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Which quartet would constitute the perfect pace attack in a Test match?

Harsh Thakor

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I am here selecting 4 pace bowlers to create most balanced pace attack of all posessing every ingredient for a perfect one be it speed,movement,control,variation and hostility.

1Wasim Akram-Most versatile bowler of all with the ingenuity of a magician .Noone mastered reverse swing better or could bowl such unplayable deliveries.Also would add a left-arm variety.Asset on flat pancake with his phenomenal skill.


2.Glen Mcgrath-No paceman ever was more intelligent or possessed more control.A metronome who had the qualities of a computer in reading batsmen's weaknesses.Although fast-medium he could be more lethal than the quickest with his phenomenal accuracy and proportion in which he had just enough of any attribute of a pace bowler.Richard Hadlee was Mcgrath's closest rival who was conventionally more classical and quicker.Chose Glen instead of Richard because he was more crafty on flat wickets and a better judge of an opponents weaknesses.


3.Curtly Ambrose-The most accurate and relentless of all paceman who could create the impact of a blitzkreig or dynamite exploding to rip through the heart of bating line ups in single spells.No better bowler on a wearing or broken track in the 4thinings.Could be robotic or monotonous but neverthless captured the prized wickets and at his best was more explosive than anyone.Joel Garner almost his clone with accuracy on the same scale.Chose Curtly over Joel because he was more hostile and crafty.


4.Malcolm Marshall-Arguably the most complete of all paceman and most innovative of all right-arm pace bowlers.No bowler deployed the skidding bouncer ,disguised his action or used the crease better.Had an an unreadable slower ball and swung the ball in and out with the same action.Displayed hostility at its supreme zenith like a boxer. Dennis Lillee,Andy Roberts and Ray Lindwall virtually as complete as Marshall but not as creative.


I would open the attack with Malcolm Marshall and Curtly Ambrose who would make a perfect foil with the new ball.Then Mcgrath and Wasim bowling together would make the most lethal pair of pacemen.

This is my selection but I must mention that Joel Garner could well have replaced Ambrose being equally accurate and having a better yorker.Remember his great role in the West Indies pace quartet becoming the greatest of all bowling attacks and his team almost becoming invincible.Also I did not include a bowler of express pace like Jeff Thomson,Shoaib Akhtar,Alan Donald Waqar Younus or Michael Holding.For sheer speed Akhtar ,Thomson and Clarke were at the very top.Although super quick I feel Shoaib Akhtar or Jeff Thomson lacked the accuracy,versatality and craft of the truly great fast bowlers unlike Michael Holding,Alan Donald and Waqar Younus who may have just missed the cut.Wasim is the only one with no serious rival for his qualities.

Thus Wasim.Mcgrath,Ambrose and Marshall is my first list but as an alternative I could have Wasim ,Hadlee ,Garner and Holding ,Donald or Waqar.- fast bowler had as perfect an action as Holding or posessed as consistent speed through the air.

The likes of Hadlee,Dennis Lillee and Andy Roberts miss out by a whisker.

Wasim
Mcgrath/Hadlee
Ambrose/Garner
Marshall/Holding/Waqar /Donald
 
Good post but I am going to select from the players I seen play.

Wasim
Mcgrath
Ambrose
Shoaib Akhtar
 
I think you need a out and out fast bowler to complete the quartet. Someone who takes pitch out of equation. When you already have 3 greats you don't need 4th one to have similar skill set

IMO
Wasim
McGrath
Marshall
Waqar/Lee/Shoaib/donald

Was, McGrath and Marshall are best ever. So 4th one needs to be someone who is lightening quick and on dead wickets takes pitch out of equation and kills the batsman. Probably go with waqar or Donald.
 
You can replace or two by equivalents but an attack the following 4 would be :
Wasim Akram
Glen McGrath
Dale Steyn
Shoaib Akhtar
 
1. Marshall
2. McGrath
3. Hadlee
4. Akram/Holding/Imran/Lillee (can pick any of these four for the final spot), but will go for Akram simply for variety of having a left arm pacer.
 
Wasim
Waqar
Marshall
Holding

That’s arguably the three most intelligent bowlers ever with the most destructive at his peak in Waqar.
 
Mcgrath and Ambrose should not be together in 1 team. They are more or less the same kind of bowlers. Work horses who frustrate the bastman with immaculate lines and lengths and force them to throw away their wickets with just enough movement from time to time.

I would go with the same 4 man pace attack as the OP but i would just replace Ambrose with a tear away quick bowler who can bowl 150kph plus.

Shoaib Akhtar and brett lee arent good enough in tests to play that role and that leaves only 1 person who can do this job. The Pre-injury Waqar Younis who averaged 15 with the ball prior to his injury and was a tear away pacer capable of taking the pitch of out the equation with his reverse swinging yorkers. His speed through the air was lauded by the likes of Alex stewart and he should complete the 4 man pace bowling attack by offering which no other bowler from the attack can offer.
 
Holding
Marshall
Ambrose
Steyn

Vs

Hadley/ kapil
Lillee
McGrath
Waqar

Vs

Bumrah
Wasim / Zaheer
Walsh
McGrath


It’s not possible to have a single best quartet

In general you require -

A metronomic bowler like McGrath
A swing bowler like wasim or kapil
An odd action or super fast like bumrah holding lillee
A workhorse / all rounder
 
Holding
Marshall
Ambrose
Steyn

Vs

Hadley/ kapil
Lillee
McGrath
Waqar

Vs

Bumrah
Wasim / Zaheer
Walsh
McGrath


It’s not possible to have a single best quartet

In general you require -

A metronomic bowler like McGrath
A swing bowler like wasim or kapil
An odd action or super fast like bumrah holding lillee
A workhorse / all rounder

taking bummrah and kapil over any bowler in that list would be strange...

if its swing and control the reason for kapil then Hadlee and Mc Grath were far superior ... far far superior

and what has bummrah acheived in test cricket as yet? 1 good spell? or lets say 1 good series...

for me it will have to be

bowlers i have seen enough on live games... the impact is never there watching highlights
Wasim
Donald
Styen
McGrath

overall, i think it will need to be

Wasim
McGrath
Marshall
Imran Khan
all magicians , all smooth killers...

Imran Khan isnt far off from any bowler in terms of pace, skill, impact , i would def have in an XI bcz of being the best all-rounder after Sobers and will captain as well...
 
Mcgrath - the essential line and length bowler, who can exploit bounce very well due to his height.
Marshall (greates eva, most complete bowler)
Wasim-left arm option, most skilled bowler ever
Akhtar-the terrifying juggernaut.
 
Holding
Marshall
Ambrose
Steyn

Vs

Hadley/ kapil
Lillee
McGrath
Waqar

Vs

Bumrah
Wasim / Zaheer
Walsh
McGrath


It’s not possible to have a single best quartet

In general you require -

A metronomic bowler like McGrath
A swing bowler like wasim or kapil
An odd action or super fast like bumrah holding lillee
A workhorse / all rounder

Zaheer, Bumrah? Seriously? Zaheer was really good but not even little but close to the league being mentioned. While Bumrah is yet to play decent amount pf cricket otherwise why not Shane Bond?
 
I believe for any attack to become complete with atleast one bowler who is tall and can extract bounce. Garner should be one of the man for me along with

Wasim
Mcgrath
Garner
Steyn/ Marshall/ Waqar/ Akhtar
 
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I believe for any attack to become complete with atleast one bowler who is tall and can extract bounce. Garner should be one of the man for me along with

Wasim
Mcgrath
Garner
Steyn/ Marshall/ Waqar/ Akhtar

Curtly Ambrose ofcourse can also be their in that Garner’s spot.
 
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Among bowlers I have seen:

Marshall, Imran, Lillee and Ambrose.
 
I won't do one based on legends as it becomes very predictable.

A better look would be to pick bowlers currently involved in test cricket and I would go for:

M. Abbas
K. Rabada
J. Anderson
J. Bumrah/M. Starc
 
From the ones I've seen

McGrath
Wasim
Waqar
Donald

All time

Marshall
McGrath
Wasim
Lillee/Imran
 
I won't do one based on legends as it becomes very predictable.

A better look would be to pick bowlers currently involved in test cricket and I would go for:

M. Abbas
K. Rabada
J. Anderson
J. Bumrah/M. Starc

I would definitely have M.Starc in there.

Regardless, while the attack is amazing; does it compare to the quartet's mentioned in this thread so far?

I don't think so in my view, which brings me to a larger question when it comes to the decline of express fast bowling and elite fast bowling skills / bio-mechanics.
 
I would definitely have M.Starc in there.

Regardless, while the attack is amazing; does it compare to the quartet's mentioned in this thread so far?

I don't think so in my view, which brings me to a larger question when it comes to the decline of express fast bowling and elite fast bowling skills / bio-mechanics.

Mitchell Starc is an average test pacer. As [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] pointed out very nicely look at his stats from the SL tour to the time Aus got caught ball tampering (very good like in the 20's) The compare them before and after averages above 30 in both periods. Overall if we're going to pick an Australian bowler Pat Cummins easily makes it over Starc. Starc is one of the best bowlers in ODI Cricket but do not confuse his ODI form with Test Form. There are plenty of pacers better than Starc in Tests these days like Rabada who is a beast in tests, Anderson, Bumrah, Cummins, and even Hazlewood easily make it above Starc in TESTS.
 
Regardless of everything else one thing that is for certain is Wasim Akram makes it into every quartet proving he is the greatest pacer to ever play the game!
 
Marshall (GOAT)
McGrath (Most consistent and reliable bowler of all time)
Wasim (Greatest left handed pacer)
Imran (Greatest pacer on Asian wickets)
 
I think i will agree with your 4 choices. Wish i could squeeze Waqar in there but hard to drop the super 4 of Akram, McGrath, Ambrose and Marshall.
 
I am here selecting 4 pace bowlers to create most balanced pace attack of all posessing every ingredient for a perfect one be it speed,movement,control,variation and hostility.

1Wasim Akram-Most versatile bowler of all with the ingenuity of a magician .Noone mastered reverse swing better or could bowl such unplayable deliveries.Also would add a left-arm variety.Asset on flat pancake with his phenomenal skill.


2.Glen Mcgrath-No paceman ever was more intelligent or possessed more control.A metronome who had the qualities of a computer in reading batsmen's weaknesses.Although fast-medium he could be more lethal than the quickest with his phenomenal accuracy and proportion in which he had just enough of any attribute of a pace bowler.Richard Hadlee was Mcgrath's closest rival who was conventionally more classical and quicker.Chose Glen instead of Richard because he was more crafty on flat wickets and a better judge of an opponents weaknesses.


3.Curtly Ambrose-The most accurate and relentless of all paceman who could create the impact of a blitzkreig or dynamite exploding to rip through the heart of bating line ups in single spells.No better bowler on a wearing or broken track in the 4thinings.Could be robotic or monotonous but neverthless captured the prized wickets and at his best was more explosive than anyone.Joel Garner almost his clone with accuracy on the same scale.Chose Curtly over Joel because he was more hostile and crafty.


4.Malcolm Marshall-Arguably the most complete of all paceman and most innovative of all right-arm pace bowlers.No bowler deployed the skidding bouncer ,disguised his action or used the crease better.Had an an unreadable slower ball and swung the ball in and out with the same action.Displayed hostility at its supreme zenith like a boxer. Dennis Lillee,Andy Roberts and Ray Lindwall virtually as complete as Marshall but not as creative.


I would open the attack with Malcolm Marshall and Curtly Ambrose who would make a perfect foil with the new ball.Then Mcgrath and Wasim bowling together would make the most lethal pair of pacemen.

This is my selection but I must mention that Joel Garner could well have replaced Ambrose being equally accurate and having a better yorker.Remember his great role in the West Indies pace quartet becoming the greatest of all bowling attacks and his team almost becoming invincible.Also I did not include a bowler of express pace like Jeff Thomson,Shoaib Akhtar,Alan Donald Waqar Younus or Michael Holding.For sheer speed Akhtar ,Thomson and Clarke were at the very top.Although super quick I feel Shoaib Akhtar or Jeff Thomson lacked the accuracy,versatality and craft of the truly great fast bowlers unlike Michael Holding,Alan Donald and Waqar Younus who may have just missed the cut.Wasim is the only one with no serious rival for his qualities.

Thus Wasim.Mcgrath,Ambrose and Marshall is my first list but as an alternative I could have Wasim ,Hadlee ,Garner and Holding ,Donald or Waqar.- fast bowler had as perfect an action as Holding or posessed as consistent speed through the air.

The likes of Hadlee,Dennis Lillee and Andy Roberts miss out by a whisker.

Wasim
Mcgrath/Hadlee
Ambrose/Garner
Marshall/Holding/Waqar /Donald



Steyn over akram comfortably for me. Akram easy choice for odis but slightly overrated in tests. Id have atleast 10 bowlers ahead of akram
 
Steyn over akram comfortably for me. Akram easy choice for odis but slightly overrated in tests. Id have atleast 10 bowlers ahead of akram
True. 414 wickets at 23.6 is simply not good enough.

May I know which 10 bowlers you rate above Akram in tests?
 
True. 414 wickets at 23.6 is simply not good enough.

May I know which 10 bowlers you rate above Akram in tests?


Wasim Akram usually is chosen because he is a left Armer , other than that , I think there are quite a few bowlers in Tests who are better than him.
 
I am here selecting 4 pace bowlers to create most balanced pace attack of all posessing every ingredient for a perfect one be it speed,movement,control,variation and hostility.

1Wasim Akram-Most versatile bowler of all with the ingenuity of a magician .Noone mastered reverse swing better or could bowl such unplayable deliveries.Also would add a left-arm variety.Asset on flat pancake with his phenomenal skill.


2.Glen Mcgrath-No paceman ever was more intelligent or possessed more control.A metronome who had the qualities of a computer in reading batsmen's weaknesses.Although fast-medium he could be more lethal than the quickest with his phenomenal accuracy and proportion in which he had just enough of any attribute of a pace bowler.Richard Hadlee was Mcgrath's closest rival who was conventionally more classical and quicker.Chose Glen instead of Richard because he was more crafty on flat wickets and a better judge of an opponents weaknesses.


3.Curtly Ambrose-The most accurate and relentless of all paceman who could create the impact of a blitzkreig or dynamite exploding to rip through the heart of bating line ups in single spells.No better bowler on a wearing or broken track in the 4thinings.Could be robotic or monotonous but neverthless captured the prized wickets and at his best was more explosive than anyone.Joel Garner almost his clone with accuracy on the same scale.Chose Curtly over Joel because he was more hostile and crafty.


4.Malcolm Marshall-Arguably the most complete of all paceman and most innovative of all right-arm pace bowlers.No bowler deployed the skidding bouncer ,disguised his action or used the crease better.Had an an unreadable slower ball and swung the ball in and out with the same action.Displayed hostility at its supreme zenith like a boxer. Dennis Lillee,Andy Roberts and Ray Lindwall virtually as complete as Marshall but not as creative.


I would open the attack with Malcolm Marshall and Curtly Ambrose who would make a perfect foil with the new ball.Then Mcgrath and Wasim bowling together would make the most lethal pair of pacemen.

This is my selection but I must mention that Joel Garner could well have replaced Ambrose being equally accurate and having a better yorker.Remember his great role in the West Indies pace quartet becoming the greatest of all bowling attacks and his team almost becoming invincible.Also I did not include a bowler of express pace like Jeff Thomson,Shoaib Akhtar,Alan Donald Waqar Younus or Michael Holding.For sheer speed Akhtar ,Thomson and Clarke were at the very top.Although super quick I feel Shoaib Akhtar or Jeff Thomson lacked the accuracy,versatality and craft of the truly great fast bowlers unlike Michael Holding,Alan Donald and Waqar Younus who may have just missed the cut.Wasim is the only one with no serious rival for his qualities.

Thus Wasim.Mcgrath,Ambrose and Marshall is my first list but as an alternative I could have Wasim ,Hadlee ,Garner and Holding ,Donald or Waqar.- fast bowler had as perfect an action as Holding or posessed as consistent speed through the air.

The likes of Hadlee,Dennis Lillee and Andy Roberts miss out by a whisker.

Wasim
Mcgrath/Hadlee
Ambrose/Garner
Marshall/Holding/Waqar /Donald

Top 3 for sure -

Wasim
Marshall
DK Lillee

I am not sure about the 4th one. As a kid, I was a fan of WY, now really like Jimmie and I have utmost respect for Hadlee & Mac. I probably will take Imran as 4th pacer - not for his skills (he is definitely not the most skillful pacer), rather for a combination - Was is the most complete swing bowler game has ever seen, both with new & old ball; Marshall is the greatest, meanest fast bowler while you need DK Lille to lead the attack - he was unique. So, I need someone to bowl with semi old ball.

I'll start with Marshall with wind behind his back - absolute flat out 4 overs opening spell and Wasim for a long, long 1st spell, may be 8 overs, against wind. DK replaces Marshall after 4 overs and bowls with wind for may be 6 overs; then Marshall replaces Wasim for another 4 overs, this time against wind with his off-cutters... Finally Imran replaces DK Lillie with 20 overs old ball, just before lunch - many modern great teams will go to lunch with 9-10-jack padded up by then .....
 
Steyn over akram comfortably for me. Akram easy choice for odis but slightly overrated in tests. Id have atleast 10 bowlers ahead of akram

Wasim is greatest left arm pacer. He is automatic pick for the variation he brings in.
Steyn does not compete with Wasim for a spot.

Wasims competition is with no one as there's no other left hand pacer.

Steyn competes with lillee, marshal, waqar, donald as similar kind of bowler with only 1 spot.
 
I would definitely have M.Starc in there.

Regardless, while the attack is amazing; does it compare to the quartet's mentioned in this thread so far?

I don't think so in my view, which brings me to a larger question when it comes to the decline of express fast bowling and elite fast bowling skills / bio-mechanics.

I agree, a historic quartet has the likes of Akram, Younis, Akhtar, Lee, McGrath, Lillee, Marshall, Holding, Garner, Roberts, Trueman, Khan, Donald, Pollock and co to choose from.

Fast bowling is a dying art form...speaking of express fast bowling, it no longer exists.
 
Mitchell Starc is an average test pacer. As [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] pointed out very nicely look at his stats from the SL tour to the time Aus got caught ball tampering (very good like in the 20's) The compare them before and after averages above 30 in both periods. Overall if we're going to pick an Australian bowler Pat Cummins easily makes it over Starc. Starc is one of the best bowlers in ODI Cricket but do not confuse his ODI form with Test Form. There are plenty of pacers better than Starc in Tests these days like Rabada who is a beast in tests, Anderson, Bumrah, Cummins, and even Hazlewood easily make it above Starc in TESTS.

I want a left armer in my attack for variety and he is the best out there and in that regard stats are useless to me, as a captain I know what he would be capable of and on top of that he wouldn't be shortage of support making him even more lethal to face
 
Marshall will always be my first pick. He was the greatest test fast bowler of all time.
Akram would be second choice because he bring variety to compliment other great bowlers as Left Armer. Old ball skills is another massive addition.

Rest 2 are tough calls. Because there are too many contenders.

Mcgrath/Ambrose/Hadlee constitutes 3rd among as great picks. Ambrose could run through sides like no other on his day (Akhtar do come close in this regard). Hadlee was one man wrecking machine. Still I would go for McGarth for his amazing control. His lack of raw pace actually compliments other bowlers.

Fourth i would go for raw pace bowler like Thompson , Akhtar, , Waqar. But i'll go with Donald because he blended pace with great stats. He narrowly edges out Waqar Younis

List of bowlers with atleast 300 wicket and under 25 average.
[table=width: 600, class: grid, align: center]
[tr][td]Player [/td][td]Span [/td][td]Mat [/td][td]Runs [/td][td]Wkts [/td][td]Ave [/td][td]Econ [/td][td]SR [/td][td]5W [/td][td]10W [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]MD Marshall (WI) [/td][td]1978-1991 [/td][td]81 [/td][td]7876 [/td][td]376 [/td][td]20.94 [/td][td]2.68 [/td][td]46.7 [/td][td]22 [/td][td]4 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]CEL Ambrose (WI) [/td][td]1988-2000 [/td][td]98 [/td][td]8501 [/td][td]405 [/td][td]20.99 [/td][td]2.3 [/td][td]54.5 [/td][td]22 [/td][td]3 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]FS Trueman (ENG) [/td][td]1952-1965 [/td][td]67 [/td][td]6625 [/td][td]307 [/td][td]21.57 [/td][td]2.61 [/td][td]49.4 [/td][td]17 [/td][td]3 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]GD McGrath (AUS) [/td][td]1993-2007 [/td][td]124 [/td][td]12186 [/td][td]563 [/td][td]21.64 [/td][td]2.49 [/td][td]51.9 [/td][td]29 [/td][td]3 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]AA Donald (SA) [/td][td]1992-2002 [/td][td]72 [/td][td]7344 [/td][td]330 [/td][td]22.25 [/td][td]2.83 [/td][td]47 [/td][td]20 [/td][td]3 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Sir RJ Hadlee (NZ) [/td][td]1973-1990 [/td][td]86 [/td][td]9611 [/td][td]431 [/td][td]22.29 [/td][td]2.63 [/td][td]50.8 [/td][td]36 [/td][td]9 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]M Muralitharan (ICC/SL) [/td][td]1992-2010 [/td][td]133 [/td][td]18180 [/td][td]800 [/td][td]22.72 [/td][td]2.47 [/td][td]55 [/td][td]67 [/td][td]22 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Imran Khan (PAK) [/td][td]1971-1992 [/td][td]88 [/td][td]8258 [/td][td]362 [/td][td]22.81 [/td][td]2.54 [/td][td]53.7 [/td][td]23 [/td][td]6 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]DW Steyn (SA) [/td][td]2004-2019 [/td][td]93 [/td][td]10077 [/td][td]439 [/td][td]22.95 [/td][td]3.24 [/td][td]42.3 [/td][td]26 [/td][td]5 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SM Pollock (SA) [/td][td]1995-2008 [/td][td]108 [/td][td]9733 [/td][td]421 [/td][td]23.11 [/td][td]2.39 [/td][td]57.8 [/td][td]16 [/td][td]1 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Waqar Younis (PAK) [/td][td]1989-2003 [/td][td]87 [/td][td]8788 [/td][td]373 [/td][td]23.56 [/td][td]3.25 [/td][td]43.4 [/td][td]22 [/td][td]5 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Wasim Akram (PAK) [/td][td]1985-2002 [/td][td]104 [/td][td]9779 [/td][td]414 [/td][td]23.62 [/td][td]2.59 [/td][td]54.6 [/td][td]25 [/td][td]5 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]DK Lillee (AUS) [/td][td]1971-1984 [/td][td]70 [/td][td]8493 [/td][td]355 [/td][td]23.92 [/td][td]2.75 [/td][td]52 [/td][td]23 [/td][td]7 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]CA Walsh (WI) [/td][td]1984-2001 [/td][td]132 [/td][td]12688 [/td][td]519 [/td][td]24.44 [/td][td]2.53 [/td][td]57.8 [/td][td]22 [/td][td]3 [/td][/tr]
[/table]
 
The other thing about Star is he has a batting average of 22 which is gold, even more reason to include him amongst a modern quartet; his overall figures are actually respectable and far from poor.
 
Historically (agree with your list, but reiterating it for completeness):

Malcolm Marshall
Curtly Ambrose
Wasim Akram
Glenn McGrath/Michael Holding

From the current pacers:

Kagiso Rabada
Pat Cummins
Jofra Archer
Mitch Starc

The fourth pacer is a bit of a toss up. Bumrah/Hazlewood could perhaps provide better control than Starc, but he has some extra heat that even Archer/Rabada don't. Arguably, a Holder/Jamieson could also slot in there to get some extra bounce off a placid pitch.
 
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