Harsh Thakor
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When ranking fast bowlers the criteria often is taking into consideration both ODI's and tests.However I stilL think test cricket is the main criteria.The great Malcolm Marshall was not the best in ODI cricket .
To me even disregarding ODI's and considering only test cricket Wasim Akram is still right up there.He did not have the statistical figures of Malcolm Marshall,Richard Hadlee,Glen Mcgrath or even Imran Khan and in terms of strike rate even Alan Donald and Waqar Younus.Morally adding WSC even Lillee was better.
However it is not solely about statistics.Wasim never had the privilege of playing so many matches on fast bouncy wickets like Lillee,Marshall, Mcgrath or Ambrose.Nor did he play in an era like Lillee ,Hadlee or Imran when there was no restriction on bouncers and not as much protective headgear for batsmen.In his peak era from 1990-98 Wasim overshadowed every pace bowling great be it Waqar,Ambrose ,Walsh or Donald.In terms of all-round skill Wasim was more complete than anyone.He was not as fast as Shoaib Akhtar,as accurate as Curtly Ambrose or posessed as much control as Mcgrath but no paceman ever was as creative.Wasim who took the art of fast bowling to another dimension and creative genius to its deepest zenith doing things with the cricket ball like a magician.Wasim blended every element that constitutes the perfect pace bowler.Viv Richards,Brian Lara and Jacques Kallis rate him the best fast bowler they ever faced.Wasim won more votes for the all-time test xi as a bowler than nay one.
Still I ponder why Wasim did not have a better set of best figures with 7-119 being his best unlike Imran ,Ambrose,Lillee or Hadlee.I also feel Marshall,Mcgrath and Ambrose won more test matches with Curtly being the ultimate champion in defending low 4th innings targets or on broken wickets.Wasim did not equal Ambrose's best match-winning spells like in Trinidad,Barbados and Perth.Still on strike rate they were about on par.Mcgrath had many more scalps and more wickets of to order batsmen like Curtly.Both Tendulkar and Dravid rated Mcgrath the most difficult paceman they ever played against.
In the end I feel Wasim hardly received support from his fielding team like Mcgrath .Perhaps if he played for Australia he may well have overshadowed Glen Mcgrath.Maybe if he played for weak bowling side like Hadlee he would have had more scalps and 5 wicket hauls .Probably Marshall and Ambrose averaged better in wins because of the relative strength of the pace attack and side they played for and the prevailing conditions.Arguably even diabetes prevented him from performing at his best.Neverthless look at his incredible record on the sub-continent after umpiring became neutral unlike the main era of Imran.Also asess how his best deliveries caused more problems for the greatest batsmen be it Lara,Viv,Dravid or Tendulkar than anyone.Wasim did not rip through a batting order like Ambrose or Imran earlier in a single spell but consistently in day was more lethal with his incredible variety.In contrast Mcgrath and Hadlee could be better bowling metronomes but could not deliver Wasim's quality.
Summing every factor be it pitches,opposition,field side and era I would place Wasim up there with Marshall and Lillee.Even if Hadlee,Imran ,Ambrose and Mcgrath had better figures I don't feel they were as penetrative .On figures Akram may rank around 7-8,but stats do not always reveal the true picture just like Andy Roberts .If not his equal Mcgrath would be the closest to Wasim after Marshall and Lillee.Thus Wasim is amongst the top 3 or 4 fast bowlers of all in test cricket in my opinion.I maybe biased but even in test cricket by a whisker rank him above Ambrose,Hadlee and Imran or arguably Mcgrath.
STATISTICAL COMPILATION FROM S.RAJESH OF CRICINFO.
During that eight-year period from 1990 to 1997, Akram had the best figures in Test cricket, barring none. There were several legendary bowlers who were at the height of their craft during an era which we now look back on as a golden one for bowlers, especially the fast ones - Curtly Ambrose, Allan Donald, Waqar Younis and Glenn McGrath were all around, but Akram's stats stood out even among them. His average of 20.05 was better than anyone else's during this period (with a cut-off of 150 wickets); in terms of strike rate, only Waqar was ahead.
During these eight years, Akram was Man of the Match in 12 of the 48 Tests he played, an incredible average of one every four games. Eight of these were in overseas Tests, including the game in Melbourne and the next one in Adelaide, when he turned in an outstanding all-round performance, taking six wickets and scoring 52 and 123. At the time it was only the 12th instance of a player scoring 150 or more and taking six or more wickets in a Test.
BEST TEST BOWLERS BETWEEN JAN 1990 AND DEC 1997 (QUAL: 150 WICKETS)
Bowler Tests Wickets Average Strike Rate 5WI/ 10WM
Wasim Akram 48 240 20.05 46.4 16/ 3
Curtly Ambrose 57 247 20.50 52.8 17/ 3
Waqar Younis 46 232 21.23 40.1 19/ 4
Allan Donald 36 171 23.27 48.8 9/ 2
Glenn McGrath 36 164 23.42 53.0 9/ 0
Shane Warne 62 289 24.08 62.9 12/ 3
Like most fast bowlers from Pakistan, Akram too mastered the art of bowling grassless pitches, where reverse swing becomes a most potent weapon. He is one of only four bowlers to take more than 150 wickets in Pakistan, while in the three major subcontinent countries, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, his average was marginally better than his overall career average.
BEST TEST FAST BOWLERS IN INDIA, PAKISTAN AND SRI LANKA (QUAL: 100 WKTS)
Bowler Tests Wkts Average Strike Rate 5WI/ 10WM
Imran Khan 51 205 20.28 48.8 12/ 3
Waqar Younis 41 191 21.07 39.2 13/ 4
Wasim Akram 57 211 22.67 52.9 11/ 1
BEST BOWLING AVERAGES IN TEST WINS (QUAL: 200 WICKETS)
Bowler Tests Wickets Average Strike Rate 5WI/ 10WM
Muttiah Muralitharan 53 430 16.03 42.6 40/ 18
Malcolm Marshall 43 254 16.78 38.1 17/ 4
Curtly Ambrose 44 229 16.86 44.4 13/ 3
Waqar Younis 39 222 18.20 35.0 14/ 4
Dennis Lillee 31 203 18.27 39.0 17/ 6
Shaun Pollock 49 223 18.30 47.5 9/ 1
Wasim Akram 41 211 18.48 42.3 13/ 2
To me even disregarding ODI's and considering only test cricket Wasim Akram is still right up there.He did not have the statistical figures of Malcolm Marshall,Richard Hadlee,Glen Mcgrath or even Imran Khan and in terms of strike rate even Alan Donald and Waqar Younus.Morally adding WSC even Lillee was better.
However it is not solely about statistics.Wasim never had the privilege of playing so many matches on fast bouncy wickets like Lillee,Marshall, Mcgrath or Ambrose.Nor did he play in an era like Lillee ,Hadlee or Imran when there was no restriction on bouncers and not as much protective headgear for batsmen.In his peak era from 1990-98 Wasim overshadowed every pace bowling great be it Waqar,Ambrose ,Walsh or Donald.In terms of all-round skill Wasim was more complete than anyone.He was not as fast as Shoaib Akhtar,as accurate as Curtly Ambrose or posessed as much control as Mcgrath but no paceman ever was as creative.Wasim who took the art of fast bowling to another dimension and creative genius to its deepest zenith doing things with the cricket ball like a magician.Wasim blended every element that constitutes the perfect pace bowler.Viv Richards,Brian Lara and Jacques Kallis rate him the best fast bowler they ever faced.Wasim won more votes for the all-time test xi as a bowler than nay one.
Still I ponder why Wasim did not have a better set of best figures with 7-119 being his best unlike Imran ,Ambrose,Lillee or Hadlee.I also feel Marshall,Mcgrath and Ambrose won more test matches with Curtly being the ultimate champion in defending low 4th innings targets or on broken wickets.Wasim did not equal Ambrose's best match-winning spells like in Trinidad,Barbados and Perth.Still on strike rate they were about on par.Mcgrath had many more scalps and more wickets of to order batsmen like Curtly.Both Tendulkar and Dravid rated Mcgrath the most difficult paceman they ever played against.
In the end I feel Wasim hardly received support from his fielding team like Mcgrath .Perhaps if he played for Australia he may well have overshadowed Glen Mcgrath.Maybe if he played for weak bowling side like Hadlee he would have had more scalps and 5 wicket hauls .Probably Marshall and Ambrose averaged better in wins because of the relative strength of the pace attack and side they played for and the prevailing conditions.Arguably even diabetes prevented him from performing at his best.Neverthless look at his incredible record on the sub-continent after umpiring became neutral unlike the main era of Imran.Also asess how his best deliveries caused more problems for the greatest batsmen be it Lara,Viv,Dravid or Tendulkar than anyone.Wasim did not rip through a batting order like Ambrose or Imran earlier in a single spell but consistently in day was more lethal with his incredible variety.In contrast Mcgrath and Hadlee could be better bowling metronomes but could not deliver Wasim's quality.
Summing every factor be it pitches,opposition,field side and era I would place Wasim up there with Marshall and Lillee.Even if Hadlee,Imran ,Ambrose and Mcgrath had better figures I don't feel they were as penetrative .On figures Akram may rank around 7-8,but stats do not always reveal the true picture just like Andy Roberts .If not his equal Mcgrath would be the closest to Wasim after Marshall and Lillee.Thus Wasim is amongst the top 3 or 4 fast bowlers of all in test cricket in my opinion.I maybe biased but even in test cricket by a whisker rank him above Ambrose,Hadlee and Imran or arguably Mcgrath.
STATISTICAL COMPILATION FROM S.RAJESH OF CRICINFO.
During that eight-year period from 1990 to 1997, Akram had the best figures in Test cricket, barring none. There were several legendary bowlers who were at the height of their craft during an era which we now look back on as a golden one for bowlers, especially the fast ones - Curtly Ambrose, Allan Donald, Waqar Younis and Glenn McGrath were all around, but Akram's stats stood out even among them. His average of 20.05 was better than anyone else's during this period (with a cut-off of 150 wickets); in terms of strike rate, only Waqar was ahead.
During these eight years, Akram was Man of the Match in 12 of the 48 Tests he played, an incredible average of one every four games. Eight of these were in overseas Tests, including the game in Melbourne and the next one in Adelaide, when he turned in an outstanding all-round performance, taking six wickets and scoring 52 and 123. At the time it was only the 12th instance of a player scoring 150 or more and taking six or more wickets in a Test.
BEST TEST BOWLERS BETWEEN JAN 1990 AND DEC 1997 (QUAL: 150 WICKETS)
Bowler Tests Wickets Average Strike Rate 5WI/ 10WM
Wasim Akram 48 240 20.05 46.4 16/ 3
Curtly Ambrose 57 247 20.50 52.8 17/ 3
Waqar Younis 46 232 21.23 40.1 19/ 4
Allan Donald 36 171 23.27 48.8 9/ 2
Glenn McGrath 36 164 23.42 53.0 9/ 0
Shane Warne 62 289 24.08 62.9 12/ 3
Like most fast bowlers from Pakistan, Akram too mastered the art of bowling grassless pitches, where reverse swing becomes a most potent weapon. He is one of only four bowlers to take more than 150 wickets in Pakistan, while in the three major subcontinent countries, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, his average was marginally better than his overall career average.
BEST TEST FAST BOWLERS IN INDIA, PAKISTAN AND SRI LANKA (QUAL: 100 WKTS)
Bowler Tests Wkts Average Strike Rate 5WI/ 10WM
Imran Khan 51 205 20.28 48.8 12/ 3
Waqar Younis 41 191 21.07 39.2 13/ 4
Wasim Akram 57 211 22.67 52.9 11/ 1
BEST BOWLING AVERAGES IN TEST WINS (QUAL: 200 WICKETS)
Bowler Tests Wickets Average Strike Rate 5WI/ 10WM
Muttiah Muralitharan 53 430 16.03 42.6 40/ 18
Malcolm Marshall 43 254 16.78 38.1 17/ 4
Curtly Ambrose 44 229 16.86 44.4 13/ 3
Waqar Younis 39 222 18.20 35.0 14/ 4
Dennis Lillee 31 203 18.27 39.0 17/ 6
Shaun Pollock 49 223 18.30 47.5 9/ 1
Wasim Akram 41 211 18.48 42.3 13/ 2
