Is bowling in ODI cricket a joke? Jeff Thomson thinks so...

[Hitman]

This and not all of his deliveries were timed.

Absolutely. Rodney Marsh has always maintained that Thommo bowled upwards of 180 km/h. Highly unlikely, but that's what Marsh has always maintained. One thing for sure from that statement, Thommo was considerably quicker than Lillee, who himself was a speed demon at his peak.

It took some serious balls for guys like Viv and Sunny to face the duo of Lillee and Thommo at the WACA that too without a helmet.

 

[Grunge101]

Thomson's deliveries (during those times) were timed at the batsman's end of the pitch (by which time the ball has slowed), whereas today's bowlers are timed just after they release the ball out of their hand. Thomson would have easily clocked way faster than both Lee and Akhtar if today's technology were used to measure him at his peak.

That is not correct at all actually..

Bowling pace in the modern era is measured by one of the methods

1.Radar guns..Used by Broadcasting Companies,there are the norm today..the ball speed is measured right out of the hand by a radio wave transmitter and receiver placed in the batting end direction.This takes the ''measured at contact'' and ''measured at batting line'' difference out of the equation

2.Hawkeye.....This technique uses 6 cameras placed strategically to measure the velocity of the ball,the path and the rotation/spin on the ball.This technique is essentially an advancement of the same method that was used in 1975 to measure Thompson,Roberts,Holding/others.

The latter is where the difference b/w Contact and batting line of crease might come into play.

Shoaib and Lee have been measured by both methods..so that removes the controversy..Thompson though will continue his moaning about being ''the fastest ever'',questioning modern techniques.

 

[Bowled 'im]

I never rated Lee a good test bowler UNTIL McGrath & Gillespie retired. He 'stepped up' and led the attack in a mature way when Australia needed him to do that most. For that, I will always remember him as a very good test bowler.

I love Thommo - and have met him personally on a few occasions. No doubt, he is one of the fiercest fast bowlers ever.

Never one to keep his thoughts to himself, and cause a bit of controversy though!!

The classic text book fast bowler whose aggression and bad temper made him so good .......... perhaps if Lee wasn't such a nice guy he would have taken 200+ more wickets.... ?

 

[Hitman]

Bump!

I created this thread back in 2013. For all the posters who made their debut on PP since then, what's your take on it?

 

[Ab Fan]

Honestly, it's the ODI batting that is a joke today.

ODI bowling is not a joke today by any standards. There is very little margin of error for bowlers. The pitches don't support bowling and if in case it even supports, the ODI batsmen are so poor in quality bowling friendly conditions that the bowlers don't have to do much to get them out.

However, the real challenge for bowlers today is stopping batsmen to dominate on these flat wickets, more so in the slog overs . Some of modern batsmen today have wide range of shots and complete game and it's hard to stop them on these flat wickets.

Hence, I have a lot of respect for the modern day fast bowlers who are doing very well like Bumrah, Starc, Boult and some more.

 

[aloo paratha]

Hate where ODI cricket is going. The World Cup was so refreshing to watch, with sporting pitches. Let's hope pitches like the ones in the World Cup become the norm.

 

[Forward Defensive Push]

Bump!

I created this thread back in 2013. For all the posters who made their debut on PP since then, what's your take on it?

ODI cricket is overrated. Especially bilaterals. Never take them seriously. But I do rate performances in world cups and champions trophies.

However, keep in mind that not always do test bowling performances show you how great a bowler is. For example, I would hold Lyon's bowling in Australia higher than Ashwin's in India or Yasir's in UAE even though the stats favor the latter. Similarly someone like Anderson or Broad should be appropriated similarly given they play in good bowling conditions pretty much most of the season.

Overall, I agree with Jeff Thomson.