Where are the good international bowlers?

[deeb]

Before you all start jumping up and down, this is meant to stimulate discussion!

I feel that we are in a transition phase in international cricket. Over the past few years we've lost many 'greats' from the game.

McGrath, Warne, Flintoff, Vaas, Pollock, Harmison, Bond (?) and then soon there will be Murali, Zaheer Khan and Kumble to add to that list. Brett Lee has gone too.

I'm old enough to remember the passing of the Windies greats, Marshall, Holding, Garner, and Roberts. But these were replaced by Walsh and Ambrose. I remember those two coming to England as young prospects.

I also remember Pollock's first match, Warne's entrance (what England fan could forget that!), and even when McGrath struggled to force his way into the Aussie side.

So, in 10 years time, who will be the 'greats' who'll be considering retirement? Are there any?

Cricket seems to be so much in the batsman's favour now, that I worry for international bowlers. having said that, we all thought off-spinners were a thing of the past and yet look at Swann's record.

Perhaps it'll be Mendis, or maybe Bollinger. Both have much to prove.

Who are the bowlers that you currently fear?

 

[Varun]

Dale Steyn and Shane Bond rip apart teams.

varun_rustagi added 2 Minutes and 16 Seconds later...

Mate, the thread title doesn't make way with what you have written.

 

[rahuldravidfan]

From an Indian perspective, I think I'll be seeing Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha, Ravindra Jadeja (he's a bowling allrounder), Praveen Kumar reach the pinnacle within the next 10 yrs.

Maybe Ishant as well, but he really needs to sort his bowling out.

Among the present batch of U19 players, I see Saurabh Netravalkar (what a bowler) & Jaidev Unadkat making it big.

 

[Varun]

From an Indian perspective, I think I'll be seeing Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha, Ravindra Jadeja (he's a bowling allrounder

I always say they need to bring back Piyush. He has some potential.

 

[rahuldravidfan]

^ Unfortunately, he doesn't translate potential into performance when he gets his chances. With Bhaj, Mishy and Ojha around, its just got more difficult for him to comeback. But he will.

 

[Varun]

^ Unfortunately, he doesn't translate potential into performance when he gets his chances. With Bhaj, Mishy and Ojha around, its just got more difficult for him to comeback. But he will.

Yeah it was once said that he will replace Kumble. TBH, I agreed with them. Amit Mishra is just overrated according to me.

 

[Covvy]

Well Australia's got a new batch of Steve Smith, Johnson, Bollinger, Siddle and Hilfenhaus.

 

[Owzat]

Greats and you list Flintoff and Harmison Not sure of one or two of the others, very good maybe, but greats.................

 

[angryangy]

lol steve smith

 

[King Pietersen]

Greats and you list Flintoff and Harmison Not sure of one or two of the others, very good maybe, but greats.................

Agreed regarding Harmison. He was only really Test standard for a few months, hugely over-rated for the most part. Flintoff was genuinely good for a couple of years, and does deserve to be put in that category, irrespective of his figures.

There is a real lack of top quality bowlers atm though, and it's a trend that's existed for a while. In the last 5 years, the top bowlers (in terms of average with a minimum of 40 wickets) are:

Shane Bond - 44 wickets at 19.93 - retired
Mohammed Asif - 83 wickets at 22.14
Dale Steyn - 188 wickets at 22.30
Muttiah Muralitharan - 260 wickets at 22.40 - Not too far off retirement
Glenn McGrath - 71 wickets at 23.70 - retired
Stuart Clark - 94 wickets at 23.86 - As good as retired
Shane Warne - 132 wickets at 24.67 - retired
Ryan Sidebottom - 79 wickets at 27.43 - Was only good for about a year
Makhaya Ntini - 186 wickets at 28.07 - Not far off retirement
Chaminda Vaas - 86 wickets at 28.55 - Retired
Mitchell Johnson - 145 wickets at 29.06
Graeme Swann - 85 wickets at 29.25
Corey Collymore - 56 wickets at 29.42 - Retired (I think)
Matthew Hoggard - 105 wickets at 29.44 - As good as retired
Ajantha Mendis - 44 wickets at 29.50 - Been found out and bowling terribly

5 out of the Top 15 are still playing and playing well. So really, there are just the 5 world class bowlers in the world, that have proven to be consistent over a decent period of time anyway. Steyn, Asif, Muralitharan, Johnson and Swann, not a particularly magnificent list.

 

[chiranjitpathak]

Johnson , Ishant may be but as the pitches are becoming flaters , no youngster would be tempted to become a bowler.

 

[hedger_14]

Johnson, Steyn and Hauritz. 3 of the best bowlers.

 

[Covvy]

I'd hardly rank Hauritz up there with johnson and Steyn.

 

[CG123]

It's more the case that pitches are just getting flatter and flatter, especially in the sub-continent.
There are plenty of quality bowlers around, but with little pitch assistance their statistics are pretty poor.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

@KP - I don't see the point of taking averages for the last 5 years. Tons of cricketers were at their peak then, they've all retired. Naturally there will be a lull till the next generation of stars find their feet.


The best bowlers in the world at the moment, in no particular order, are Steyn, Swann, Murali, Johnson, Anderson, Zaheer, Harbhajan, Vettori, Shakib, and possibly Asif and Gul. Bond as will in limited over cricket. That's not a bad crowd, and excluding Murali, Bond and Zak, they should be around for the next 5 years easily.

Then there a lot of very, very talented young players coming through. Aamer, Parnell, Southee, Kulasekra, Roach, Mendis, Ojha, Sharma, Finn, Jadeja, Onions, Broad, Jerome Taylor, Morne Morkel, van der Merwe. You can expect a pretty large number out of this lot to become future stars and the frontline bowlers of their respective countries.


And finally there a the bowlers who aren't exactly young and/or new, but have a lot of potential and will be around for a while. Bollinger, Siddle, Mishra, Fidel Edwards, Malinga, Kaneria, Ajmal, Benn. These guys all have the makings to become world-class bowlers, who's to say they won't have a breakout season in the next couple of years? Look at Swann, completely forgotten at one point, and within a year is now the 2nd best bowler in the world.


And finally, there are the bowlers who came, made an impact, had a lot of talk about them, but faded away. Friedel de Wet, Sreesanth, RP, Piyush Chawla, Panesar, Botha, Tsotsobe, Fernando. There is always a chance for players like these to re-emerge and take the world by storm.


I wouldn't be worried yet. When you have guys like McGrath, Warne, Gillespie, Vaas, Kumble, O'Brien, Clark, Ntini, Pollock, Flintoff all retiring/hitting bad form so close together, there is bound to be a draught for a while till new talent emerges.