Shoaib is the epitome of how we like our fast bowlers

Bat and ball / Andrew Hughes / 19 November 2007 / 1 Comments

Cricket junkie Andrew Hughes on the outstanding speed merchants of the modern game

Watching high quality fast bowling is one of the joys of cricket. We might wince as ball thuds into unprotected body or clatters into helmet, we might gasp as a batsman is sprawled in the dust, but nothing quickens the pulse like the sight of a fast bowler at the peak of his powers whistling the ball past the batsmen's head or sending stumps cartwheeling with deliveries that are just a blur of speed. There are many such occasions that spring to mind, such as Alan Donald's spell to Mike Atherton at Trent Bridge in 1998 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JojnoSO4MDc and Curtley Ambrose's demolition of England in Trinidad in 1994 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmMn4bhi-KU.

In recent years there has been a dearth of genuinely quick bowlers, but the future looks a little brighter now with a generation of young quicks in their early twenties breaking through. Tait, Malinga, Fernando, Sreesanth, Steyn and Fidel Edwards can all break the 90mph barrier that is seen as the minimum standard for fast bowlers. But they are also raw and sometimes wild. They have not yet allied pace to control and until they do, they will not secure their Test places.

Those that don't learn control can still have their moments of course. Devon Malcom, for example, was said by one or two Australians who faced him to be one of the fastest they'd encountered. But Devon finished with an average of 37.00 and never won a regular Test spot. Of current players, Steve Harmison and Andre Nel can be lethal on their day, but those days are few and far between.

By some distance, the two best fast bowlers operating in Test cricket are Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar. Three years ago, I would have included Shane Bond in that club, but the horrendous injuries he has endured have taken the edge off his pace so that he is now fast medium rather than fast.

I remain sceptical about claims that Shoaib has already broken the 100mph barrier, largely because the ball in question, in the 2003 World Cup, was nonchalantly turned for four by Nick Knight. But there is no doubt that Shoaib is fast, devastatingly so. He is the complete fast bowler, having total control of bouncer, yorker, slower ball and reverse swing. If he plays, he is almost always hard to deal with.

Shoaib also ticks the other boxes on the fast bowler's curriculum vitae. We prefer our pacemen mad, bad and dangerous to know. Express pace, explosive temper, a rock and roll lifestyle, injuries, run-ins with authority; the Rawalpindi express is the embodiment of the fast bowler, living life close to the edge. We should be enjoying his talent for what it is, while it lasts.

However, he is not, by any stretch of the imagination a role model. In the upcoming Test series with India, his team need him to be, at the very least, a neutral influence on morale. His captain Shoaib Malik, is a man under pressure. Three series defeats out of three means that the knives are out. He leads an inexperienced and ineffective batting line up entirely dependant on Younis Khan and Mohammed Yousuf and his most consistent bowler, Mohammed Asif, has flown home. Mohammed Sami and Umar Gul are admirable toilers and back-up bowlers but Shoaib Akhtar will have to carry the attack. On some of the deadest pitches in the world, starting at Delhi on Thursday, he will have to summon up every ounce of pace he has left in his thirty-two year old body and blast his way through the Indian batting line up. He can do it, there is no doubt. But don't be surprised if the old self-destructive streak reveals itself once more.

I think Pakistan's task, even if Shoaib keeps it together is a tough one. Their best chance would appear to be to somehow get a draw or two, but I'm not sure they've got the batting strength to hang on for five days. The only sensible course of action is to support an Indian victory in the First Test at around the [2.6] mark.

Comments (1)

1. Simon Barlow | 23 November 2007

   Shoaib is like a modern day Jeff Thomson and I like him too - a real character. Of the others you mentioned I like Fidel Edwards - love the attitude he showed last year in a losing side - although they had their way in the Twenty20 matches against England. Edwards has the ability to 'slip himself' and bowl a snorter out of nowhere and he would look even better if he had another decent bowler holding up the other end.