Rank these all-time great West Indian bowlers?

[Ab Fan]

Marshall
Garner
Holding
Robert
Ambrose
Walsh
Bishop
Any other

 

[UN talkz]

Ambrose.....
My all time fav among the guys u have mentioned

 

[AFM]

Marshall is universally agreed to be the best.

Ambrose would be 2nd.

Hard to rank Garner, Holding and Roberts. All had different strengths. I would probably go Holding, Garner and then Roberts.

Early Bishop was fantastic. Would place him above Walsh.

 

[IndianWillow]

Marshall > Roberts> Ambrose > Holding > Garner.

Subjective of course, Marshall probably too good not to figure on most lists. Big bird and Amby had phenomenal height advantage that I chose to have Roberts ahead on sheer bowling skills rather than superhuman build. Roberts was one of the pioneers of modern fast bowling that gave rise to the feared WI pace battery of the 70s and 80s.

 

[Robert]

Marshall is universally agreed to be the best.

Ambrose would be 2nd.

Hard to rank Garner, Holding and Roberts. All had different strengths. I would probably go Holding, Garner and then Roberts.

Early Bishop was fantastic. Would place him above Walsh.

Agree on all counts.

 

[Justcrazy]

Marshall
Ambrose
Holding
Roberts
Garner

 

[The_Odd_One]

Marshall, Ambrose, Garner, Holding, Roberts, and Bishop

 

[Ab Fan]

Walsh....??

 

[moghul]

Holding at his peak, which was short lived , was the best.

 

[jeetu]

1. Marshall
2. Ambrose
3. Roberts
4. Garner
5. Holding
6. Walsh
7. Wes Hall
8. Croft
9. Bishop
10. Lance Gibbs (Spinner)

 

[msb314]

Joel Garner and Ambrose.

 

[IndianWillow]

A cursory generalized remark here.

Marshall was the dream allround bowler - fiery pace, swing, seam, bounce, control, deceit - you name it, he had it in ample measure.

Ambrose - deadly control, bounce and yorkers.

Roberts - speed, control, deception, bounce

Holding - fiery terrifying pace

Garner - steep bounce, lethal unplayable yorkers deliveried from the 'sky'.

Bishop - devastating pace

Walsh - control, stamina

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Wes Hal has simply been forgotten who was a giant in the Marshall-Ambrose class.

Marshall is simply supreme and arguably the most complete right arm paceman of all.His figures simply speak for itself.He possessed every component of the perfect paceman be it pace,control,acuracy,movement and innovation.Took bowling artistry and creativity to regions of the sublime , mastering the skidding bouncer and swinging the ball in and out with the same action.His strike rate is phenomenal at 46.7.Mastered the bio-mechanics of pace bowling more than any right arm paceman ever .Cricketing genius personified.
Overall Marshal almost certainly the best but for 2nd place only a whisker can seperate Holding,Roberts and Ambrose.Respecting statistics Ambrose was certainly 2nd but in terms of sheer bowing skill I would rate Roberts ,Holding and maybe earlier Wes Hall ahead.


Andy Roberts was arguably more complete than any of the paceman with Marshal with an amazing repertoire like a fast and slow bouncer as well as the outswinger and leg-cutter.The best batsmen of the 1970's like the Chappel brothers ,Gavaskar and Barry Richards rated Andy the most difficult paceman they ever faced with Lillee.Infact Gavaskar rated Roberts the best of them.Andy was a most intelligent bowler who mastered the weaknesses of great oponents stand outfoxed them on many an occasion.Andy overshadowed Lillee in the 1st year of WSC cricket in 1977-78.He took his 1st 100 wickets in the fastest time attained by an pace bowler in terms of time.Above all proved himself when taking 32 wickets on Indian soil single-handedly bearing the brunt of the pace attack.In the classical sense even more complete than Marshall and the craftiest of them all.

Holding was an epitome of cricketing perfection in terms of bowling action and reminded you of a ballad dancer on the field.No paceman posessed such great averaged speed through the air or could bowl quick as consistently in a game.Arguably in 1981-82 in Australia he was the best of all the great Calypso paceman.The ball would travel or create the effect of lightning but delivered with the sound of a ripple of stream water or grace of a bird flapping it's wings.Significantly he has bolwed cricket's best ever over in 1981 to Boycott at Barbados and cricket's greatest ever spell of 14 wickets for 149 at the Oval in 1976.Blended the technical skill of an engineer with the grace of a painter.Even at full speed his bowling was reminiscent of the touches of a painter's brush .To the purists closest to the perfect fast bowler.


Ambrose was arguably the most a curate of all paceman .The disconcerting bounce he derived from a good length wasat times unplayable.Ambrose was reminiscent t of a robot .No paceman was ever as relentless.In full flow no cricketer looked more like a man going to war.At his best he could run through batting line ups more than any paceman of his time making them look like nine pins rolling.Simplt sporting hostilitry personified.However not at his best with a old ball or or a flat deck and could become very predictable.Unlike Walsh never proved himself in India.Neverthless in a 4th innings or on a broken track the best of all.


Wes Hall was simply a demon and as lethal as the likes of Fred Trueman.In any condition he was dangerous.For his era his statistics was outstanding.

Garner may have been as accurate as Ambrose posessing the best yorker but could not completely prove himself as he had to often play second fiddle to the other greats and play the role of a stock bowler.Probably the best pace bowler in the world in the early 1980's before the ascendancy of Marshall.


Walsh was simply a metronome.Often he could be as if not more lethal than partner Curtly with his bowling intelligence and subtelty of movement.Performed better in India than any Calypso paceman if you consider performances in 1994 and 1987-88.Taking 519 wickets is feat of phenomenal magnitude.



In terms of sheer speed Sylvetser Clarke and Patrick Paterson were the quickest of them all.


My list in order of merit.

Marshall
Ambrose
Roberts/Holding
Wes Hall
Walsh
Garner
Croft
Charlie Griffith
Bishop
Gilchrist
Sylvester Clarke

 

[Harsh Thakor]

A cursory generalized remark here.

Marshall was the dream allround bowler - fiery pace, swing, seam, bounce, control, deceit - you name it, he had it in ample measure.

Ambrose - deadly control, bounce and yorkers.

Roberts - speed, control, deception, bounce

Holding - fiery terrifying pace

Garner - steep bounce, lethal unplayable yorkers deliveried from the 'sky'.

Bishop - devastating pace

Walsh - control, stamina

Any response to this?

Wes Hal has simply been forgotten who was a giant in the Marshall-Ambrose class.

Marshall is simply supreme and arguably the most complete right arm paceman of all.His figures simply speak for itself.He possessed every component of the perfect paceman be it pace,control,acuracy,movement and innovation.Took bowling artistry and creativity to regions of the sublime , mastering the skidding bouncer and swinging the ball in and out with the same action.His strike rate is phenomenal at 46.7.Mastered the bio-mechanics of pace bowling more than any right arm paceman ever .Cricketing genius personified.
Overall Marshal almost certainly the best but for 2nd place only a whisker can seperate Holding,Roberts and Ambrose.Respecting statistics Ambrose was certainly 2nd but in terms of sheer bowing skill I would rate Roberts ,Holding and maybe earlier Wes Hall ahead.


Andy Roberts was arguably more complete than any of the paceman with Marshal with an amazing repertoire like a fast and slow bouncer as well as the outswinger and leg-cutter.The best batsmen of the 1970's like the Chappel brothers ,Gavaskar and Barry Richards rated Andy the most difficult paceman they ever faced with Lillee.Infact Gavaskar rated Roberts the best of them.Andy was a most intelligent bowler who mastered the weaknesses of great oponents stand outfoxed them on many an occasion.Andy overshadowed Lillee in the 1st year of WSC cricket in 1977-78.He took his 1st 100 wickets in the fastest time attained by an pace bowler in terms of time.Above all proved himself when taking 32 wickets on Indian soil single-handedly bearing the brunt of the pace attack.In the classical sense even more complete than Marshall and the craftiest of them all.

Holding was an epitome of cricketing perfection in terms of bowling action and reminded you of a ballad dancer on the field.No paceman posessed such great averaged speed through the air or could bowl quick as consistently in a game.Arguably in 1981-82 in Australia he was the best of all the great Calypso paceman.The ball would travel or create the effect of lightning but delivered with the sound of a ripple of stream water or grace of a bird flapping it's wings.Significantly he has bolwed cricket's best ever over in 1981 to Boycott at Barbados and cricket's greatest ever spell of 14 wickets for 149 at the Oval in 1976.Blended the technical skill of an engineer with the grace of a painter.Even at full speed his bowling was reminiscent of the touches of a painter's brush .To the purists closest to the perfect fast bowler.


Ambrose was arguably the most a curate of all paceman .The disconcerting bounce he derived from a good length wasat times unplayable.Ambrose was reminiscent t of a robot .No paceman was ever as relentless.In full flow no cricketer looked more like a man going to war.At his best he could run through batting line ups more than any paceman of his time making them look like nine pins rolling.Simplt sporting hostilitry personified.However not at his best with a old ball or or a flat deck and could become very predictable.Unlike Walsh never proved himself in India.Neverthless in a 4th innings or on a broken track the best of all.


Wes Hall was simply a demon and as lethal as the likes of Fred Trueman.In any condition he was dangerous.For his era his statistics was outstanding.

Garner may have been as accurate as Ambrose posessing the best yorker but could not completely prove himself as he had to often play second fiddle to the other greats and play the role of a stock bowler.Probably the best pace bowler in the world in the early 1980's before the ascendancy of Marshall.


Walsh was simply a metronome.Often he could be as if not more lethal than partner Curtly with his bowling intelligence and subtelty of movement.Performed better in India than any Calypso paceman if you consider performances in 1994 and 1987-88.Taking 519 wickets is feat of phenomenal magnitude.



In terms of sheer speed Sylvetser Clarke and Patrick Paterson were the quickest of them all.


My list in order of merit.

Marshall
Ambrose
Roberts/Holding
Wes Hall
Walsh
Garner
Croft
Charlie Griffith
Bishop
Gilchrist
Sylvester Clarke

 

[Harsh Thakor]

One of the hardest is to separate Holding and Roberts which could well be a dead heat.Viewers agree?Infact by the 1980's Holding became almost as versatile as Roberts and in 1981-82 in Australia arguably bowled better than nay of them.In 1983 in India he looked technically or in terms of skill marginally ahead of even Marshall.Most batsmen thought Andy was more lethal but many judges rated Holding ahead like Len Hutton or Imran Khan.Till 178 Roberts marginally better but still
at his best Holding was more fiery.

In Australian conditions or on bouncy tracks Ambrose may have even been ahead of Marshall.This is debatable.

 

[IndianWillow]

Wes Hal has simply been forgotten who was a giant in the Marshall-Ambrose class.

Marshall is simply supreme and arguably the most complete right arm paceman of all.His figures simply speak for itself.He possessed every component of the perfect paceman be it pace,control,acuracy,movement and innovation.Took bowling artistry and creativity to regions of the sublime , mastering the skidding bouncer and swinging the ball in and out with the same action.His strike rate is phenomenal at 46.7.Mastered the bio-mechanics of pace bowling more than any right arm paceman ever .Cricketing genius personified.
Overall Marshal almost certainly the best but for 2nd place only a whisker can seperate Holding,Roberts and Ambrose.Respecting statistics Ambrose was certainly 2nd but in terms of sheer bowing skill I would rate Roberts ,Holding and maybe earlier Wes Hall ahead.


Andy Roberts was arguably more complete than any of the paceman with Marshal with an amazing repertoire like a fast and slow bouncer as well as the outswinger and leg-cutter.The best batsmen of the 1970's like the Chappel brothers ,Gavaskar and Barry Richards rated Andy the most difficult paceman they ever faced with Lillee.Infact Gavaskar rated Roberts the best of them.Andy was a most intelligent bowler who mastered the weaknesses of great oponents stand outfoxed them on many an occasion.Andy overshadowed Lillee in the 1st year of WSC cricket in 1977-78.He took his 1st 100 wickets in the fastest time attained by an pace bowler in terms of time.Above all proved himself when taking 32 wickets on Indian soil single-handedly bearing the brunt of the pace attack.In the classical sense even more complete than Marshall and the craftiest of them all.

Holding was an epitome of cricketing perfection in terms of bowling action and reminded you of a ballad dancer on the field.No paceman posessed such great averaged speed through the air or could bowl quick as consistently in a game.Arguably in 1981-82 in Australia he was the best of all the great Calypso paceman.The ball would travel or create the effect of lightning but delivered with the sound of a ripple of stream water or grace of a bird flapping it's wings.Significantly he has bolwed cricket's best ever over in 1981 to Boycott at Barbados and cricket's greatest ever spell of 14 wickets for 149 at the Oval in 1976.Blended the technical skill of an engineer with the grace of a painter.Even at full speed his bowling was reminiscent of the touches of a painter's brush .To the purists closest to the perfect fast bowler.


Ambrose was arguably the most a curate of all paceman .The disconcerting bounce he derived from a good length wasat times unplayable.Ambrose was reminiscent t of a robot .No paceman was ever as relentless.In full flow no cricketer looked more like a man going to war.At his best he could run through batting line ups more than any paceman of his time making them look like nine pins rolling.Simplt sporting hostilitry personified.However not at his best with a old ball or or a flat deck and could become very predictable.Unlike Walsh never proved himself in India.Neverthless in a 4th innings or on a broken track the best of all.


Wes Hall was simply a demon and as lethal as the likes of Fred Trueman.In any condition he was dangerous.For his era his statistics was outstanding.

Garner may have been as accurate as Ambrose posessing the best yorker but could not completely prove himself as he had to often play second fiddle to the other greats and play the role of a stock bowler.Probably the best pace bowler in the world in the early 1980's before the ascendancy of Marshall.


Walsh was simply a metronome.Often he could be as if not more lethal than partner Curtly with his bowling intelligence and subtelty of movement.Performed better in India than any Calypso paceman if you consider performances in 1994 and 1987-88.Taking 519 wickets is feat of phenomenal magnitude.



In terms of sheer speed Sylvetser Clarke and Patrick Paterson were the quickest of them all.


My list in order of merit.

Marshall
Ambrose
Roberts/Holding
Wes Hall
Walsh
Garner
Croft
Charlie Griffith
Bishop
Gilchrist
Sylvester Clarke

Beautiful analysis. Never saw Hall. Assessment of others is spot on. Roberts tends to get a lower rating, mostly based on stats. He was the craftiest paceman I saw - like Wasim Akram. For whatever reason, his wickets/average column stats is a bit of an enigma. Could be because he did not run through sides as frequently or quickly as Ambrose and Holding. What do you think? Garner wasn't is the same league, he was mostly their 3rd or 4th paceman on most occasions, unlike Marshall, Holding, Roberts who wielded the new ball more often.

 

[IndianWillow]

One of the hardest is to separate Holding and Roberts which could well be a dead heat.Viewers agree?Infact by the 1980's Holding became almost as versatile as Roberts and in 1981-82 in Australia arguably bowled better than nay of them.In 1983 in India he looked technically or in terms of skill marginally ahead of even Marshall.Most batsmen thought Andy was more lethal but many judges rated Holding ahead like Len Hutton or Imran Khan.Till 178 Roberts marginally better but still
at his best Holding was more fiery.

In Australian conditions or on bouncy tracks Ambrose may have even been ahead of Marshall.This is debatable.

Bowling speed essentially separated Holding and Roberts. Holding maintained higher speeds over longer spells and over a longer career. Maybe 3-4kph faster than Roberts on average. Even in late day spells Holding looked very fast.

 

[Ab Fan]

Let’s rank them again.

 

[Bhaijaan]

1. Marshal
2. Ambrose
3. Big Joe
4. Big Hardik

 

[Fanboy375]

1)Marshall
2)Ambrose
3)Garner
4)Holding
5)Robert
6)Walsh
7)Bishop

 

[atreus]

1. Malcolm Marshall
2. Curtly Ambrose
3. Joel Garner
4. Michael Holding
5. Andy Roberts
6. Courtney Walsh
7. Wes Hall
8. Ian Bishop

 

[Buffet]

Marshall
Ambrose
Garner
Roberts
Holding
Walsh
Bishop

Very sure about Marshall followed by Ambrose.

 

[Ab Fan]

A case of why stats should be taken like a pinch of salt some time.

Andy Roberts - 202 wickets, Avg 25
Courtney Walsh - 519 wickets, Avg 24

 

[kron]

Marshall
Garner
Holding
Robert
Ambrose
Walsh
Bishop
Any other

Croft
Sylvester Clarke
Patrick Patterson

Add these as well. In the future most likely seales and joseph shamari.

But from your list specifically; my rankings would be

Marshall no doubt here
The goat
Would say Ambrose right after
Garner
Holding
Roberts
Then Walsh and followed by Bishop etc

Bishop if it weren't for injuries I am looking at top 5 easy tbh.

 

[atreus]

forgot Croft, right below Bishop for me, feel like Learie Constantine deserves a mention even though he was an all rounder but was regarded as one of the best bowlers in the world.