In which time period was Wasim Akram at his fastest?

[Savak]

I think it has to be the 1989-90 tour of Australia, just see the bounce and lift he gets and how he is hurrying the batsman with such a short run up. That tour was perhaps the turning point of his career.

 

[MenInG]

Wasim Akram speaking about his time with Lancs.

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[MenInG]

Just to be clear. Thread is about Wasim Akram.

 

[MenInG]

Wasim Akram speaking about his time with Lancs.

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Some quotes from this video:

"Neil Fairbrother and Laurie Brown met me in Sharjah and asked me to play for Lancashire; In those days playing for a county was a huge deal as you had to be a top player of the world like Viv Richards, Imran Khan, Clive Rice or Richard Hadlee - all these massive names - and you could only register with 2 and play with 1 overseas players; So I thought they were talking about League cricket so I said yes, sure (I will play) - I was very excited"

"Neil said - no mate - this is the Lancashire County (we are talking about) - I said what?! are you serious? I was over the moon! I told my captain Imran Khan and he said that's great; It was like a dream come true for me"

"Playing for Lancashire, it helped me a lot to become what I wanted to become at that time; As a young guy, after playing that first year at Lancashire, I became the top player in world cricket and that is how much Lancashire cricket have helped me"

"Because, I became confident as we come from a culture where we dont live on our own but live with a family; I was living on my own (in Manchester?) and the secretary gave me crockery/cutlery for my home there; Everything was very new to me and I learnt a lot off the field; So I became confident as a person, and that confidence I showed in my cricket"

"Playing for Lancashire was so much fun for me because we were winning and became of the most successful sides as well"

"We became confident, not cocky as a team (Lancashire) - our confidence was there and other teams hated us; If there was one team to beat, that was Lancashire but we were unbeatable; If people were to ask me about the highlights of my career, I would say Lancashire of my career for sure - I am a true Lancastrian"

"Those 10 years I played for Lancashire, I still cherish them and I will never forget the time I spent with them"

"England were the number one side in the World (1992 WC) where Phil Defrietas came in at number 10; They had all-rounders like Dermot Reeve, Derek Pringle, and of course Ian Botham also; I was pumped in that final, everyone who qualifies for the WC final wants to make an impact; Because you know as a player, people will remember it if you perform well and I think that was my day; The partnership between Allan Lamb and Neil Fairbrother was going on and then the skipper brought me in; Obviously Fairnbother had a word with Allan Lamb and said block Wasim as its reverse swinging at the moment; I think I just bowled a good delivery to Lamb but Fairbrother was just blocking me with a dead bat"

"When we arrived back in Pakistan, then we realized that we had done something phenomenal over there and the whole country (Pakistan) was smiling for months after that"

"Playing in Dubai Sharjah was OK with 3 people watching but atleast now top-level cricket is back home after 10 years like it did with PSL"

"We had couple of English players on our side in KK, Alex Hales and Chris Jordan, they loved it and everybody enjoyed it in Pakistan; The hospitality ws incredible but obviously they were a bit bored as they were in hotel rooms most of the time which was due to security as we didnt want to risk it but hopefully things will definitely get better"

"Pakistan cricket relies on skill a lot - suddenly you see a bowler come out of nowhere, we have this 16 year old Naseem Shah who bowled close to 150KPH, he is actually sharp, and really really quick - we find cricketers from nowhere - that's the beauty of Pakistan cricket"

"Captaining Pakistan was a little tough due to off the field politics but it was an honour"

 

[Bhaijaan]

At his peak Wasim Akram was a yard quicker than James Starc. Exact speed is not known because in those times only high quality speed guns were used which were very expensive.

 

[Junaids]

He was really quick in the period 1988-90.

Funnily enough, I was a Lancashire member at the time although I was studying in London. June to September were Uni holidays for me in 88 and 89 so I saw a lot of Wasim at Old Trafford, and then from 90 my summers were in London so I saw a lot of Waqar at The Oval.

Wasim arrived injured from the famous West Indies tour in 1998. His bowling was not great for the first eight weeks, but he scored a century on debut.

But by the time we played Surrey at Southport two months in he scored 58 and 98 in a low scoring match and took 8 wickets. Wow!

 

[Nikhil_cric]

I think it has to be the 1989-90 tour of Australia, just see the bounce and lift he gets and how he is hurrying the batsman with such a short run up. That tour was perhaps the turning point of his career.

Depends. He was rapid in the Tri series I think. I don't think he was a bowler who bowled consistently fast for an entire season or two. Just off spells here and there when he was seriously quick .

 

[Robert]

I never thought of him as quick, apart from in the WC92. In. 1987 Imran was quicker and in 1992 Waqar made him look medium pace. I suppose he could really rev when he needed to but was more of a sharpish FM in England.

 

[Zaz]

He wasnt menacingly pacey or quick through the air like some But when he ran in fast and put some effort in with his quick arm action he generated pace off the wicket and surprised many with extra bounce too

He was at his quickest in the period around 1989-1992 earlish in his career, when he was bowling off his long run

He probably bowled around the late 80 mph mark when he cranked it up

 

[AFM]

His peak was definitely around 92. He was still pretty rapid, but has mastered all his skills by then

 

[sl-fan-of-pak]

Wasim bowled 136kph in a match in 2002, that is with all his insulin issues and age catching up...so at his peak, somewhere between 1988 ~ 1994 he could have easily hit 90 ~ 93 MPH , but since he primarily relied on swing and seam he wouldn't have a relied a lot on pace , he would have cranked it up when needed, but could certainly do so up to the mid nineties. (Watch Akram bowling to Slater in 1994)., So we may safely say that he may on average have been 85-90MPH and maxed at 93MPHish and later on in the late nineties up to 2003 he operated at 80-84 average with 86 ~ 87 as the effort ball.

Wasims fastest spells will have to be viewed either when he would bowl with the old ball (say in Pakistan) or in a fast pitch like in Adelaide (or anywhere in Aussy) ... Anywhere between 1988 ~ 1994

 

[CricVet]

Wasim bowled 136kph in a match in 2002, that is with all his insulin issues and age catching up...so at his peak, somewhere between 1988 ~ 1994 he could have easily hit 90 ~ 93 MPH , but since he primarily relied on swing and seam he wouldn't have a relied a lot on pace , he would have cranked it up when needed, but could certainly do so up to the mid nineties. (Watch Akram bowling to Slater in 1994)., So we may safely say that he may on average have been 85-90MPH and maxed at 93MPHish and later on in the late nineties up to 2003 he operated at 80-84 average with 86 ~ 87 as the effort ball.

Wasims fastest spells will have to be viewed either when he would bowl with the old ball (say in Pakistan) or in a fast pitch like in Adelaide (or anywhere in Aussy) ... Anywhere between 1988 ~ 1994

Agree. Akram was capable of bowling pretty fast - Some of his spells were pretty rapid between 88/89 - early 90s. When he realized that he had to cut down his run-up for longevity, he concentrated to achieve max swing.

 

[Savak]

Wasim in comparison to Waqar mostly bowled within himself at 132-136 km/hr but he could crank it up to the 140's depending on the situation. What made him even more challenging was his short run up and fast arm action and out of no where the batsman had to deal with a rapid bouncer or a rapid yorker. He was perhaps one of the most complete bowlers you could find

 

[Robert]

Wasim in comparison to Waqar mostly bowled within himself at 132-136 km/hr but he could crank it up to the 140's depending on the situation. What made him even more challenging was his short run up and fast arm action and out of no where the batsman had to deal with a rapid bouncer or a rapid yorker. He was perhaps one of the most complete bowlers you could find

Alec Stewart said Wasim was possibly 1% harder to face than Waqar because when he came round the wicket he would suddenly pop out from behind the umpire.

Of course Stewart saw Waqar a lot at Surrey so would have been a bit more familiar.

The three men were most respectful of each other. Wasim mentioned how Stewart would consistently smash them with the new ball, and Stewart replied that it was essential to get runs before they started reversing it.

 

[Markhor]

Wasim Akram speaking about his time with Lancs.

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Awesome interview.

We need more Pakistani cricketers like Wasim who can carry themselves confidently in different cultures around the world.