mas cambios
Active Member
Are we heading towards an era of fast bowling?
Was reading an article in Wisden magazine which suggests that we are heading back into an age of pace, especially since the retirement of Warne and the fact that Kumble and Murali are both the wrong side of 35. It's also the case that their replacements have yet to shine - indeed, witness the Australian struggles to replace Warne and you can see what may be in store for the future.
If you look at the pace bowlers around at the moment, they far outweigh the numbers of spinners. Just look at this list:
Ishant Sharma
Brett Lee
Dale Steyn
Morne Morkel
Lasith Malinga
Mitchell Johnson
Mohammad Asif
Makhaya Ntini
Fidel Edwards
All of the above are capable are reaching the late around the late 80mph mark, some of hitting the 90's, all are capable of winning matches for their team.
On the otherside of the coin, true match winning spinners are thinner on the ground, with only really Kumble, Murali and possible H Singh being the standouts. True, the likes of Panesar or Harris (SA) may develop but the odds are stacked against them. The one irony may be that in Adil Rashid, England may have one player who will buck the trend but he is still very young (even more so in spinners years) and there will be a lot of twists in his tale to come.
Maybe these things are cyclical (and the leading wicket taker stats by decade do seem to suggest that being the case) but I also think that a few things have aided the fast bowlers cause in recent years.
Firstly, a greater understanding of the most common pace injuries and how to prevent them, means that we should see them on the pitch more often than not. This may not always ring true, but I do think that coaches understand these things better than in previous years and will no longer flog their strike bowlers into the ground, as well as being prepared to manage their workload away from the test team better.
Secondly, the number of dead pitches that are being prepared around the world. What else can you do but employ someone who may be able to hurry a batsman out or use pace to hopefully extract that little bit of extra bounce or movement out of an otherwise dead wicket? There is no guarantee that the pitch will break up, especially as most grounds want to see cricket played for the whole 5 days (in order to maximise profits)
Thirdly, is the greater emphasis on pace by India. Over the years India has often been the spinners paradise but the various programmes and institutes like the Dennis Lillee bowling school have meant that a number of quality pace men have emerged over recent years. Indian youth will always follow their heroes in the test team and try to emulate them, and we'll more than likely see a growing number trying to bowl pace rather than spin.
So where will all this end up? That is a good question but I reckon we could be in for 10 - 15 years of pace bowlers dominating team line ups with only a token spinner being played (much like the 80's,. It'll take a great spinner to turn the tide (a'la Warne in the early 90's) as well as the current crop of kids who have been inspired by Warne and co to come through before we start to see a shift back towards to spin. It may also be the case that places like Bangladesh realise that the best way to win at home is to neutralise the oppositions pace attack and counter with a spin based attack of their own. That is all guess work but the one thing I'm pretty sure about is that pace is back, at least for now.
Was reading an article in Wisden magazine which suggests that we are heading back into an age of pace, especially since the retirement of Warne and the fact that Kumble and Murali are both the wrong side of 35. It's also the case that their replacements have yet to shine - indeed, witness the Australian struggles to replace Warne and you can see what may be in store for the future.
If you look at the pace bowlers around at the moment, they far outweigh the numbers of spinners. Just look at this list:
Ishant Sharma
Brett Lee
Dale Steyn
Morne Morkel
Lasith Malinga
Mitchell Johnson
Mohammad Asif
Makhaya Ntini
Fidel Edwards
All of the above are capable are reaching the late around the late 80mph mark, some of hitting the 90's, all are capable of winning matches for their team.
On the otherside of the coin, true match winning spinners are thinner on the ground, with only really Kumble, Murali and possible H Singh being the standouts. True, the likes of Panesar or Harris (SA) may develop but the odds are stacked against them. The one irony may be that in Adil Rashid, England may have one player who will buck the trend but he is still very young (even more so in spinners years) and there will be a lot of twists in his tale to come.
Maybe these things are cyclical (and the leading wicket taker stats by decade do seem to suggest that being the case) but I also think that a few things have aided the fast bowlers cause in recent years.
Firstly, a greater understanding of the most common pace injuries and how to prevent them, means that we should see them on the pitch more often than not. This may not always ring true, but I do think that coaches understand these things better than in previous years and will no longer flog their strike bowlers into the ground, as well as being prepared to manage their workload away from the test team better.
Secondly, the number of dead pitches that are being prepared around the world. What else can you do but employ someone who may be able to hurry a batsman out or use pace to hopefully extract that little bit of extra bounce or movement out of an otherwise dead wicket? There is no guarantee that the pitch will break up, especially as most grounds want to see cricket played for the whole 5 days (in order to maximise profits)
Thirdly, is the greater emphasis on pace by India. Over the years India has often been the spinners paradise but the various programmes and institutes like the Dennis Lillee bowling school have meant that a number of quality pace men have emerged over recent years. Indian youth will always follow their heroes in the test team and try to emulate them, and we'll more than likely see a growing number trying to bowl pace rather than spin.
So where will all this end up? That is a good question but I reckon we could be in for 10 - 15 years of pace bowlers dominating team line ups with only a token spinner being played (much like the 80's,. It'll take a great spinner to turn the tide (a'la Warne in the early 90's) as well as the current crop of kids who have been inspired by Warne and co to come through before we start to see a shift back towards to spin. It may also be the case that places like Bangladesh realise that the best way to win at home is to neutralise the oppositions pace attack and counter with a spin based attack of their own. That is all guess work but the one thing I'm pretty sure about is that pace is back, at least for now.
:laugh: