Hufff !! Puff !! Hufff !! Puff !! Gasping for breath. yet he backs himself up, goes back to the bowling mark again glances at the pitch where he ought to bowl. Sees the batsman and then stares back at the pitch. readying himself up, backing himself up this time again, to get past through the defences of the batsman. Now he is back at his line up, taking deep breathes just readying himself for the next thunderbolt coming out of his cannonesque arm. He now runs in charging like an angry bull, looking for the matador to challenge him, to out power him, to win over him. And then he has his jump timed perfectly by the time he reaches his crease, the jump which one expects to reach same the height an Ostrich would when running at its top speed and then he releases the bowl at a straight seamed position pitching it at the exact spot where he has desired to bowl. Now the batsman has to come forward to play this bowl which is coming at an unbelievable speed. The batsman sees the bowl changing the trajectory by the time it has pitched and come to him, in a matter of milliseconds he has to adjust his guard ,to defend, to survive and in a blink of the eye he has missed playing the bowl, now the batsman has to wait to hear the dreadful sound of the timber. All this while when the bowler is completing his follow through after bowling where exactly he has intended to bowl, he is watching with awe and an excitement like a 6 year old. Now he sees that the bowl has past the pads of the batsman, watching the track of the seam of the leather go uncluttered, going as straight like a bullet would and then he strikes gold when the bowl hits the top of off stump, there is a winning smile on his face, a dejected look on the batsman's front. He claps and throws his hands into the air announcing the world, to make a statement of how a perfectly planned operation would span out.
The next batsman is padded up, with fear on one leg and ambiguity on the other. The bowler who is bowling fast is now smeared with confidence and pride at himself, his pace has went up a notch for the next ball, but he has to bend his back and bowl another one again, with the same discipline, line and length to be successful again. Such is the state of mind that a fast bowler goes through every time he runs up to bowl.
The world has seen amazing quicks who have taken breaths away frequently and sometimes more than that.
Here are my XI picks :
Joel Garner was one such bowler who was ferociously quick and lethal when it came to bowling. Big Bird he was named, standing at close to 7ft tall he could easily bowl the bouncers twice the same height of Sunil Gavaskar. Gavaskar once when questioned on how it was facing the Big Bird had said that all he could see is thunderbolts of red colour coming from the sky, given his short stature. No one could face Joel's bowl, let alone hit him. Gavaskar said that there was no use of the sight screen at the back since the arm easily stretched beyond it.
And then came
Michael Holding, who was named as the Whispering Death and who popularized bowling with the art of smelling the 'perfume of the leather', he was the best bowler of his era which included the greats of West Indies bowlers like Andy Roberts, Malcom Marshall and Colin Croft, he stood apart with his lethal bouncers which would leave the batsman in tatters. He had a niche bouncer which when pitched short would rise to the batsman aiming at his helmet with vicious speed but just leaving the batsman unscathed but not before allowing the batsman to sniff the leather ball he did just let go off. Also he bowled, what was called the over of the century in the 81' test to Geoffrey Boycott.
Over of the century in 1981 Bridgetown Test vs England.
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| Fearsome Four: Marshall,Holding,Croft,Garner |
Merv Hughes was an intimidating bowler with long and hard moustaches who put the fear in the eyes of the batsman whenever he took the ball in hand. He was fairly successful, given the Australian pitches which aided his style of bowling, which was to bounce the opposition out while keeping the tabs on runs to a bare minimum.
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| Intimidation.. the weapon |
If we are playing the game that the talk hosts do, where in I give you one word and you say the first thing that comes to your mind, I say
Shoaib Akhtar you would say Fast. His name was so synonymous with fast bowling that he became such a obvious figure to represent Pak cricket, he stood for what bowling fast felt like to be. He would keep on running hard from his run up which would be just a few yards short of the boundary to charge in at the batsmen and bowl those toe crushing yorkers with tremendous speed. He always enjoyed bowling to the greatest batsman, always making a statement of himself that he is as good a bowler as the batsman who is facing him.
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| Rawalpindi Express @ 161 kmph |
Brett Lee's action is such a treat to watch that one would love to copy his action to himself. The short jump just before the run up would set the tone for the visual treat that was to follow. The timing of his jump before the ball would have been released, the position of his left arm just above the head his right arm recoiled back like the moment before the bullet is fired and his landing of the feet to execute the covert mission which was under wraps all this while which would have a predetermined conclusion, as to bowl at the batsman with vengeance and furious anger. He is considered to be one of the great bowlers who held the legacy of fast bowling in Australia flying high.
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| Binga ! set to unleash the spell |
Dale Steyn was and still continues to rule the world as the best fast bowler in the world, not because he takes many wickets but because of the extra edge that he gives to his team. His near to perfect bowling action infuses such a delight to watch him bowl. His bowling rushes the adrenaline flowing into you when you see the sight of the perfectly executed bowl. He has the soul of the warrior and a heart of a lion, surely it takes something more to bowl that last over in Semis of the World Cup and to accept the defeat in the eyes of billions who have idolized him.
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| Flawless action and a perfect release |
Wahab Riaz, his name deserves a special mentions although he is far from being called as a true legend of fast bowling. His spell that he bowled to Watson in the World Cup had everyone get up and pay close attention to what was the best bowling display in recent years. Although the Oz's are known to have a go at the opposition, to hunt them, to humiliate them all of this in their home, but watching Wahab's display of the bowling which terrorized Watson to his core, who simply did not what was more humiliating ? Throwing his wicket away, surrendering to the bowler or stand there in the middle and become a mockery of the world. He chose to be the latter, although he was convinced there was no answer to the balls bowled by Wahab in that spell. For 30 minutes, the world watched in awe of how a fast bowler from the sub-continent can wreck havoc on the Oz's in their own backyard. So venomous were the balls that Wahab bowled that every ball he bowled to Watson had the trademark of the West Indies legends of the 80's. Once the match was over and Pak had lost, the world had found a new hero of the World Cup, whose name would be forever etched in the memories of the people who watched this spectacle.
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| Those eyes.. speak a thousand words. |
Other fast bowling greats who surely deserved the mention but were sneaked out by the above mentioned players were
Waqar Younis,
Javagal Srinath,
Dennis Lillee,
Jeff Thomson to complete my fastest best XI.
Although the life span of the fast bowler is very short, prone to injuries, frequent rehabs yet inspite of all these pains the greats have overcome the nature to carve a mark of themselves in a short but successful career. Cherish the fast bowlers of your era before they become history, they give us the zest to adore the game like no one.
Cheers !!
Ram
How different would your best XI be ?
