At what age do pace-bowlers reach their peak?

[RyanRyan10]

At what age do the Pacers peak?

At what age should they be introduced at the international level?

Is it right to give longer runs to Pacers in their late 20s?

 

[Rana]

Depends on the body and individual. Some peak and get better and better, with no decline in sight.

Glen McGrath could have played for another 2-3 years and picked up another 100 Test wickets at ease before he would be considered too old and useless

 

[Xoib]

25-30.

They start becoming good at 23 and can perform with good fitness till 32-33.

For Pakistan pacers their peak age is 22 and last till 27 due to fake age and lack of focus for prime fitness

 

[ElRaja]

express pacers like akhtar, lee in their late 20s, 25 to 29ish, should be introduced young to get body used to rigour of test cricket without wearing them down in domestics.

seam and swing bowlers like ambrose, mcgrath and anderson early 30s, 28 to 33, should be introduced when they have at least 30 first class games so they learn to work out batsmen.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

express pacers like akhtar, lee in their late 20s, 25 to 29ish, should be introduced young to get body used to rigour of test cricket without wearing them down in domestics.

seam and swing bowlers like ambrose, mcgrath and anderson early 30s, 28 to 33, should be introduced when they have at least 30 first class games so they learn to work out batsmen.

So you feel Akhtar was introduced late and Naseem introduced at the right time?

 

[ElRaja]

So you feel Akhtar was introduced late and Naseem introduced at the right time?

akhtar was 22 i think when he debuted, i dont think thats old. and agree with timing of naseems debut, hes a long term punt that may pay off, but i dont think 2 or 3 seasons of constant qea trophy will help as much as a consistent run of say 10 tests.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

akhtar was 22 i think when he debuted, i dont think thats old. and agree with timing of naseems debut, hes a long term punt that may pay off, but i dont think 2 or 3 seasons of constant qea trophy will help as much as a consistent run of say 10 tests.

Interestingly Akhtar says 2-3 years of his were wasted, and he feels he bowled a lot better/just as good at 20 than he did at 23.

 

[Zaz]

If say by about 27-28 a pacer should be at his best pace n skills wise

Wasim was at his very best n quickest around 1992-1994 that age

 

[Xoib]

akhtar was 22 i think when he debuted, i dont think thats old. and agree with timing of naseems debut, hes a long term punt that may pay off, but i dont think 2 or 3 seasons of constant qea trophy will help as much as a consistent run of say 10 tests.

Naseem I think was 19 when he made debut last year. I believe he could have used 2 more seasons of especially new QeA trophy for seasoning made a debut at 21 (officially 18) and by the time he was 23 - 24 (20-21) he would have started hitting his straps and could still stay good for another 5-6 years.
In this manner you gave him couple of years for first class cricket seasoning at the same time hes still young enough to give you strong 7-8 years.

 

[ElRaja]

Interestingly Akhtar says 2-3 years of his were wasted, and he feels he bowled a lot better/just as good at 20 than he did at 23.

could be, but he was never shy of rating himself, lol

Naseem I think was 19 when he made debut last year. I believe he could have used 2 more seasons of especially new QeA trophy for seasoning made a debut at 21 (officially 18) and by the time he was 23 - 24 (20-21) he would have started hitting his straps and could still stay good for another 5-6 years.
In this manner you gave him couple of years for first class cricket seasoning at the same time hes still young enough to give you strong 7-8 years.

2 years of qea means maybe 10 first class games given they dont wanna play him too much, and versus this competition, i.e. with top line players missing for so many games id argue the value of the experience is questionable.

 

[Robert]

At what age do the Pacers peak?

At what age should they be introduced at the international level?

Is it right to give longer runs to Pacers in their late 20s?

Modern fast bowlers are usually at their peak from mid twenties to thirty or so. Thirty used to be the closing bell on a career, but now they can continue for years more. After thirty they can do a Lillee, cutting pace and focusing on movement and smarts to deceive batters rather than blast them out.

 

[Hasan123]

Peak of a fast bowler I would say is between 24-30.

 

[andy0204]

Allan Donald and Curtly Ambrose career pretty sumps up the peak of fast bowling because when they started international cricket they looked like really threatning and continued to do so till their downfall that is after 35.

 

[Robert]

Allan Donald and Curtly Ambrose career pretty sumps up the peak of fast bowling because when they started international cricket they looked like really threatning and continued to do so till their downfall that is after 35.

Donald didn’t play until age 26 due to SA’s isolation, so he had filled about and his action was grooved.

 

[ishtiaq_ctg]

Depends on the body and individual. Some peak and get better and better, with no decline in sight.

Glen McGrath could have played for another 2-3 years and picked up another 100 Test wickets at ease before he would be considered too old and useless

Mcgrath was still the best bowler of his side when he retired. A born Winner.
Ambrose too was very good till he retired.

 

[ElRaja]

Allan Donald and Curtly Ambrose career pretty sumps up the peak of fast bowling because when they started international cricket they looked like really threatning and continued to do so till their downfall that is after 35.

Generally thats true, but Ambrose is a bad example, after 35 he took 68 wickets and 20. he was threatening until he retired.

 

[MMHS]

Most of the fast bowlers are fastest between their biological age of 23 to 25. Apart from very few late bloomers (like Imran, but he was a complete changed bowler after 1975-6 and changed action further during WSC) most fast bowlers had been fastest at that age bracket. But, between 23-25 fast bowlers are too raw, still not cunning enough to get the batsmen out.

I think, the age when fast bowlers are at their peak is 29, and add 3 years either side. By 26-27 a regular fast bowler should have about 35 Tests and 100 FC games - his body is tempered by now, pace still is at peak; by 29 often they reduce peak pace a little, focus on average speed but add lots of variations and guile in their bowling. After 32-33, often age starts to come into their game - still extremely effective because of experience & skills; but looses pace considerably; by 35 often they retire for internationals.

There are few exceptions like Anderson, Walsh, Ambrose, Hadlee, Wahab ... but in general this is the trend for most fast bowlers.

 

[Suleiman]

Reminds me of what Shoaib Akhtar said. When you’re new on the scene (18-27), your body is at its peak, you have speed, energy etc, but no experience. After your 30s you have a lot of wisdom, experience as tactical knowledge but you’re not what you used to be energy wise.

 

[andy0204]

Generally thats true, but Ambrose is a bad example, after 35 he took 68 wickets and 20. he was threatening until he retired.

But he wasn't threatening as he used to be he looked more like a stock bowler,Walsh has outbowled him couple of times in his last years

 

[ManFan]

It’s usually 28-29, followed by a steep decline.

The body cannot capitalize on the years of experience.

 

[RyanRyan10]

Most of the fast bowlers are fastest between their biological age of 23 to 25. Apart from very few late bloomers (like Imran, but he was a complete changed bowler after 1975-6 and changed action further during WSC) most fast bowlers had been fastest at that age bracket. But, between 23-25 fast bowlers are too raw, still not cunning enough to get the batsmen out.

I think, the age when fast bowlers are at their peak is 29, and add 3 years either side. By 26-27 a regular fast bowler should have about 35 Tests and 100 FC games - his body is tempered by now, pace still is at peak; by 29 often they reduce peak pace a little, focus on average speed but add lots of variations and guile in their bowling. After 32-33, often age starts to come into their game - still extremely effective because of experience & skills; but looses pace considerably; by 35 often they retire for internationals.

There are few exceptions like Anderson, Walsh, Ambrose, Hadlee, Wahab ... but in general this is the trend for most fast bowlers.

express pacers like akhtar, lee in their late 20s, 25 to 29ish, should be introduced young to get body used to rigour of test cricket without wearing them down in domestics.

seam and swing bowlers like ambrose, mcgrath and anderson early 30s, 28 to 33, should be introduced when they have at least 30 first class games so they learn to work out batsmen.

India has some very good young Pacers but we are trying guys like Saini, Chahar etc.

Is it the right move?

Currently, which format will be the best for introducing a young pacer?

 

[ElRaja]

India has some very good young Pacers but we are trying guys like Saini, Chahar etc.

Is it the right move?

Currently, which format will be the best for introducing a young pacer?

i dont really know what young pacers india has so cant comment on whether they should be selected.

ideally u want to blood young pacers in home series, in odis or tests imo, give em time to get over nerves and get one or two proper spells in.

indias at home usually have total batting paradise pitches in odis, which leaves just tests, and their pace options are so set in stone that even bumrah cant get a home test.

 

[MMHS]

India has some very good young Pacers but we are trying guys like Saini, Chahar etc.

Is it the right move?

Currently, which format will be the best for introducing a young pacer?

There is always a question mark on the official age of Asian (& African) cricketers, therefore pacers should be introduced in domestic cricket before 19 and no, picking so called all-rounders for the sake of 10-12 extra runs/innings instead of specialist pacers is never a good idea. 4th pacer may be, provided that there is a genuine spinner in playing XI, otherwise at least 3, better four bowlers should be picked on absolute bowling merit in playing XI - Aussies do that and Lloyd did that, otherwise both Australia& WIN has/had the highest numbers of those "all-rounders", who can average 35 with ball & 23 with bat....

I think, young pacers should be blocked from T20 before the age of 23. They learn lots for "staffs" from T20 - slower ball, cutter ball, knuckle ball, split seem ball, slower bouncer/yorker, lolly-pop full toss..... only two things they forget from T20 - a solid stock ball that they can put 4-5 times every over on spot effortlessly and a bowling discipline according to the field to choke down batsmen and force them to play out of comfort zone when batsmen are not in a mad rush, rather trying to survive.

Ideally, a talented pacer should be in FC squad by 18-19, not necessarily playing every game, but bowl lots of net overs which'll help strengthen the body. The top 1-2 of every year or two should debut in Test before 23 and become regular by 25. Now, from a country of 1.4bn with cricket being followed like religion, you can understand the odds for making the national cut even for the best of the best... therefore no harm if young pacers can develop a little bit of batting as well, but his main focus must be to be the spearhead of the attack.

The pace bowling culture still hasn't matured in India, hence I have seen mistakes in pace bowling choices - wrong bowler, wrong venue, wrong format,wrong opponents ... which hardly happens for batsmen, spinners or WK picks - one reason previously was that Indian national tam was a reflection of domestic cricket - unless you can bat like Kapil, Binney, Madan Lal, Prabhakar, Chetan Sharma, Abid Ali, Ramacant Desai, Mohinder Amarnath ...... your FC career might be over in few years, therefore pacers like VRB Singh, Aviskar Salvi, Paresh Mohambrey ... disappeared in no time while Irfan Pathan tried to change career. May be one more generation like current bunch, things will finally change.