Quality fast bowlers - a rare specimen

Its always a delight to watch fast bowlers in action. Let it be the glourious 5 from West Indies during their golden era, or the days of Mcgrath and Lee. As one can see, whoever has dominated the world have at least had a fast bowler or two in their ranks. But then, cricket teams nowadays lack match winning fast bowlers who can deliver consistently.

With Dale Steyn being an exception, fast bowlers who can excel in any condition is rare to find. One can argue that some bowlers like Anderson and Zaheer Khan are also world class. Yes they are indeed, but Anderson is effective only in pitches assisting swing and Zaheer Khan gets injured too often. Now this is where the problem lies.

Most of the fast bowlers today can perform only in certain conditions which suit them. This is one of the factors why England and India, even though were ranked no 1, could not dominate except at home conditions. England, after their whitewash against india in tests, were handed back a whitewash in ODI’s in India due to poor bowling. Also, Indian bowlers could’nt produce necessary breakthroughs when required while touring Australia.

Also, fitness is an important aspect for fast bowlers. Along with the above mentioned example, another one is the case of Shoaib Akthar. The Rawalpindi express, who used to terrorise the batsmen with sheer pace, couldn’t become the legend he was destined to, due to lack of fitness and inability to sustain longer. Now, if a fast bowler cannot last for 5 days, obviously the team would look at him as a liability rather than an asset. This is where many of the young fast bowlers nowadays lack. With the pressure of such tight seasons, a fast bowler must know to maintain his body well.

This is where the legendary teams of West Indies during 80′s and Aussies duing late 90′s were strong. They had the ability to take wickets at any provided surface and also remain fit. One has rarely heard Malcom Marshall or McGrath being ruled out for a year due to some kind of injury.

These are the factors wherein the team management comes to play. Just considering the case of Dale Steyn, he rarely plays for any unnecessary ODI’s or T20′s. Cricket South Africa has done well by utilising him efficiently. Especially, in today’s T20 world, the fast bowlers sacrifice their fitness in search of glory. Also, the bowlers, from their young age itself, must be made aware of different conditions and how to handle such conditions.

Seeing from Indian prospective, with Zaheer Khan ageing, they need to find an apt replacement. With the likes of Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron impressing everyone with their bowling skills, it is expected that the team management does well to devolop such talents.

With the retirement of Brett lee, the world of cricket has lost one of its gems in fast bowling. With so many young bowlers representing for their country, all the fans see a shade of an Akram or Walsh in them, expecting that they bring back the glorious years of fast bowling, years wherein the batsmen used to fear fast bowling, years when there were genuine fast bowlers,years of fast bowling dominance.