Let me give you an example..Haris Rauf a nothing bowler who would even struggle to make it into domestic cricket for other countries. Yes, he has 140kph plus pace but they don't make up for the filth he serves up to batsmen as well as his lack of game awareness.
On the other hand, Aaron Summers a 150kph bowler similar to Haris as he relies on pace. Both are comparable bowlers, yet Haris has played international cricket and is a PSL "star" whereas Summers hardly even gets picked in domestic cricket as they know he offers nothing apart from his pace.
Why are Pakistan so obsessed with pace no matter how mediocre the bowler is?
I think this is a flawed question to begin with. Not that it shouldn’t be brought up but it’s flawed because you don’t obsess over pace as you either have it or not. Yes you can add a few kph but that’s about it. A medium bowler would almost never be able to become an express bowler.
Let me break it down a little. Pakistan’s obsession is or should be accuracy and control. Depending on the part of the world you bowl and the height of the batsman your accuracy l&l should be key. Given the fact that under lights or cloudy conditions or close to the sea you will get degrees of swing, your control as well as accuracy is vital. This indeed is an obsession as I’ve see ordinary bowlers become world beaters just because they understand how to manipulate conditions. Marcus north in 2010 being a case in point.
Notice so far I’ve not mentioned speed. That’s because accuracy,control, swing and seam are much more of an obsession as these are exactly the tools a bowler is developing. Just think of asif who would struggle on dead flat pitches but be lethal whenever there was something to exploit. Now contrast that with Sami who was a fantastic bowler but often couldn’t control the swing and seam. Ie he failed his control. This was especially the case under lights in places like dambulla or even in England.
So nobody obsesses about speed but you have speedstars breaking onto the circuit because they are able to beat human reflexes at 90mph. But these guys, Sami wahab, irshad, talha etc can’t last very long in the team because sooner or later when they leave the dead pitches of Pakistan or uae they arrive in places where ball swings miles and seams sharply and they lose all control.
You mentioned archer...well if you play in England where there is so much swing and seam on offer you don’t nor should you bowl 90mph. (The effort in bowling so fast means you lose control and accuracy) you need an optimum medium pace to swing the ball. Ironically faster and faster doesn’t result in greater swing, nor accuracy nor control.
At the moment you are seeing Harris rauf learning his craft. He’s trying to maintain control on dead pitches so his speed is the only weapon. As he develops and plays in different countries and conditions he will have to demonstrate accuracy and control maintain some swing or seam whilst bowling at top speed. It took Waqar and wasim years to do this. Usually it’s about 5 years.
If you don’t believe me just look at how long McGrath or starc or Cummins spent in domestic arena before they broke into the side. Australians and English in particular obsess over accuracy and player development. I wish we did more but then we have our own method which is to throw them into meaningless LOI so they learn quick or disappear.
Come to think of it where have the likes of ZIA UL HAQUE gone. For a while he was touted as the next big thing.
:
The boy was a prodigy with a not fully developed body to help him make the most of his talent at the time.
