Who reigned supreme in the world of medium pacers, the neglected lot?

[The Bald Eagle]

On majority of occasions, we see pacers and spinners snatching all the limelight but in fact the ones who let their team win by the slightest of margins are the team's medium pacers. And more often than not, these medium pacers are of dual importance for their side as besides being a bowler they play the role of lower or middle order decent batters.

So in your memory lane down your observation of game of cricket which medium pacers impressed you the most and which players would be your top pick for the tier 1 or as the best medium pacers ever to grace the game of cricket?

 

[The Bald Eagle]

For me it is Josh Hazlewood without any doubt for the current era, Mohammad Abbas although past his prime but is a tailor made example for pure medium pacers

 

[sweep_shot]

Chaminda Vaas.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Abdul Razzaq was a great medium pacer too and bro your previous list was also great one

Chaminda Vaas.

 

[sweep_shot]

Abdul Razzaq was a great medium pacer too and bro your previous list was also great one

Previous list mostly had part-time bowlers. So, I replaced it.

Abdul Razzaq was very handy. I agree. So was New Zealand's Chris Harris.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Poll added Guys

 

[Hitman]

One of my all time favorites, Shaun Pollock.

 

[neonoir]

No big Vern Philander?

 

[Van_Sri]

Hansie Cronje for Sachin Tendulkar

 

[ElRaja]

surely asif? no one in the 78-82 range was deadlier. guys like razzaq, stokes, brave were all 85+ in their younger test playing days. asif rarely bothered bowling above 82, 83, unless he was looking for reverse swing. pilander is a close second, and an honourable mention for stuart clark. most of the guys being mentioned before are medium-fast.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Bro you clubbed Baby Pace bowlers with Medium pace bowlers.

Also, Chaminda Vaas was Military Medium pace.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Abdul Razzaq was pretty under-rated but he is surely not in the league of bowlers like Vaas or vernon or Asif.

 

[moghul]

Abdul Razzaq was pretty under-rated but he is surely not in the league of bowlers like Vaas or vernon or Asif.

I thing Razzaq was very overrated , he was a very average bowler but got more attention due to his explosive batting which used to come once after every 6-7 failure.

 

[BouncerGuy]

I thing Razzaq was very overrated , he was a very average bowler but got more attention due to his explosive batting which used to come once after every 6-7 failure.

269 wickets in ODIs, 100 in tests and 20 in t20s.

This is a dream for many bowlers who are medium pacers and are all-rounders. But yeah, he is not the best one out there and not like he is the neglected one...

 

[moghul]

269 wickets in ODIs, 100 in tests and 20 in t20s.

This is a dream for many bowlers who are medium pacers and are all-rounders. But yeah, he is not the best one out there and not like he is the neglected one...

So on average 1 wickets in every ODI he played, not very impressive , but he was a good utility player .

 

[pratiktc]

It is hard to classify because there is an ego element involved.

If we classify medium pace as range between 125-135 kph then reality is every great fast bowler in their post 32 yrs age majorly operated in this pace range with rare forays above it but both fans and players themselves will bristle if we characterize their bowling as medium. Thus we have the "Fast medium" abbreviation which doesn't mean much other than to give izzat.

Last 150-200 wkts of Pollock and McGrath are all at 125-135 range. Even Wasim and Waqar similiar for their last one third of careers. But there will always be a wag who says 'I saw XYZ bowl 140 even at 36 age etc. thus sacrilege to call him medium' etc.

In fact it is testament to skillset and guile that bowler is able to be high class even without cutting edge pace but machismo culture associated with pace bowling wont allow for accepting this.

IMO rather than number on a speed gun, pace should be defined only as ability to push a batter onto backfoot. If you have ability to do that and keep their footwork tentative for beating them with a fuller ball, then that is the real class of fast bowling.

 

[Van_Sri]

Abdul Razzaq was pretty under-rated but he is surely not in the league of bowlers like Vaas or vernon or Asif.

He was a better batsman

 

[BouncerGuy]

He was a better batsman

This is true.... Better batter than a bowler he was.. But he created a lot of difficulty for Sachin.

 

[pratiktc]

So on average 1 wickets in every ODI he played, not very impressive , but he was a good utility player .

Razzaq I believe is atleast 1975 born. He was rapid and could generate late contrast swing with both old white and red ball during his bowling prime between 1997-2002. At this time he was good enough to play a third seamer role in any format playing XI. Lot of injury niggles and over-use handicapped his ability and he lost his effectiveness becoming basically a stock medium pacer 5th bowler who could contain but not threaten much.

He was not an effective bowler in his second avatar at all in any format. Just an over filler. Because white ball game hadn't evolved yet he could still get away with his bowling else if his career had been today he would have evolved more as a Pollard level player (i.e. primary middle order batter and just part time bowler)

 

[Van_Sri]

This is true.... Better batter than a bowler he was.. But he created a lot of difficulty for Sachin.

Azar Mahmood Ganguly rivalry was also good

 

[Van_Sri]

Reason Pakistan was the best team in 1999 World Cup was because of Razzaq and Azhar - 2 good Allrounders - medium pace

 

[Van_Sri]

Razzaq I believe is atleast 1975 born. He was rapid and could generate late contrast swing with both old white and red ball during his bowling prime between 1997-2002. At this time he was good enough to play a third seamer role in any format playing XI. Lot of injury niggles and over-use handicapped his ability and he lost his effectiveness becoming basically a stock medium pacer 5th bowler who could contain but not threaten much.

He was not an effective bowler in his second avatar at all in any format. Just an over filler. Because white ball game hadn't evolved yet he could still get away with his bowling else if his career had been today he would have evolved more as a Pollard level player (i.e. primary middle order batter and just part time bowler)

Razzaq took his first 100 wickets at an average of 23.43

 

[Devadwal]

Ian Harvey. I remembered once he taken 4 wickets against india in 2003 TVS Cup final

India needed 50 odd runs in 10 overs with 4 wickets remaining but Harvey destroyed rest of batting in few overs

 

[Justcrazy]

Razzaq I believe is atleast 1975 born. He was rapid and could generate late contrast swing with both old white and red ball during his bowling prime between 1997-2002. At this time he was good enough to play a third seamer role in any format playing XI. Lot of injury niggles and over-use handicapped his ability and he lost his effectiveness becoming basically a stock medium pacer 5th bowler who could contain but not threaten much.

He was not an effective bowler in his second avatar at all in any format. Just an over filler. Because white ball game hadn't evolved yet he could still get away with his bowling else if his career had been today he would have evolved more as a Pollard level player (i.e. primary middle order batter and just part time bowler)

He was probably the best Bits and pieces player ever in cricket.

 

[Justcrazy]

Reason Pakistan was the best team in 1999 World Cup was because of Razzaq and Azhar - 2 good Allrounders - medium pace

Razzak , Mahmood , Akram , Moin

Powerful hitters down the order

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas.

 

[Devadwal]

Reason Pakistan was the best team in 1999 World Cup was because of Razzaq and Azhar - 2 good Allrounders - medium pace

Yes. They were best side in that tournament but like india (2023) they bottled When it matters the most .

And Australia was the team both times to break the heart of pakistan and Indian fan's.

 

[Major]

Wasim as a medium pacer was quite brutal. In his highlights video, i have seen how his medium pacer had quite the swing

 

[Hellion]

Wasim Akram was a very good medium pacer in ODI cricket in the latter half of his career from 97 or so onwards.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Poll updated Guys, thanks for suggestions

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Afridi, Naseem and Haris were bowling at 140 Kmph today but none had the class of M Asif in them who made Indian greats look clueless in that famous Karachi Test