Are we seeing a revival in quality pace attacks in test cricket?

[War]

Well after most the first decade of this 2000s era where consistently only Australia had a quality pace attack, with South Africa & England @ times being deadly.

Now looking @ most of the top 8 nations currently (except India & New Zealand), once they have all their main quicks fit & those quicks get pace-bowler friendly conditions. Batsmen will be tested with strong pace-attacks, which is great for test cricket. Only thing we need now is the cut down on the flat pitches outside of the sub-continent.

 

[pcfan123]

Fast bowling is definitely on an upswing, its quite odd too considering how wickets on average across the board have become flatter. Not sure what to attribute it to but it makes more much more exciting cricket. Perhaps Twenty20 and having to only bowl 4 overs will lure more youth into fast bowling in the future as well.

Also to be fair to NZ, if Bond and O'Brien were still playing they would be more than potent attack.

 

[aussie1st]

Definitely looks that way. When you have West Indies and Pakistan with good quicks, you can usually bet that the standards of pace bowling will rise.

 

[TumTum]

England are still inconsistent and their pace attacked isn't really feared outside their home. Dale Steyn has been a star for SA over the last few years but really is no different then when Donald & Nel were playing. Australia is the same. Pakistan have found Aamer & Asif but lost Akhtar, Wasim & Waqar. The young WI pacers have still not proven their quality.

So I don't really think much has changed.

 

[War]

Definitely looks that way. When you have West Indies and Pakistan with good quicks, you can usually bet that the standards of pace bowling will rise.

Just like how injuries prevented us from seeing Asif/Aamir/Gul together for a good while. When it does ease with the windies quicks & we get to see a fully fit Taylor/Roach/Edwards together - thats gonna be a threat.

 

[pcfan123]

In Dale Steyn we are seeing one of the games greatest fast bowlers, He will be a legend in 40 years. The SR is twice as good as any one else alone and he bowls well in all conditions ala Marshall.

England maybe inconsistent as TT said but they have so much depth in fast bowling,

Anderson , Broad, Finn, Shazad, Onions, Bresnan, Tremlett then even the old lot is still active Hoggard, Harmison, Jones. Hell even Dominic Cork still plays :laugh

Seems like most teams have found a good new set of quicks, except for India who historically never do anyway.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Hmmm...

There is some good pace bowling going around. Steyn, Anderson, Morkel, Aamer, Gul, Asif, Malinga, Bollinger, Johnson. Taylor and Broad too. Even Roach, Finn and Ishant Sharma have potential.

 

[Chewie]

Also to be fair to NZ, if Bond and O'Brien were still playing they would be more than potent attack.

Bond, O'Brien, Mills and Tuffey/Martin/Southee would be quite a potent attack from us

 

[pcfan123]

Its a shame NZC did not give the players raises earlier, O'Brien might not have left if he got a substantial raise.

 

[Iridium]

I think O'Brien left cause his wife worked in England. But yea he was starting to get quite good. TBH, I think NZ won't have a good fast bowling attack for a long long time. It's sad, we could really do with one.

 

[angryangy]

Maybe on a small scale, like the last four or five years. If you go back a full ten years, pretty much every team had a better first-choice attack, or at least a comparable one.

I think we've seen a bit of a revival of good bowling conditions. Pakistan not playing at home has helped, but it's not just about more games under overcast skies in England. There have been greener and grassier pitches in Australia too. Let's not forget even Younus Khan was in the wickets, on tour in Sri Lanka last year.

Also, more and more bowlers (and their ball-shiners) are well versed in the art of the reverse. When this skill is reliably executed, it increases the scope of what can be considered good bowling conditions.

 

[Adarsh]

Hmm if I were a Kiwi fan I'd be pretty worried. Their batting is very weak, and their bowling really isn't anywhere near threatening. Vettori is an average test bowler, and the quicks aren't that promising. Southee came in with a bang and has since dropped on pace and control. Not good.

 

[Chewie]

Our test batting is weak, but in ODIs, we have a pretty decent lineup. Our bowling is probably more of a concern, with most of our bowlers starting to get old.

Watling, Williamson and Guptill are still young, and will only get better over time. Taylor and Ryder are young and have established themselves as the future of our middle order. Apart from them though there isn't too much around the domestic circuit.

Bowling-wise we have Vettori, Tuffey, Mills, Martin, Arnel and Southee. The first five are in their thirties however, and aren't the greatest in tests. In terms of upcoming talent, we have Michael Bates and Trent Boult, but not really anyone else I can think of (DSB will want me to mention Wagner).

 

[War]

Maybe on a small scale, like the last four or five years. If you go back a full ten years, pretty much every team had a better first-choice attack, or at least a comparable one.

I think we've seen a bit of a revival of good bowling conditions. Pakistan not playing at home has helped, but it's not just about more games under overcast skies in England. There have been greener and grassier pitches in Australia too. Let's not forget even Younus Khan was in the wickets, on tour in Sri Lanka last year.

Also, more and more bowlers (and their ball-shiners) are well versed in the art of the reverse. When this skill is reliably executed, it increases the scope of what can be considered good bowling conditions.

This is true. If quicks can get the ball to reverse swing, on flat pitches of course their chances of getting wickets increases.

Adarsh Hmm if I were a Kiwi fan I'd be pretty worried. Their batting is very weak, and their bowling really isn't anywhere near threatening. Vettori is an average test bowler, and the quicks aren't that promising. Southee came in with a bang and has since dropped on pace and control. Not good.

Bit over the top to call Vettori that TBF. Vettori problem is because he is stuck in poor test team, thus for the majority of his career has been forced to bowl defensively, since he hasnt had much bowling support.

You look @ his test record vs Australia & its clear he is a top-quality spinner. If he played in a team with a stronger pace-attack, he would have a far better record for sure.

 

[sami ullah khan]

I agree. Fast bowling is on the rise in World Cricket. I think bowlers have had to evolve to work harder on pitches that are becoming flatter by the day and due to onslaught they have to stall in T20Is. Angryangy made a very good point regarding reverse swing. Reverse Swing is fast becoming an important weapon in arsenal of fast bowlers all over the world and is hardly limited to Pakistanis any more. That has given a new edge to fast bowlers even in batting friendly conditions. Pakistanis bowlers were forced into developing this art due to unforgiving batting pitches at home. The same now applies to the rest of world.