Are we in the middle of a new era for fast-bowlers?

[Officer Barbrady]

The test batting averages around the world were fairly low in 2018 with only a handful of players averaging over 40. I don’t think that’s happened very often since the 1980s. Some of that is down to the quality of the batsmen around but this also begs the question, is this a new era of fast bowlers?

Consider the bowling attacks:

South Africa: Steyn/Vernon/Rabada with good back up - perhaps their best fast bowling attack ever
India: Bumrah/Shami/Ishant - almost certainly their best ever
New Zealand: Boult/Southee/Wagner - probably their most balanced attack ever
Australia: Starc/Hazlewood/Cummins - not their best but solid nonetheless
Pakistan: Abbas/Shaheen/Amir/Hasan - young but very promising
England: Anderson/Broad/Woakes/Wood etc - ageing but still better than what they produced in most of the 90s/00s.
West Indies: still struggling but Gabriel seems to at least give them a leader

Have we seen a better group of fast bowlers in the past 30 years?

 

[a_tahir]

Not a single Pakistani bowler can bowl deliveries consistently over 140kmph.
This was proven when it was shown that all the 4 SA pacers bowled faster than the Pakistanis.
The fastest ball bowled was by Shaheen out of all people. Speed was like 140.8kmph or something
While the SA bowlers were hitting the 145k mark,
even steyn at the age of 35.

 

[Buffet]

Not a single Pakistani bowler can bowl deliveries consistently over 140kmph.
This was proven when it was shown that all the 4 SA pacers bowled faster than the Pakistanis.
The fastest ball bowled was by Shaheen out of all people. Speed was like 140.8kmph or something
While the SA bowlers were hitting the 145k mark,
even steyn at the age of 35.

So what? Pakistani bowling unit is still better than what it was 2-3 years back. Pace is not everything.

 

[gazza619]

So what? Pakistani bowling unit is still better than what it was 2-3 years back. Pace is not everything.

Agreed we have better seamers now than a few years ago.

 

[a_tahir]

So what? Pakistani bowling unit is still better than what it was 2-3 years back. Pace is not everything.

Let’s see how the next two tests go. But agreed that it is better than 2-3 years back.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Not a single Pakistani bowler can bowl deliveries consistently over 140kmph.
This was proven when it was shown that all the 4 SA pacers bowled faster than the Pakistanis.
The fastest ball bowled was by Shaheen out of all people. Speed was like 140.8kmph or something
While the SA bowlers were hitting the 145k mark,
even steyn at the age of 35.

Abbas is better than 80% of bowlers who bowl 140+km/hr. Speed means little in modern cricket. Look at Starc, all bark no bite.

 

[iPakistani]

Not a single Pakistani bowler can bowl deliveries consistently over 140kmph.
This was proven when it was shown that all the 4 SA pacers bowled faster than the Pakistanis.
The fastest ball bowled was by Shaheen out of all people. Speed was like 140.8kmph or something
While the SA bowlers were hitting the 145k mark,
even steyn at the age of 35.

Pace is not everything look at McGrath, Abbas compared to bowlers like Shaun Tait. Especially in test matches bowling good line and lengths is much more important than pace.

 

[Dead Ball]

This is blasphemy for nostalgia uncles who believe that the only competitive cricket ever played was in the 80s and 90s.

How dare you rate the current era as challenging for batsmen !

 

[rhony]

Don't ignore the spinners too. I lost interest in tests a few years ago but this year has been fantastic viewing. Pitches are sportive and the skilled ones are making runs and taking wickets. 2018 was the shot in the arm for test cricket surely.

 

[hk031992]

Yes, good thread

However, SA had an equally good attack in the 90's, Aus, Pak and WI had better than what they do now, and Ind, Eng, and NZ have better attacks now

Still, standard of fast bowling is increasing

 

[Officer Barbrady]

Don't ignore the spinners too. I lost interest in tests a few years ago but this year has been fantastic viewing. Pitches are sportive and the skilled ones are making runs and taking wickets. 2018 was the shot in the arm for test cricket surely.

True, there are some decent spinners around. Ashwin, Yasir, Lyon are quality. Eng have more options than they usually do though probably no one quite as good as Swann, and BD have a few.

 

[Robert]

The test batting averages around the world were fairly low in 2018 with only a handful of players averaging over 40. I don’t think that’s happened very often since the 1980s. Some of that is down to the quality of the batsmen around but this also begs the question, is this a new era of fast bowlers?

Have we seen a better group of fast bowlers in the past 30 years?

England don’t have any fast bowlers. They have a bunch of medium pacers who get found out when it doesn’t swing. Oh for a Fraser, Gough, Caddick, Harmison who could deliver in a range of conditions and were all nastier to face than this lot.

 

[Khalistani99]

England don't have fast bowlers. Only seamers. They struggle on flat pitches. However it's the deep batting line up which is keeping their team up.
India and Australia probably have best fast bowlers. I suspect South Africa will struggle in Asian conditions.