MCC baddies.

[Phil Carter]

Damage limitation..

Hello Steve,

Admittedly, I was a medium pace bowler in my youth, not a batsman.. and could let one go now and then, but even at my quickest I was nowhere near as quick as those top fellas. At our local club we had a man who apparently faced Bob Willis when he (BW) was 19. He had one goal. To survive one ball. The first ball he didn't see. Goal achieved. He threw caution to the wind and swung wildly and blindly and connected, got a top edge and it went for 6 over the slips...That rather riled Mr. Willis..who let the third one go... the stumps were splattered a-kimbo, one cartwheeled 4 or 5 yards, and he swears to this day that he honestly didn't raise his bat more than 6 inches off the ground....all without a helmet or shoulder/arm padding.

Personally, having seen quite a few quick bowlers over the years, Michael Holding gliding in (Whispering Death was his nickname, I recall) frightened the life out of people and gets my vote as the quickest... Then again, remember Mike Gatting on the receiving end of a ball from Malcolm Marshall... ? (see pic, below arriving back at Heathrow airport)

Gatting was hit full on the nose by West Indies paceman Malcolm Marshall during a one day match in 1984, shattering it. The bowler later finding shards of Gatting's nose embedded in the leather of the ball...
Marshall enquired as to how he was and picked the ball up. He saw Gatt's nose in his cricket ball, decided he could not continue with the ball and threw it to the far side of Sabina Park. Allan Lamb admitted afterwards being scared stiff when he went in and "walked" knowing he wasn't near the ball...




As for the 32/33 series..here's a good link..

http://www.cricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/151781.html

best wishes

Phil

[Monty]

It wasnt Marshall who shattered Gatts nose Phil, it was Patrick Patterson. They had to use sawdust to soak up the blood.

I saw Lee close up. He was warming up and bowling looseners in the lunch interval at Grace Road, I was yards away from him. He was bowling to a coach just infront of the sight screen. One ball pitched and musta hit some debris in the outfield as it flew at the coach who promptly hit the deck. The ball shattered the sight screen. Thing is I saw it leave his hand but one it pitched I didnt see it.

My son hits 70 on a nice hard track. His action is a mirror of Larwoods. Not suprising really as Im his Dad and taught him to bowl like the great man. The key is economy. He glides in. The best glide in. Holding as you say didnt rush. If Lee and Akthar took that approach inside of hell for leather I feel we would have seen a lot more of them pair.

Monty

[Phil Carter]

Hello Monty,

That stunned me so I looked it up to check.. it was Malcolm Marshall.. cric info..

http://www.cricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/150573.html

http://www.cricinfo.com/england/content/image/246677.html?object=13340;page=2

and wiki..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Gatting

and here is Holding gliding in... the 2nd and 5th balls look really, really fast.

best wishes

Phil

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-f5pfBgpNE&feature=related

[Monty]

Apologies Phil, youre right, twas Marshall.

Patterson was the one Waugh bounced resulting in big Pat entering the Aussie changing room after and coldly inform Waugh that he was going to kill their bats the following day. Australia were all out for 114.

Waugh did something rare that day...admitted he fecked up.

Monty

[Adam Went]

Monty:

No, you're right, D/L isn't always a fair method, but then the Wendies have Chris Gayle in their team. You could make 300 in a 20/20, but if he fires, that'd be made a mockery of as well.

I actually don't mind the Wendies. If Australia don't win, I hope they do. As for players being too old.....I think it's fantastic to see Sanath Jayasuriya still out there having a go. He's in his 40's and still plays well at international level. Well done to him.

As for Steve Waugh.....remember him making an Ashes test century in 2001 on one leg? THAT is courage.

Fastest bowler? Hmm....I hear Wes Hall wasn't slow. Although our own Shaun Tait cranked it up to 160.7 km/h a couple of months back.

Cheers,
Adam.

[Phil Carter]

Monty,

No problem :-)

Fast bowlers are reknowned for not actually speaking about how fast they are themselves, leaving it mostly to terrified batsmen to talk after their careers are over.

Tom Richardson, Charlie Griffiths, Colin Blythe, Clarrie Grimmet, F.S.Trueman, Leslie Hylton, Learie Constantine, Mike Procter, Peter Pollock, Patrick Patterson, Shaun Tait, Andy Roberts, Wayne Daniel, David Shillingford, Colin Croft are all there or there abouts I suppose.

Having read a load of biographies and quotes from Wisen and many books and individuals, the overall impression leaves my top ten...

Michael Holding, Shoaib Akthar, Harold Larwood, Frank Tyson, S.F.Barnes, F.R.Spofforth, Wes Hall, Jeff Thomson, Bill Voce, Brett Lee.

All this lot were reckoned to be at least 98mph plus. Touching 160km/h.

Holding, according to Geoff Boycott, was at times impossible to defend against and frightening....that is coming from The Master of defensive protection of his wicket. Sid Barnes was apparently lethal, because he generated massive swing and cut off the pitch from any length, which didn't slow his deliveries at all. According to the late, great attacking Somerset and England opening batsman, Harold Gimblett, Bill Voce was at times faster than Larwood, though once was hit by Larwood in the ribs and got another next ball in the same place, went down on one knee and said "Lol...?.. Not another one in the same place please?" Larwood smiled and relented. Fred Trueman once threatened to pin Gimblett to the sightscreen after having been hooked for 6.....

It's always a great discussion. Personally, when one thinks of the equipment they had pre 1965, with spiked rubber gloves...and only a thin thigh pad..(remember those thin pink boxes from the early 70's?).. I think it amazing people didnt get killed facing the quickkies.

I raise my glass to those batsmen...and the bowlers. Rare breed of men all.

best wishes

Phil

[Stephen Thomas]

The batsman's Holding, the bowler's Willey

[Steven Russell]

Dear Phil,

Great last post and tep ten. Grimmet was a leg spinner, though.

Best wishes,

Steve.

[Phil Carter]

Hello Steve,

I stand corrected...of course he was... slow-medium pace leg spinner.. well spotted.

best wishes

Phil

[Phil Carter]

Hello Stephen,

"And there's Illingworth, waiting legs apart 'round the corner waiting for a little tickle"

best wishes

Phil

[Steven Russell]

Sledging

My favourite sledge of all time has to be:
Glenn Mc.Grath: Why are you so fat?
Eddo Brandes: Because every time I **** your wife, she gives me a biscuit.
Beautiful.

Much as it pains me to say, though, you have to hand it to the Aussies for producing the best batsman of the 20th century (Bradman) and the best slow bowler (Warne).

This thread seems to be leading to the age-old question of the all time Earth XI v Mars. How about this for starters?

J.B. Hobbs
S. Tendulkar
D.G. Bradman
S. Jayasuriya
B.C. Lara
G. St.A. Sobers
A. Gilchrist (w)
K.R. Miller (c)
S.K. Warne
H. Larwood
J.C. Laker

I know it's an ancient question but would love to see others' views. I reckon my team could do pretty well against anyone in any form of the game.

Best wishes,

Steve.

[Stephen Thomas]

Here's a bit of sporting magic.

Even baseball fans may enjoy this.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UHT3UIjwvE

[Steven Russell]

Stephen Thomas

Thanks for that. No doubt about it. Genius.

Best wishes,

Steve.

[Monty]

Steven,

It was Warne, not McGrath.

And that ball pitched in the rough so is invalid as a 'great ball'.

Anyone who we have lost, check these out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwL1VOBG6Vo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rybPvBa3Oc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwjI1gb2b0U

Monty

[Steven Russell]

Steven,

It was Warne, not McGrath.

And that ball pitched in the rough so is invalid as a 'great ball'.

Anyone who we have lost, check these out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwL1VOBG6Vo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rybPvBa3Oc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwjI1gb2b0U

Monty

Good. It makes a better story if it was Warne. Cheers, Monty. Larwood was the best, wasn't he? It makes no sense to me that Ray Lindwall modelled his action on that of Larwood. But that is what is said in the book I mentioned earlier. Apparently, Lasith Malinga thought he had a classical action until he saw himself on TV! How on Earth can he manage to be so accurate?

All the cricket books seem to be agreed that the "classical" action for a fast bowler is best exemplified by Larwood, Hall, Trueman, and Lillee. Not a bad bunch to emulate.

A more old-fashioned action features the "cross-over" style as shown by Bill Bowes and (I think) Abdul Qadir. I wonder if any modern players employ this method.

Best wishes,

Steve.