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Who is the best Test pacer in the world at the moment?

Who is the best Test pacer in the world at the moment?

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street cricketer

street cricketer

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Similar to the thread I created for batsmen a few weeks ago, I wanted to create one for the pacers in test cricket.

I have listed out the top performers in test cricket over the past two years.

Dale Steyn
Vernon Philander
Kagiso Rabada
Neil Wagner
James Anderson
Stuart Broad
Mitchell Starc
Josh Hazlewood
Chris Woakes
Mohammad Shami

I didn't include Kyle Abbott as he is not going to play test cricket any time sooner. I didn't include Dhammika Prasad in the list because he hasn't played test cricket for more than 15 months now.

So who is in your opinion, the current best fast bowler in the world in test cricket?

At this point in time, who will be the first pacer in your team sheet?
[MENTION=133760]Abdullah719[/MENTION], please create a poll for this mate.
 
Vernon Philander is ahead of everyone. He is the only above average pacer in all conditions.
 
Josh Hazlewood.
By the way why are Woakes and Shami in the list and not Trent Boult?
 
Steyn hasn't played consistently for SA in last two years and he might not be a permanent member of their team in future.

Hence Rabada.
 
Hazlewood quite easily. Rabada is still improving but he's not there yet and Philander is very good but he's performed for the first time in almost three years.
 
You've got to be kidding me!!! Where is Mohammed Amir?! It's not all about stats, the line and length he bowls is perfection, with swing and pace, and if our fielders can't hold onto catches, then obviously his stays won't look. He is the best bowler in the world in all formats.
 
Shahvaaaaaaaiz said:
You've got to be kidding me!!! Where is Mohammed Amir?! It's not all about stats, the line and length he bowls is perfection, with swing and pace, and if our fielders can't hold onto catches, then obviously his stays won't look. He is the best bowler in the world in all formats.
Click to expand...

Sir even Muhammad Amir himself won't agree with your assessment there.
 
Starc... He has done well in both Asia and outside. He was the best Aussie bowler in Sri Lanka
 
Think the Australian tour of India will give us more answers.

Hazlewood and Starc are leading the polls atm..
 
Australia and South Africa have sick bowling line up. Starc, Hazlewood and Rabada, Philander in the same team.
 
Josh Hazlewood as I said above. Can pick up wickets and also keep the runs down.

A future test match great bowler for me.
 
The fact that there are so many opinions on this thread already clearly indicates that there is no clear best Test bowler currently.
A couple of years ago it was a very simple response with Dale Steyn probably the bowler of his generation and James Anderson not far behind . . but with Steyn having not played for a while and Anderson aging, there is no one STAND OUT bowler . .

I think in ODI cricket though, Starc is definitely head and shoulders above the rest.
 
Hazlewood and philander are above the rest considering that Steyn isn't playing. Otherwise steyn is miles ahead of anyone else.
 
Hazzlewood... At least with Starc you know he'd give you that one loosner every couple of overs which can relieve pressure in a crunch test match scenario. With Hazzlewood, it's absolutely nothing.......
 
Don't forget Rabbada he is pacy, young and energetic. Dale styen has lived his era i believe.
 
Reputation wise, Starc remains the #1 pacer in the world for any format as long as he has that brutal effort ball which doesn't require any help from the surface or the conditions and breaches the defense of the best of batsmen.
 
Probably Hoff or Rabada I would say. Steyn is up there as well of course when fit. Starc when he's on is something else but with the red cherry he has been hot and cold. More warm or cold than hot.
 
James Anderson without a doubt. Hazlewood is a good bowler but good at best. He's nowhere near being the best bowler in the world. He just had a good couple of series at home. He may be one of the bests but nobody can dethrone Jimmy just yet. Have we forgotten the atrocious series he had in Sri Lanka?
 
ExpressPacer said:
James Anderson without a doubt. Hazlewood is a good bowler but good at best. He's nowhere near being the best bowler in the world. He just had a good couple of series at home. He may be one of the bests but nobody can dethrone Jimmy just yet. Have we forgotten the atrocious series he had in Sri Lanka?
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Yep, his first test series in Asia should be used as a parameter to judge how good he is on dead pitches.

Why don't you take into account his performances in India, currently?
 
Ellipsism said:
Yep, his first test series in Asia should be used as a parameter to judge how good he is on dead pitches.

Why don't you take into account his performances in India, currently?
Click to expand...

If you want me to be honest with you, his stats even for this tour are highly exaggerated because of this 6fer, which could have easily been a fluke. For the rest of his 3 outings, he's had 2 wicketless innings and in the other one he picked up 1 wicket.

Any-who, lets give him a fair chance and see how well he does in the last 2 matches.
 
freelance_cricketer said:
Reputation wise, Starc remains the #1 pacer in the world for any format as long as he has that brutal effort ball which doesn't require any help from the surface or the conditions and breaches the defense of the best of batsmen.
Click to expand...

Starc has problems with economy rate, he's nowhere as good in test as he is in ODIs
 
Probably Hazlewood, but if i was a coach and could choose one bowler it would be Starc.
He is such a weapon that can bowl 150kph all day. When he is on form he can get 3-4 wickets in a spell.
Was so impressed by him and his speed in the last test, bowling close to 155kph after 20 overs.

Starc is easily the fastest bowler in the world. The other pretenders like Fergeson and Milne can only bowl fast in there first 2 overs and then become medium pace, thats why they will never play Tests.
The only other TEST bowler in the world who can touch 150kph is Wahab
 
Mamoon said:
Hazlewood is great, but I prefer Anderson, Boult, Starc, Rabada and Broad.
Click to expand...
I always fail to believe how you grab out Boult's name from the blue. He isn't even NZ's Premier test bowler and here you place him with the elite bowlers of world cricket.
 
Rayyman said:
Pakistan dropped Yasir Shah, but he is still the best leg-spinner in the world.
Click to expand...
Because the pitch was green.

Yasir is the best leg spinner because he's one of a few leg spinners playing test cricket ATM.
 
Ellipsism said:
Because the pitch was green.

Yasir is the best leg spinner because he's one of a few leg spinners playing test cricket ATM.
Click to expand...

There have been about 9-10 bowlers named on here. I think that Southee is a Top 10 pacer in Tests.
 
Rayyman said:
There have been about 9-10 bowlers named on here. I think that Southee is a Top 10 pacer in Tests.
Click to expand...
Hazlewood
Starc
Rabada
Steyn
Philander
Anderson
Broad
Shami
Wagner
Morne Morkel

Best 10 bowlers in world cricket right there.
 
Rayyman said:
There have been about 9-10 bowlers named on here. I think that Southee is a Top 10 pacer in Tests.
Click to expand...

The poll was created based on the top 10 fast-bowlers statistically at the time (for the past 2 years or so, can't remember exact).

No bias. :usman
 
Morne Morkel is pretty much done. Not sure how he gets a mention here.
 
Trent boult for now. Rabads might catch up.

Fizz isn't doing too bad either in his handful of.matches
 
Ellipsism said:
I always fail to believe how you grab out Boult's name from the blue. He isn't even NZ's Premier test bowler and here you place him with the elite bowlers of world cricket.
Click to expand...

Boult is an elite bowler. Injury set him back but he is getting back to his best.
 
Ellipsism said:
Haven't seen any signs of him getting back to his best apart from the odd good performance at home.
Click to expand...

I have seen enough. Only a matter of staying fit now. However, I shall concede my bias because he has one of the most beautiful actions I have ever seen. Right up there with Imran Khan, Waqar Younis and Shane Bond.
 
Morkel is overrated in Tests. He hasn't been exposed because of Steyn, Philander and now Rabada. Good for bowling hostile spells every now and then, but he doesn't have the skill to be a strike bowler. He is a rich man's Irfan.
 
Mamoon said:
I have seen enough. Only a matter of staying fit now. However, I shall concede my bias because he has one of the most beautiful actions I have ever seen. Right up there with Imran Khan, Waqar Younis and Shane Bond.
Click to expand...
Indeed, one of the few bowlers you can watch all day in the modern game.
 
street cricketer said:
Similar to the thread I created for batsmen a few weeks ago, I wanted to create one for the pacers in test cricket.

I have listed out the top performers in test cricket over the past two years.

Dale Steyn
Vernon Philander
Kagiso Rabada
Neil Wagner
James Anderson
Stuart Broad
Mitchell Starc
Josh Hazlewood
Chris Woakes
Mohammad Shami

I didn't include Kyle Abbott as he is not going to play test cricket any time sooner. I didn't include Dhammika Prasad in the list because he hasn't played test cricket for more than 15 months now.

So who is in your opinion, the current best fast bowler in the world in test cricket?

At this point in time, who will be the first pacer in your team sheet?

[MENTION=133760]Abdullah719[/MENTION], please create a poll for this mate.
Click to expand...


philander is only good in seamer friendly conditions. but he is the most deadly in helpful conditions
 
Philander is a poor man's Anderson, but no doubt a quality bowler.
 
Mitchell Freakin Starc!

Genuine pace, swing, reverse, bounce...he has the whole lot. I owuld have said Phialnder a couple of seasons ago but not now. Rabada is too young and Hazlewood is good but he isn't the guy a captain would trust for an exciting, spell binding, extreme spell that would unsettle batsmen for 4 or 5 overs.
 
Mamoon said:
Hazlewood is great, but I prefer Anderson, Boult, Starc, Rabada and Broad.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming you chose those bowlers ahead of Hazlewood based on their x-factor and ability to produce magical spells. Fair enough.

Hazlewood can't run through lineups like them, but he's probably the most consistent bowler in the world.
 
It is sad that nobody from Pakistan is even close. Hopefully Amir can be a Top 5 pacer within a couple of years.
 
The way yadav has improved, might well be amongst top 10 bowlers amongst the world right now, no way Wagner and woakes are better than him.
 
My top 10 would be
Hazlewood
Starc
Rabada
Philander
Broad
Steyn
Shami
Anderson
Umesh
Woakes
 
Vayuu said:
The way yadav has improved, might well be amongst top 10 bowlers amongst the world right now, no way Wagner and woakes are better than him.
Click to expand...

Lol chilll. Yadav is a spraygun who bowls the odd jaffa. He gets lucky that Kohli, Ashwin, Jadeja and Shami are there.

He is on the same level as Rahat imo.
 
[MENTION=100918]Square Drive[/MENTION] [MENTION=138254]Syed1[/MENTION]
Do you guys rate Yadav among the best pacers in the world?
 
Vayuu said:
The way yadav has improved, might well be amongst top 10 bowlers amongst the world right now, no way Wagner and woakes are better than him.
Click to expand...

Rayyman said:
Lol chilll. Yadav is a spraygun who bowls the odd jaffa. He gets lucky that Kohli, Ashwin, Jadeja and Shami are there.

He is on the same level as Rahat imo.
Click to expand...
May, under Kohli he has improved leaps and bounds, he can bowl odd delivery here and there in odi's but in tests he has improved in the last 2 years, and he has taken wickets on his own,the kind of pressure he maintained in 2nd test was commendable some time you may not get wicket but the intensity has to be their, you didn't see that when dhoni use to handle him, with Kohli, it's a complete transformation for him, he is using cutters using crease that's when you see he is confident about his ability, coz Kohli trust his pacers gives them confidence, that was not case with dhoni.
 
Vayuu said:
May, under Kohli he has improved leaps and bounds, he can bowl odd delivery here and there in odi's but in tests he has improved in the last 2 years, and he has taken wickets on his own,the kind of pressure he maintained in 2nd test was commendable some time you may not get wicket but the intensity has to be their, you didn't see that when dhoni use to handle him, with Kohli, it's a complete transformation for him, he is using cutters using crease that's when you see he is confident about his ability, coz Kohli trust his pacers gives them confidence, that was not case with dhoni.
Click to expand...

He is a good bowler, no doubt. You would expect these performances from a 29 year old fast bowler. This is his prime. He can definitely go down as an Indian bowling great along with the likes of Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath.
:kohli2 :waqar
 
Rayyman said:
[MENTION=100918]Square Drive[/MENTION] [MENTION=138254]Syed1[/MENTION]
Do you guys rate Yadav among the best pacers in the world?
Click to expand...

No.

Not top 10 for sure, despite his recent improvements.

If he's top 10, so is Wahab.
 
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