The pace bowler with most beautiful action !

who is the most beautiful of them all ??

I categorize pace bowlers' actions into 3 categories:

1) Efficient but Unspectacular Types: Walsh, Roberts, Botham, Ambrose, Garner, Gillespie.......churning the windmill.......nothing too distinctive, but efficient--biomechanically and interms of results.

2) Awkward action types: Malinga, Rumesh Ratnayke, Waqar, Thomson, Patterson.....shoulder powered, gawky, biomechanically not perfect, generally raw pace, lacking longevity....but effective whilst they last.

3) Beauty and Grace the floats like a butterfly stings like the bee of cricket.....style, grace, beauty, rythm, flair, potent and long-living......Imran, Hadlee, Kapil, Akram, Donald, Gough, Anderson.....

I must be missing a few ( quite a few names) on those lists.....but in the beautiful action category......none comes close to Imran Khan.

a_D

Allan Donald for me, but hey I'm slightly biased.

Good thread, anu_d.

Anderson would have been one of my suggestions, I love how you've called it the float like a butterfly sting like a bee action, too, very fitting and a great description!

I'd add McGrath to the first category, Tait/M Johnson to the second and possibly Steyn to the third.

your missing out dennis lillee. once his action was re-modelled after his injury, it was very good to watch.

Fists of Fury wrote:Good thread, anu_d.
I love how you've called it the float like a butterfly sting like a bee action, too, very fitting and a great description!

they used that for Mohhamed Ali

For beauty and grace, it was Michael Holding.

Leff wrote:For beauty and grace, it was Michael Holding.

yes...the rolls Royce...how did i forget him

Holding and Lillee, once his action was remodelled to prevent injury.

Michael Holding for beauty and grace, that is a bad miss anu

Shaun Pollock would probably be in the first category too I guess...

anu_d wrote:

Fists of Fury wrote:Good thread, anu_d.
I love how you've called it the float like a butterfly sting like a bee action, too, very fitting and a great description!

they used that for Mohhamed Ali

I know mate, that's why I liked it, I'm boxing mad

could've left out the word "boxing" in your previous post Fists

Larwood, Lindwall, Trueman all had model actions (although Larwood and Lindwall's arms may have been a little low)

Out of modern ones, I enjoy Steven Finn's. He looks a bit awkward running up and his action looks a tiny bit forced, but it is incredibly repeatable and any bowler who gets it down at 90mph and over without looking like they are making too much effort is great to watch!

JDizzle wrote:Out of modern ones, I enjoy Steven Finn's. He looks a bit awkward running up and his action looks a tiny bit forced, but it is incredibly repeatable and any bowler who gets it down at 90mph and over without looking like they are making too much effort is great to watch!

steve finn reminds me of Shane Bond...clean, smooth and fast...really fast.
there is no way Bresan or even Broad as a bowler should play ahead of Finn......except on green seaming tops that add undue bite to the two Bs making them appear more potent than they would be on average pitches....and nullifying the difference between them and Finn.

actually Tremlett( if fit), Finn and Anderson should be the first choice seamers especially when they play in subcontinet......weakens the batting a bit.....but bowlers must be picked primarily for their bowling abilities.

In my times the best actions I have seen:

Lef arm seamer....Akram....beauty, grace in motion yet deadley......followed by a graceful but not so successful Alan Mullaly.


Spinner....Warne the most smooth legspinner and Bedi the SLA.

the ugliest spinner has been undoubtedly Paul Adam of SA.

a young Imran...with his open chested delivery stride and the leap...looked like a beautiful stallion in full gallop.

Donald .....the cleanest and perfect actioned fastbowler.....and Anderson the smoothest in contemporary cricket.

[quote="Fists of Fury"]

anu_d wrote: I know mate, that's why I liked it, I'm boxing mad

ohh...that explains your nick-name

Shane Bond-beauty and grace

I would lob McGrath and Akram into the first category.

Alan Donald for me. He had that lovely and smooth action with a great leap. There was no jerking or akward movements.

Lance Cairns and Chris Harris for category 2 - bowling off the wrong foot always looks awkward (especially when it's me doing it).

Sobers was quite graceful.

Keith Miller, I read, generated considerable pace with short run-up.

Kiwireddevil wrote:Lance Cairns and Chris Harris for category 2 - bowling off the wrong foot always looks awkward (especially when it's me doing it).

wrong foot reminds me of a Pakistani left arm seamer who bowled off the wrong foot...sohail tanveer ?

JDizzle wrote:Out of modern ones, I enjoy Steven Finn's. He looks a bit awkward running up and his action looks a tiny bit forced, but it is incredibly repeatable and any bowler who gets it down at 90mph and over without looking like they are making too much effort is great to watch!

agree my mind immediatley thought Finn when i read this

Im gonna do 3 for each section

1. Ian Botham, Dale Steyn, Zaheer Khan

2.Murali,Paul Adams(hate seeing it),Malinnga

3.Holding,Lillee,Anderson

Where would you guys place Morne Morkel, he doesn't look ungainly to me.

So is it efficient or graceful?

biltongbek wrote:Where would you guys place Morne Morkel, he doesn't look ungainly to me.

So is it efficient or graceful?

he is in category 1 to me

munaf patel

I think Walsh belongs in the third category.

Best action I ever saw had to be Franklyn Stephenson, ugliest was David Pryke.

Welcome to the board, galted. How'd you hear about us?

Thanks FoF, followed 606 for years & 606 v2 since its demise - always been on the verge of registering.

Good stuff, glad you decided to join in, new posters are always welcome.

Looking at fast bolwers, Shoaib and Waqar had some nice action going for them. As a fast bowler Waqar rates as one of the best.

Fists of Fury wrote:Good stuff, glad you decided to join in, new posters are always welcome.

Where was my welcome note?

You have 43 posts...

Fists of Fury wrote:You have 43 posts...

But I never recieved any.

Welcome

Fists of Fury wrote:Welcome

Fists of Fury wrote:Welcome

Without a shadow of a doubt, Holding had the most elegant action of any quick bowler. He was so smooth that he never looked anywhere near as quick as he really was, simply because it seemed so effortless.

Imran Khan's action has always seemed majestic to me, but I'm not sure if that's because the action itself is strong, or simply because it's Imran.

Brett Lee for me. Wonderful action.

what abou zaheer khan, srinath, munaf patel, sreesanth, nehra, ishant sharma?

these need to get a mention

Srinath had a pretty good action

jro786 wrote:what abou zaheer khan, srinath, munaf patel, sreesanth, nehra, ishant sharma?

these need to get a mention

Sreesanth's action is nothing special. Sharma's action always looks a bit awkward to me. Zaheer has a good action, but stockier bowlers never look graceful, no matter how good their action is. Srinath had a nice action, but not up there with the likes of Holding.

Kapil Dev's was pleasant.

Zaheer and Munaf's actions would be in the first category IMO.

Holding has to be the best I've seen.

Holding "whispering death" - sheer beauty. Hard to argue with you on that one Corporal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eavvC0Hjw1U

Smashing link, Mad for Chelsea.

Agree with you, Corporal, Jeremy Beadle and others about Holding in the strongest possible terms.

jro786 wrote:what abou zaheer khan, srinath, munaf patel, sreesanth, nehra, ishant sharma?

these need to get a mention

all category-1 IMO