Top 10 Fast Bowlers in ODI cricket during the 1990s

Be it Test or One Day cricket, over the years fast bowlers have provided the heavy artillery to a team’s bowling arsenal by running through batting lineups and winning matches. It is one of the most ecstatic sights in cricket when a fast bowler gets through the defenses of a batsman with sheer pace or seam movement.

In the 90s, most of the top ODI teams had some world class fast bowlers who were great exponents at swinging the ball. While Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis formed a deadly seam duo for Pakistan, the South Africans had a lethal pace attack led by Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock. Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh spearheaded the Windies attack and Australians had their pace ace in Glenn McGrath. India looked pretty comfortable with their seasoned new ball pair of Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad. Meanwhile the likes of Heath Streak, Danny Morrison, Chaminda Vaas, Damien Fleming and Aaqib Javed were right up there among the best seamers in terms of fast bowling skills.

With a plethora of quality seamers, it would be interesting to compile a list of the top ten fast bowlers in ODI cricket during the 90s.

For my selection, I have taken those seamers who regularly played ODI cricket and spearheaded their team’s pace attack by becoming strike bowlers. I have also considered bowling average, strike rate and economy rate to rank the pacers from 1 to 10. The period taken into consideration is 1990-1999.

There were some major contenders who are worth a mention as they were premier fast bowlers in ODIs during the 90s but didn't make the cut as they either played second fiddle to the front line strike bowlers or didn't get a long enough run to play ODIs for their respective teams.

Honourable Mentions

West Indies – Ian Bishop, Winston Benjamin, Patrick Patterson, Cameron Cuffy, Anderson Cummins, Reon King

South Africa – Fanie De Villiers, Craig Matthews, Brian McMillan, Lance Klusener

Australia – Damien Fleming, Paul Reiffel, Craig McDermott, Mike Whitney

Pakistan – Aaqib Javed, Shahid Nazir, Ata-ur-Rehman, Abdul Razzak, Azhar Mahmood

India – Kapil Dev, Venkatesh Prasad, Manoj Prabhakar, Ajit Agarkar, Debasish Mohanty

New Zealand – Danny Morrison, Chris Cairns, Chris Pringle, Geoff Allot

England – Chris Lewis, Phil DeFreitas, Allan Mulally, Dominic Cork

Sri Lanka - Pramodya Wickramasinghe, Sanjeewa De Silva, Nuwan Zoysa.

Zimbabwe - Heath Streak, Eddo Brandes, Henry Olonga

#10 Darren Gough (England)

Darren Gough was England’s best ODI seamer by a mile in the 90s. The stocky built Gough racked up good pace and could swing the ball both ways. He had the ability to make early breakthroughs for England in ODIs.

Gough battled injuries all through his career so had to wisely cut down on pace and add variety to his seam bowling. He was lethal at the death overs and possessed one of the best yorkers in the game. In an era where England struggled to have a quality seamer, Gough led their pace attack alongside Chris Lewis, Dominic Cork and Allan Mulally.

ODI Record 1990-1999

Matches 65 Wickets 108 Avg 23.88 Eco 4.25 SR 33.6

#9 Javagal Srinath (India)

Javagal Srinath was India’s pace spearhead for most of the 90s. Post Kapil Dev’s retirement in 1994, Srinath took over as India’s frontline seamer. The Karnataka pacer bowled at brisk pace and got the ball to seam into the batsman. Later in his career, Srinath developed into a more skillful pacer by adding variations to his bowling.

Srinath formed a potent pace duo with fellow state mate Venkatesh Prasad and more often than not made early breakthroughs for the 'Men in Blue'. A hard core competitor, Srinath bowled his heart out for India on the docile and flat pitches of the sub-continent.

ODI Record 1990-1999

Matches 176 Wickets 237 Avg 28.21 Eco 4.36 SR 38.8

#8 Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka)

Chaminda Vaas was one of the best left-arm seamers during the 90s. Vaas didn't have express pace but had the uncanny ability to make the ball talk. The Sri Lankan pacer used the seam brilliantly to bowl his out swingers and possessed the ability to get the ball back into the right-handers.

He was pretty spot on with his line and never erred in length. He had a calm head on his shoulders and set up his dismissals with his subtle change of pace.

The left arm seamer led the Sri Lankan pace attack with distinction all through the 90s. He formed some good new ball pairs with Pramodya Wickramasinghe, Sanjeewa De Silva and Nuwan Zoysa.

ODI Record 1990-1999

Vaas 126 Wickets 153 Avg 28.43 Runs 4.27 SR 39.9

#7 Courtney Walsh (West Indies)

Courtney Walsh was a quality West Indian seamer blessed with supreme fitness levels and loads of stamina. The well built pacer relied more on his accuracy and backed it with some brisk pace.

Walsh had the ability to swing the ball both ways and consistently produced economical spells for the Windies. Much like Curtly Ambrose, Walsh could pepper up batsman with his short pitch deliveries. He along with Ambrose were the senior pacers for the 'Maroon Brigade' when a crop of promising pacer like Cameron Cuffy, Nixon Mclean and Reon King came onto the ODI scene.

ODI Record 1990-1999

Matches 119 Wickets 128 Avg 30.54 Eco 3.81 SR 48.1

#6 Shaun Pollock (South Africa)

Shaun Pollock was South Africa’s answer to Glenn McGrath in the 90s. Pollock was one of the finest exponents of line and length bowling. The medium pacer was spot on with his pitch map and bowled his out-swingers from a nagging length to induce the batsman’s edge.

Pollock came very close to the crease at the point of delivery and bowled wicket to wicket. He is best remembered as one of the most economical fast bowler in ODIs.

The immensely accurate Pollock played the perfect foil to the pacy Allan Donald. While Donald was an outright strike bowler, Pollock kept a tight lid on the opposition's run scoring rate.

ODI Record 1990-1999

Matches 83 Wickets 118 Avg 23.38 Eco 3.80 SR 36.8

#5 Curtly Ambrose (West Indies)

In the 90s, West Indies' enigmatic pace legend Curtly Ambrose produced some fiery spells to clean up the best of batting line-ups. The gentle giant had the ability to seam the ball from a nagging length and troubled the best batsman with his steep bounce.

Ambrose partnered brilliantly with Courtney Walsh to become the strike force of the Windies fearsome pace attack. Ambrose’s signature wicket-taking celebrations, which involved raising his hands up in the air, was one of the most cherished moments for cricket fans during that era.

ODI Record 1990-1999

Matches 135 Wickets 160 Avg 25.85 Eco 3.48 SR 44.5

#4 Allan Donald (South Africa)

If pace was a yardstick to measure a seamer's prowess, then Allan Donald was perhaps the quickest during the 90s. Donald was South Africa’s strike weapon with the new ball in white ball cricket. ‘White Lightning’ lived up to his billing as a speed merchant going through the defenses of the best with his menacing pace. When Donald got his lethal swing going with tormenting pace, the Proteas pacer was simply unplayable.

Donald breezed into the wicket with an effortless run up and had one of the smoothest bowling actions. He formed a potent pace attack with Shaun Pollock, Fanie de Villiers and Lance Klusener, which was instrumental in making South Africa a formidable unit in ODIs.

ODI Record 1990-1999

Matches 121 Wickets 206 Avg 21.04 Eco 4.04 SR 31.2

#3 Glenn McGrath (Australia)

Glenn McGrath would go down as arguably the finest seamer Australia ever produced. The tall and lanky pacer wasn’t express pace but relied on his relentless accuracy to scalp his wickets. The 'Pigeon' was an epitome of line and length and probed consistently 'outside the corridor of uncertainty' to set up his victims. He was dead accurate and stingy at giving runs.

Post Craig McDermott's retirement, McGrath led the Australian pace attack with distinction all through the 90s. He formed a good opening duo with Damien Fleming and had a good support cast in Paul Reiffel and Tom Moody.

ODI Record 1990-1999

Matches 101 Wickets 147 Avg 24.79 Eco 4.01 SR 37.0

#2 Waqar Younis (Pakistan)

Waqar Younis was perhaps the deadliest swing bowlers in the 90s. Waqar’s side-on action made him swing the ball like a banana and knock of the stumps of the best in business. Waqar had one of the best strike rates in one day cricket and picked up wickets in a heap to dent the opposition.

Waqar was at his menacing best at the death overs with his reverse swing deliveries and toe crushing yorkers. Waqar formed a deadly new ball pair with Wasim Akram that wreaked havoc against quality batting lineups all through the 90s.

ODI Record 1990-1999

Matches 163 Wickets 275 Avg 23.07 Eco 4.61 SR 29.9

#1 Wasim Akram (Pakistan)

Wasim Akram was perhaps the most talented fast bowler to ever grace the game. Akram was a magician with the ball and had a bagful of tricks in his repertoire. Bursting into the wicket with a short run up and quick arm action, Akram could swing the ball both ways at a brisk pace. He could bowl the slower delivery, yorker and deceptive bouncer at will.

Akram was a fine exponent of the reverse swing and used it effectively to polish off tails. Rightfully labelled as the ‘Sultan of Swing’, Akram formed a lethal pace duo with Waqar Younis to produce some memorable heroics with the ball that led Pakistan to win some unforgettable matches.

ODI Record 1990-1999

Matches 195 Wickets 279 Avg 23.40 Eco 3.83 SR 36.6