L Jafri: Venturing A Verdict On The Most Dangerous Attack (23 Feb 1997)

23 February 1997

Venturing a verdict on the most dangerous attack

By Lateef Jafri

WHICH is the best and most varied bowling side today for consistent effor t and constant success in Test matches and limitedovers internationals, as k cricket enthusiasts?

Is it the world champions, Sri Lanka, with its own strategy on the field and fighting capacities, even in difficult circumstances? Who would have thou ght that India, on their own happy hunting ground of Eden Gardens, would cras h to the pace and sharp spin of the Lankan bowlers in the semifinals of the World Cup? Once Sachin Tendulkar and Sanjay Manjrekar had left the Sri Lankan bowlers` length and curve defied drives. They were 120 for 8 when crowd trouble, at a place where the fans always enjoyed the thrills of th e game, stopped the fixture for good and the match referee, Clive Lloyd of the West Indies, had but to intervene and give his ruling in favour of Lanka. Jayasuriya, the bowler, was unplayable; his slow stuff, sent with amazing steadiness, harried the Indian batsmen.

In the final, the Lankans beat the redoubtable Australians by seven wicke ts to lift the coveted cup for global one-dayers. However, cricket observers and critics can, under no circumstance, agree that the island attack is t he most balanced, if not the most destructive. Is Chaminda Vaas, their medium-pacer, in the class of Allan Donald, the South African, or Curtly Ambrose, the West Indian. Certainly no spinner of the island can be bracketed with Warne and Tim May for his spinning art.

The Australian bowling, minus Craig McDermott`s velocity and double-swing , has lost its force and sting, whatever may be the physical strength of McGrath, Angel and Reiffel. The Australians, no doubt, have a consistent artist and a classical spinner in Shane Warne, who is a pleasure to watch. His guile would worry the most organised batsmen but where are the fearso me match-winning pacers? The late Leonard Hutton, knighted for batsmanship a nd captaincy, once described the Australian attack of the 1950-51 series as the most varied and difficult one of the post-War era. Lindwall and Miller formed a ferocious new-ball pair. Then came Bill Johnston with his cutter s. Ian Johnson and Jack Iverson provided the variety but the whole bowling s et taxed the skill and technique of the batsmen, English, South African and the West Indian, considering that the three Ws Worrell, Weekes and Walcot t were then at the apogee of their form. Perhaps during the Bradman captain cy from 1946 to 1948 the Australian bowling had the same all-round excellenc e as stated by Hutton except that Dooland, McCool, Ring and Johnson were backing the fast attack since Iverson had an entry in the Test team much later.

The Australian combination of Gregory, McDonald and Mailey had the force and fire of true seamers and the dexterity of a spinner. But after a few year s McDonald left Australia to demonstrate his demolition act at Lancashire. Mailey, as experts are agreed, was too expensive. The Grimmett-Mailey pairing did not last long for the latter left the Test scene in 1926 for the inimitable Clarrie Grimmett to alone exhibit his clever spin and deceitfu l googly. But where was the brute force with the springing strides of Lindwall, Miller and Johnston?

England had a strong attack in the fifties with Bedser, Statham and Truem an quite dangerous for the Australians as also the Carribbeans. Then Laker a nd Lock dazzled the onlookers with their variations of flight and spin. The bowling had balance and variety. Yet what is the English bowling of today ? Certainly it cannot be compared with the bowlers of yore. Even most of th e West Indian trundlers, leaving aside Curtly Ambrose, are getting old. A n ew energetic lot will have to take over from them. Gilchrist, Hall, Holder, Holding, Clarke, Marshall, Croft and Garner, with venomous and nasty spee d left competitive cricket, as everybody has to do, long ago and the Caribbeans have no more breath-snatching speed merchants.

One can risk a claim that Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram of Pakistan form t he most dangerous and effective fast bowling duo in the present-day cricket-playing countries. The pair will shake the batsmen with sheer spe ed or slight change of pace. The long run and galloping stride of Waqar woul d make the rival batsmen fearful of the bowler. Then the alarming pace woul d strain the nerves of many a technically-sound batsman. Wasim has few peer s as a new-ball bowler. With the perfect shape of a pacer Wasim would send his swinging, bouncing deliveries to puzzle the batsmen and get an early breakthrough. If Aqib Javed may not have been sidelined from the mainstre am outfit for reasons better known to the officialdom of the cricket board, perhaps Pakistan may be called to be having the most menacing fast attack. Yet the two Ws are in a class into their own. As Mushtaq Ahmad and Saqlai n Mushtaq come to show their pretty and clever bowling the variety is enthralling to behold. It is the most balanced attack both for the sweat and labour of one-day as well as for five-day tussles of Test matches.

The Pakistani bowling is good enough to wreak havoc on any field, at home or away. If the team is let down it is only by a brittle middleorder or if one of the regular opening batsmen is ill or is driven out of the squad for reasons other than cricket.

Source :: The Dawn (https://www.xiber.com/dawn)