indians were giant like Irfan. I think you need minimum height of 5'7 or 5'8.

 

[todfod 11]

How tall is mo sami ?

 

[Thivagar]

Take up wrist spin, 5.0 to 5.70 is the best height for wrist spinners. Murali was a pace bowler, who had to switch to Spin and we all know what happened there

 

[Watsupdoc]

Malinga is 5.6, 5.7 that's pretty short for a fast bowler.

 

[rhony]

Hello,
My question is : "Anyone with 5 feet height can become a Good fast bowler?"

And, what is the height of Bilawal bhatti? He looks like 5' 4".

Anyhow, I want to know, How much height is important for fast bowlers..

Name Any Good Fast bowler you know with short height.?

Malinga isn't very tall but quite effective!

 

[iafzal]

Malinga is 5.6, 5.7 that's pretty short for a fast bowler.

Malinga is at least 5' 8" if not taller

 

[Watsupdoc]

Malinga is at least 5' 8" if not taller

Nope search google.

 

[Abdullah719]

Nope search google.

I'm beginning to doubt Google. It says that Junior is 5'2"??? Is that true? He doesn't look 5 inches shorter than Messi (I don't mean Yasir Shah)!

 

[Watsupdoc]

I'm beginning to doubt Google. It says that Junior is 5'2"??? Is that true? He doesn't look 5 inches shorter than Messi (I don't mean Yasir Shah)!

He is pretty short, but I am not sure about 5'2" either

 

[Convict]

1. Harold Larwood

2. Malcolm Marshall

Larwood was not really short for the 1930s

 

[Dr_Bassim]

Junior would be 5 4...

Malinga I presume is 5 8 or 5 9 ...

He looks short because everyone fast bowler is tall...

It's like in tennis, if there is a girl who is 5 6 or 5 7 .. you would think she is really short, but when you find out she's actually 5 8 or 5 7 you are surprised.

Anyway, lemme tell you it matters in no sport if you can excel at the game.

The shortest basketball player legend was Muggsy Bogues and he played for NBA even at a height of 5 ft 3 inches. Similarly Michael Chang won the French Open I believe at a height of only 5 9 ...

In short if you have potential you can conquer any sport and rest is just made up stuff.

 

[Noobosauras]

How tall is mo sami ?

Mo. Shami is around 5'9''.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Steyn and Marshall are the ones I can think of who were short and are ATG's.

 

[JibranAnsari]

Height does matter but if you are skillful you can make it.

 

[Thivagar]

Height does matter but if you are skillful you can make it.

Not really, if you are short, your action will suggest to the batsman that a bouncer is coming in the most obvious way. It is harder to detect a bouncer if the bowler is tall, this is probably why Irfan is bowling well atm.

 

[IndianWillow]

Marshall was 5'11'' - not exactly a shortie.

 

[Robert]

Larwood was not really short for the 1930s

5' 8" I believe, but his mates Vose and Bowes were both 6' 5" IIRC and he was yards quicker than them.

 

[speed]

waqar, akhtar, were both under 6 feet.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

btw Bilawal Bhatti is 5' 6"

He didn't really fly the flag for short fast bowlers did he?

 

[leatherface58]

If you are truly good, height doesn't matter. Steyn, Marshall are true legends. Of the current crop, Roach, Taylor and Harris aren't very tall but they are very good.

On the other hand, Irfan and Tremlett are beanstalks but not that good.

 

[aabbasi]

IMHO:

Biggest +Ves:
1) Being short would help you skid the ball, and hurry the batsmen up especially on some of the pakistani pitches like Faislabad and Pindi.
2) Being short means you will face lesser back injuries and you have better chance of becoming a good athlete and maintain your body.

Biggest -Ves:
1) Short height takes away a really potent weapon away from you, which is short-ball. Being short means, you have to dig it half way down the pitch to target a batsman's head unlike bowlers like Irfan who can rear it up from good length.

2) Height gives the bowlers a mental superiority for some reason. Facing a towering figure like Irfan is difficult, and his yorkers at good pace would be almost impossible to play. For a shorter guy, it is really difficult to surprise the batsman with length.

 

[cricketfanfirst]

IMHO:

Biggest +Ves:
1) Being short would help you skid the ball, and hurry the batsmen up especially on some of the pakistani pitches like Faislabad and Pindi.
2) Being short means you will face lesser back injuries and you have better chance of becoming a good athlete and maintain your body.

Biggest -Ves:
1) Short height takes away a really potent weapon away from you, which is short-ball. Being short means, you have to dig it half way down the pitch to target a batsman's head unlike bowlers like Irfan who can rear it up from good length.

2) Height gives the bowlers a mental superiority for some reason. Facing a towering figure like Irfan is difficult, and his yorkers at good pace would be almost impossible to play. For a shorter guy, it is really difficult to surprise the batsman with length.

Very nice summary.

Marshall was renowned for his skidding delivery style, many were knocked out by these skidding deliveries.

But all in all, based on the players we have seen or heard, I don't think there has been even one truly great fast bowler under 5'8 (assuming Larwood is 5'8 as per Robert.

 

[as-95]

Mo. Shami is around 5'9''.

Hes asking about Mohammad Sami. Indian trundlers don't deserve mentions in the thread.

 

[yeh cheez]

missed opportunity with Alam Channa.

 

[as-95]

Vaas wasnt so fast but he was a good bowler. Defnintely not ATG territory, but he was below 5'11 and a Sri Lankan great. Same for Malinga who was shorter than 5'9 and probably a Sri Lankan great(His case is unique due to his action though).

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

To me, anyone above 5'8 doesn't really qualify as a short bowler. That's only a few inches off 6ft.

 

[Laparwah]

Most great fast bowlers are of average height. Marshall, Lillee, Holding, Hadlee, Thompson even IK were not giants.

 

[BDfanforever]

Is Dale Stern really 5-10? He looks at least 6-0.

 

[Noobosauras]

Hes asking about Mohammad Sami. Indian trundlers don't deserve mentions in the thread.

Of course he is. We all know your love affair with #phastbrainlesssprayguns

 

[Junaids]

The problem for any bowler shorter than 6 foot is length.

Batsmen, like bowlers, are taller than before. And any bowler less than 6 foot - and ideally 6 foot 3 - has a much smaller margin for error to avoid being driven or cut or pulled.

 

[GujjarSher]

Tino best around 5'8" but generates good pace. sami too is what 5'9"? and we all know he certainly has the speed.

 

[julien f]

Have you asked [MENTION=54418]P[/MENTION]onty100mph ? I am sure he can give a very good appraisal of this topic!

 

[aabbasi]

Hes asking about Mohammad Sami. Indian trundlers don't deserve mentions in the thread.

Bro, after what they did to us in the recent match, it seems we are the ones having trundlers in our attack. Lets give them the respect they have earned after beating top two teams in their group quite comprehensively.

 

[Mamoon]

The tallest fast bowler in the world is just about as useful as a used toothpick.

 

[IndianWillow]

^
Send him to basketball.

 

[Adil_94]

Waqar was pretty short

 

[The Googly]

Naseem
Amir Khan
Tahir Hussain (not mentioned too much but he looks useful)
Mohammed Wasim
Hasnain
Shaheen
Haris Rauf
Musa (to a much lesser degree unless he improves some basics and learns a few more tricks)


Some exciting talent in that mix. Insha-Allah Pakistan will get some major stars from this list.

 

[saeed5646]

Naseem
Amir Khan
Tahir Hussain (not mentioned too much but he looks useful)
Mohammed Wasim
Hasnain
Shaheen
Haris Rauf
Musa (to a much lesser degree unless he improves some basics and learns a few more tricks)


Some exciting talent in that mix. Insha-Allah Pakistan will get some major stars from this list.

Akif javed is also very exciting so is Muhammad abbas 2.0 arshad iqbal along with sameen gul,ehsan adil etc

 

[The Googly]

Akif javed is also very exciting so is Muhammad abbas 2.0 arshad iqbal along with sameen gul,ehsan adil etc

Please remove Sameen Gul and Ehsan Adil from that list! They are very ordinary.

Arshad Iqbal looked good but has not kicked on.

Mohammed Abbas>? is there another one? Not heard of him - only our test bowler.

 

[saeed5646]

Please remove Sameen Gul and Ehsan Adil from that list! They are very ordinary.

Arshad Iqbal looked good but has not kicked on.

Mohammed Abbas>? is there another one? Not heard of him - only our test bowler.

Talking about arshad iqbal he is next Muhammad abbas in making

 

[Junaids]

Please remove Sameen Gul and Ehsan Adil from that list! They are very ordinary.

They are the only ones tall enough to have an international future.

The rest - especially this guy - are too short for international cricket, you might as well select a girl, or a cat, or a wheelbarrow.

Someone in Pakistan needs to show some guts and tell the truth to every prospective fast bowler less than 6 feet tall: you’re too short, you have no future, go away and become a batsman or a spin bowler. You’re just wasting your time and ours.

You can’t be a football goalkeeper if you are under 6 feet tall and you can’t be a fast bowler either.

 

[Forum363]

They are the only ones tall enough to have an international future.

The rest - especially this guy - are too short for international cricket, you might as well select a girl, or a cat, or a wheelbarrow.

Someone in Pakistan needs to show some guts and tell the truth to every prospective fast bowler less than 6 feet tall: you’re too short, you have no future, go away and become a batsman or a spin bowler. You’re just wasting your time and ours.

You can’t be a football goalkeeper if you are under 6 feet tall and you can’t be a fast bowler either.

Still harping on about height but did not respond to my last post. I will say it again for your ease - “ Your argument is based on massively generalising a trend to an extreme level. There is no doubt that being taller is an advantage for a fast bowler however you are arguing that without a minimum height, a bowler is guaranteed to be a failure outside Asia.


Tendulkar, Lara, Bradman, Kohli, Viv Richards, Ricky Ponting and most of the top batsman of all time were 5 foot 10 or under. You could easily make up a theory stating that it is an advantage for a batsman to be shorter for xyz reason and this was stated by Indian coach about batting in the low bounce conditions of the subcontinent. This therefore means that is not possible for a batsman to be successful if he is over 6 foot. PCB should ensure that any tall batsmen at the lower levels are discouraged from batting, given shrinking potions or asked to bat while on their knees.”

 

[Junaids]

Still harping on about height but did not respond to my last post. I will say it again for your ease - “ Your argument is based on massively generalising a trend to an extreme level. There is no doubt that being taller is an advantage for a fast bowler however you are arguing that without a minimum height, a bowler is guaranteed to be a failure outside Asia.


Tendulkar, Lara, Bradman, Kohli, Viv Richards, Ricky Ponting and most of the top batsman of all time were 5 foot 10 or under. You could easily make up a theory stating that it is an advantage for a batsman to be shorter for xyz reason and this was stated by Indian coach about batting in the low bounce conditions of the subcontinent. This therefore means that is not possible for a batsman to be successful if he is over 6 foot. PCB should ensure that any tall batsmen at the lower levels are discouraged from batting, given shrinking potions or asked to bat while on their knees.”

Ryan Harris, Dale Steyn, Malcolm Marshall.

Literally 3 of the most successful 100 Test fast bowlers if the last 40 years were under 6 foot in height.

3%.

That’s enough for me.

 

[Monsee]

Ryan Harris, Dale Steyn, Malcolm Marshall.

Literally 3 of the most successful 100 Test fast bowlers if the last 40 years were under 6 foot in height.

3%.

That’s enough for me.

Waqar Younis says hi!

 

[squanchy]

Ryan Harris, Dale Steyn, Malcolm Marshall.

Literally 3 of the most successful 100 Test fast bowlers if the last 40 years were under 6 foot in height.

3%.

That’s enough for me.

lol

remember last year when bumrah, shami, bhuvi outbowled the **** out of those australian sasquatches

none of them are over 6 feet

you can't just dumb down fast bowling to one characteristic

 

[Manunited18]

Dale Steyn, Malcolm Marshall, Ryan Harris, Darren gough, larwood, shami, bumrah, a perfect example

 

[Greenstorm]

Well, that’s that then.

Justin Langer made clear in the comments that I referenced that you can afford one supremely skilful bowler who isn’t a giant so long as all the others are, because the giants will dry up the scoring at the other end while the short guy probes away.

Pakistan has naturally tall men: Misbah and Waqar really need to start a campaign to get tall boys to bowl pace AND to discourage teams at every level from selecting short quick bowlers.

From the age of six upwards it needs to be explicit: you only get to bowl pace if you are at least two inches taller than anybody else in the team.

And frankly, people like Naseem Shah need to get Growth Hormone treatment before their bones stop growing. The extra 4 inches would have changed his career.

You only need to look at Musa Khan’s dreadful pitch map at Adelaide to understand why decisive action needs to be taken.

These short bowlers can still be useful in LOIs. For tests, I agree that we should promote tall fast bowlers. Shaheen is already there. Arshad Iqbal and few others can fill next spots with the exception of Naseem. Even Harris is tall enough.

 

[Forum363]

Ryan Harris, Dale Steyn, Malcolm Marshall.

Literally 3 of the most successful 100 Test fast bowlers if the last 40 years were under 6 foot in height.

3%.

That’s enough for me.

That's enough for you for what? To tell kids at age 6 that they should not bowl fast if they're not above the average height of their peers? You know the average person grow until 16-18 right? So a 16 year old 'short' kid could comfortable end up above 6 foot.

So even if we all entertained your ridiculous height idea, extending it to write off Amir Khan who looks promising, just does not make sense.

How many ATG batsmen have been above 6 foot then? Do you agree that kids should be discouraged from batting if they're above average height?

 

[shah_1]

Kemar Roach and Neil Wagner aren't successful bowler ? [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION]

 

[Manunited18]

These short bowlers can still be useful in LOIs. For tests, I agree that we should promote tall fast bowlers. Shaheen is already there. Arshad Iqbal and few others can fill next spots with the exception of Naseem. Even Harris is tall enough.

Marshall Steyn arguably 2 of the best ever test performers, I rest my case

 

[Majid Khan]

Naseem
Amir Khan
Tahir Hussain (not mentioned too much but he looks useful)
Mohammed Wasim
Hasnain
Shaheen
Haris Rauf
Musa (to a much lesser degree unless he improves some basics and learns a few more tricks)


Some exciting talent in that mix. Insha-Allah Pakistan will get some major stars from this list.

Exciting prospects who promise much and hopefully at least two of them will turn out to be the ‘real’ deal — I’m pinning hopes on Naseem and Rauf from the bowlers I’ve seen.

At the same time it reminds me of the West Indies around about mid 2000s when they came up with this new batch of exciting fast bowling talent with genuine quicks like Fidel Edwards, Jerome Taylor, Tino Best, Reon King, but unfortunately none of them progressed very far that I recall... hopefully the Pakistani batch of quicks prove themselves otherwise.

 

[Junaids]

Marshall Steyn arguably 2 of the best ever test performers, I rest my case

As my Justin Langer quote referenced, Marshall had the luxury of three guys taller than 6’4 in the attack to dry up runs at the other end.

Steyn had people like Shaun Pollock (6’2), Morne Morkel (6’6) and Jacques Kallis (6’0) in the attack.

 

[Forum363]

So Steyn performed well because he had Pollock and Kallis bowling at the other end? LOL

 

[Greenstorm]

Marshall Steyn arguably 2 of the best ever test performers, I rest my case

That is why I am making an exception for Naseem.

 

[Kingpin786]

As my Justin Langer quote referenced, Marshall had the luxury of three guys taller than 6’4 in the attack to dry up runs at the other end.

Steyn had people like Shaun Pollock (6’2), Morne Morkel (6’6) and Jacques Kallis (6’0) in the attack.

Well these days boult bumrah and shami are one of the better bowlers all are under 6ft

 

[majiz]

They are the only ones tall enough to have an international future.

The rest - especially this guy - are too short for international cricket, you might as well select a girl, or a cat, or a wheelbarrow.

Someone in Pakistan needs to show some guts and tell the truth to every prospective fast bowler less than 6 feet tall: you’re too short, you have no future, go away and become a batsman or a spin bowler. You’re just wasting your time and ours.

You can’t be a football goalkeeper if you are under 6 feet tall and you can’t be a fast bowler either.

shocking post
Theres been loads of very good bowlers under 6ft and shorter bowlers seem to do much better on slow wickets than taller ones

 

[Manunited18]

That is why I am making an exception for Naseem.

Yes, it's mainly to do with the bowlers skill set and nouse

 

[Junaids]

Well these days boult bumrah and shami are one of the better bowlers all are under 6ft

lol

remember last year when bumrah, shami, bhuvi outbowled the **** out of those australian sasquatches

none of them are over 6 feet

you can't just dumb down fast bowling to one characteristic

India’s short fast bowling attack lost their last Test series in England, New Zealand and South Africa and only won 2-1 in Australia because Smith and Warner were banned.

Sometimes - very rarely - a short fast bowler who is twice as skilled as a taller one can do well - if he has tall quicks throttling the scoring opportunities at the other end.

You can have one supremely skilled short quick in your attack .... and he has to be great at swing or seam.

Musa Khan is the perfect example of how raw pace in a short man is as useful as a comb is to a bald man.

 

[Junaids]

That's enough for you for what? To tell kids at age 6 that they should not bowl fast if they're not above the average height of their peers?

That’s exactly what I’m saying.

Stop giving short people false hope of a career as a fast bowler. It’s never going to happen.

 

[azimiqbal]

You can’t generalise ! I agree you need some height , but do not have to be over 6 foot

 

[Kingpin786]

India’s short fast bowling attack lost their last Test series in England, New Zealand and South Africa and only won 2-1 in Australia because Smith and Warner were banned.

Sometimes - very rarely - a short fast bowler who is twice as skilled as a taller one can do well - if he has tall quicks throttling the scoring opportunities at the other end.

You can have one supremely skilled short quick in your attack .... and he has to be great at swing or seam.

Musa Khan is the perfect example of how raw pace in a short man is as useful as a comb is to a bald man.

pakistan short bowling attack of hasan abbas and amir help them draw the test series in england besides aus tall bowling was toothless in uae

 

[Junaids]

That's enough for you for what? To tell kids at age 6 that they should not bowl fast if they're not above the average height of their peers? You know the average person grow until 16-18 right? So a 16 year old 'short' kid could comfortable end up above 6 foot.

So even if we all entertained your ridiculous height idea, extending it to write off Amir Khan who looks promising, just does not make sense.

How many ATG batsmen have been above 6 foot then? Do you agree that kids should be discouraged from batting if they're above average height?

pakistan short bowling attack of hasan abbas and amir help them draw the test series in england besides aus tall bowling was toothless in uae

You can’t generalise ! I agree you need some height , but do not have to be over 6 foot

No no no no no.

Italy won the 2006 World Cup with a 5’9 Centre-back in Fabio Cannavaro.

But that doesn’t change the fact that over 99% of successful Centre-backs are over 6 foot in height.

Fast bowling is exactly the same. One in a hundred top central defenders and fast bowlers are short but they have to be ten times as skilful as tall ones to succeed.

I can understand India having to pick short fast bowlers for demographic reasons.

But Pakistan needs to be like Australia and England. My son is 6’2 tall, but here in Australia when he was eight he was told that he would never be tall enough to be a fast bowler - and his coach was correct.

 

[Kingpin786]

No no no no no.

Italy won the 2006 World Cup with a 5’9 Centre-back in Fabio Cannavaro.

But that doesn’t change the fact that over 99% of successful Centre-backs are over 6 foot in height.

Fast bowling is exactly the same. One in a hundred top central defenders and fast bowlers are short but they have to be ten times as skilful as tall ones to succeed.

I can understand India having to pick short fast bowlers for demographic reasons.

But Pakistan needs to be like Australia and England. My son is 6’2 tall, but here in Australia when he was eight he was told that he would never be tall enough to be a fast bowler - and his coach was correct.

Well jhy richardson considered next big fast bowler by many Australian e perts is below 6ft

 

[MMHS]

No no no no no.

Italy won the 2006 World Cup with a 5’9 Centre-back in Fabio Cannavaro.

But that doesn’t change the fact that over 99% of successful Centre-backs are over 6 foot in height.

Fast bowling is exactly the same. One in a hundred top central defenders and fast bowlers are short but they have to be ten times as skilful as tall ones to succeed.

I can understand India having to pick short fast bowlers for demographic reasons.

But Pakistan needs to be like Australia and England. My son is 6’2 tall, but here in Australia when he was eight he was told that he would never be tall enough to be a fast bowler - and his coach was correct.

Again, I have to disagree with you, with that soccer example. In last few decades, average height of soccer players have grown significantly, and defenders are just part of it. But, it was always first skills and composure, reading ability of an attack for defenders - it'll always be like that even if the average height reaches to 2 metres.

These are some examples that comes from your 1% ......

Beckenbouer: 5'11"
Bogts: 5'6"
Baresi: 5'9"
Pasarella: 5'8"
Jose Andrade: 5'11"
Bobby Moore: 5'8"
Djalma Santos: 5'8"
Mauro Ramos: 5'7"
Puyol: 5'10"
Claudio Gentile: 5'9"
Roberto Ayella: 5'9"
Marius Tresor: 5'11"
Fernando Cuto: 5'11"
Cabrini: 5'10"
Gaetano Scirea: 5'9"
McGrain: 5'9"
Obdulio Varela: 5'10"
Ronald Koeman: 5'11"
Jose Antonio Camacho: 5'8"
Billy Wright: 5.8"
Lothar Matthaeus: 5'8" (He did play as German Libaro for many games at the end of career)
Schnellinger: 5'11"
.
.
.

These are defenders who had played entire or considerable period of career as No. 4 or No. 5 and remember, I haven't included wing-backs like Roberto Carlos, Cafu, Carlos Alberto, Manuel Amoruso, Andreas Brheme, Phillpe Lham, Lizarazzu, Dani Alves, Rudd Kroll, Suurbier .... Trent Alexandar Arnold

The point is not about having height or not - obviously a 6'6" fast bowler with same skill set & intelligence will definitely be better than a 5'11" man, point is - is height the main factor for a fast bowler to be successful, rather than his technical skill set and intelligence?

 

[Junaids]

[MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION]
A lot of your defenders are full-backs, who have no need to be tall.

But as humans have grown, strikers have grown taller, and centre-backs have to be able to beat them in the air. Vanishingly few are under 6’0 in height now.

A Test cricket ball usually doesn’t swing or seam between overs 20-80. Especially now that the clampdown on ball tampering has virtually wiped out reverse swing.

That’s where extreme height comes in, because a tall bowler can get lift from a full length and make it hard for a batsman to decide between playing forward or back. This then strangles the scoring rate.

Naseem Shah will always struggle at 5’10 to control the scoring rate, and Musa Khan at 5’7 has zero hope.

What Pakistan needs is a right-arm Shaheen Shah Afridi, at least 6’5 in height.

In Naseem Shah they already have the one short fast bowler they can use. There’s no vacancy for any more.

 

[MMHS]

[MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION]
A lot of your defenders are full-backs, who have no need to be tall.

But as humans have grown, strikers have grown taller, and centre-backs have to be able to beat them in the air. Vanishingly few are under 6’0 in height now.

A Test cricket ball usually doesn’t swing or seam between overs 20-80. Especially now that the clampdown on ball tampering has virtually wiped out reverse swing.

That’s where extreme height comes in, because a tall bowler can get lift from a full length and make it hard for a batsman to decide between playing forward or back. This then strangles the scoring rate.

Naseem Shah will always struggle at 5’10 to control the scoring rate, and Musa Khan at 5’7 has zero hope.

What Pakistan needs is a right-arm Shaheen Shah Afridi, at least 6’5 in height.

In Naseem Shah they already have the one short fast bowler they can use. There’s no vacancy for any more.

No - I have not listed any defender here who was full back (wing-back) for entire career. Yes, Cabrini, Camacho, Tresor, Santos played as wing back some times (Tresor & Camacho we’re wing-backs in 3-5-2 formation, means they were effectively CBs). There are several players in my list who were among the greatest CBS, for their entire career and short.

Human’s average height actually haven’t changed much in 50 years, but average height of soccer players have definitely grown - at least by 12 CMs in last five decade.

Coming to fast bowling - I understand a little about the technical aspects of height - but, bottom line is you have to have the skills to utilise that. Or, we have to agree that Ehsan Adil would have done better than Naseem ....

 

[tyron_woodley]

India’s short fast bowling attack lost their last Test series in England, New Zealand and South Africa and only won 2-1 in Australia because Smith and Warner were banned.

Sometimes - very rarely - a short fast bowler who is twice as skilled as a taller one can do well - if he has tall quicks throttling the scoring opportunities at the other end.

You can have one supremely skilled short quick in your attack .... and he has to be great at swing or seam.

Musa Khan is the perfect example of how raw pace in a short man is as useful as a comb is to a bald man.

No toss cost India the series and india’s Poor batting plus wrong selections. India dint have the best team for both series as Kohli picked the wrong players.

Even with poor selections and toss losses India would have smashed both South Africa and they win the toss.