Which country has produced the best fast bowlers in cricket ?

Question

Which of these countries :

Australia

Bangladesh

England

India

New Zealand

Pakistan

South Africa

Sri Lanka

West Indies

Zimbabwe

Please no assertions.... will like to see why you made the choice.

Thank you

Answer 1

West Indies and Pakistan followed by Australia of course.

Answer 2

1980's its West Indies

1990's its Pakistan

2000 onwards its Australia

and now england is trying to get into the list

Answer 3

The obvious answer is the Windies who produced a succession of frightening fast bowlers between 1975 and 1995 - Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Colin Croft, Joel Garner, Wayne Daniel, Sylvester Clarke, Malcolm Marshall, Ian Bishop, Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose.

But I'd plum for Australia who have been able to produce great fast bowlers throughout their history, dating back to Fred "The Demon" Spofforth and Charles "The Terror" Turner of the 1880s, Jack Gregory of the 1920s, Ray Lindwall, Keith Miller and Alan Davidson of the 1940s/50s, Garth McKenzie of the 1960s, Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson of the 1970s, Rodney Hogg and Geoff Lawson of the 1980s, Craig McDermott of the 1990s and Brett Lee of the 2000s.

Answer 4

I would have to go with The WIndies

Answer 5

I had evaluated batting, bowling, fielding and overall performances of every team that played test matches from the match number one to the latest match. The team-wise relative performances are given below:

(Team / Batting Strength / Bowling Strength / Fielding Strength / Overall strength)

Australia - 1000/970/1000/1000

West Indies - 987/1000/960/974

England - 978/914/960/971

South Africa - 973/913/979/966

Pakistan - 974/896/886/965

Sri Lanka - 974/786/897/958

India - 948/901/912/943

New Zealand - 915/793/876/895

Zimbabwe - 899/726/828/857

Bangladesh - 779/499/552/708

From the above, one can see that West indies had the best bowling, all-time.

I have also seen the bowling performances of great Australian bowlers. It is my observation that out of the 1,479 bowlers who have taken atleast 1 wicket, Australia has 83 great bowlers out of 242 total bowlers. That is - about 34.3 percent of all Aussie bowlers got above 50 percent performance rating. In the case of West Indies, it is 32.5 percent (54 out of 166).

Since the question asks about 'the best' I would say that the West Indies produced the greatest fast bowlers like Sylvester Clarke, Colin Croft, Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Curtly Ambrose, Ian Bishop, etc.  

Answer 6

Beyond doubt its Pakistan. Wasim and Waqar are the two bowlers who can dismiss any opposition at any pitch not only because of their experience but also due to their skill. Once there was a question being asked in Pakistan that whether Pakistan's bogus domestic cricket system will produce such fast bowlers who can live up to that reputation. The question is now answered and the reply most definitely is yes.

Shoaib Akhtar, the young sensational genuine fast bowler whose pace has disturbed each and every batsman in the whole world. His yorkers are lethal and his in-swingers are very dangerous. I still can't forget the dismissal of Stephen Fleming in the World Cup 99 semi final when he clean bowled him on a super fast, dead accurate yorker, which took his leg stick out of ground. Shoaib has a very short career but this career will definitely be a very sensational one. World Cup 99 was the peak of his career, no doubt.

Abdul Razzaq, the nippy fast medium bowler who comes from no where and takes lots and lots of wickets because of his accuracy. He made his place in the Pakistani team in World Cup 99 and since then he has been a very important member of Pakistani team. He won the man of tournament award in the Carltron & United series in Australia. He is the highest wicket taker in this calendar year.

Azhar Mehmood, another all-rounder who has been an important member of Pakistani team is although not very quick yet he is very effective. He has the ability to bowl some very quick balls which makes him a very dangerous bowler. His performance against South Africa in particular has been very good.

Mohammad Akram, who usually plays as number two to any of the above mentioned players has a reputation of being a lot faster than he looks. Imran Khan, in an article mentioned that he has more than enough talent to be a member of any international cricket squad but its his bad luck ( or good luck) that Pakistan has so many fast bowlers in the team that its very difficult for him to make a position for himself in the team.

Mohammad Zahid whose quick deliveries worried Lara in the 1996 United & Carltron series has recovered from injury but it is yet to perform again at international level. He is a very accurate bowler and comes from a very remote area in Pakistan. His village is quite near to Waqar's village

Shabbir Ahmad is also a very young and talented prospect for Pakistani team who will make his way in the team after the retirment of some senior players. He was forced to change his action by ICC and he is not performing quite up to that mark after the change of action.

One good quality which all these fast bowlers have that they can get the ball to reverse swing when it is old which makes them more lethal than any other fast bowler in the world. Some one said to me that aggressive fast bowler's main delivery is in-swinger and most of them are in-swingers.

Answer 7

sri lanka

Answer 8

past- Westindies

now- Australia

Answer 9

I agree with SS.

However, the quality of the best Pakistan fast bowlers was always superior to the best West Indies and Australian bowlers.  

Answer 10

aussies

Answer 11

I would say Pakistan, West Indies, and Australia.

The West Indies produced a lot of great fast bowlers back when they were the best.  A lineup that put fear into opposition batsmen, and dominated them for years.

Pakistan had two of the best ever with Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. They also had Imran Khan who was great. As well as Saqlain Mushtaq who is a great spinner, and the controversial Shoaib Akhtar.

And finally Australia.  They have had quite a few of the games greatest bowlers.  McGrath who was one of the best bowlers in recent time, and Warne, one of the best spinners of all time.  Also, they always have a great bowling line up in any match, whereas other sides always have a few weak links.  

Answer 12

WINDIES  conveyor belt went on for years producing giant fast bowlers

next Australia

then Pakistan had a period in recent times where they had a conveyor  belt going seems to have ground to a halt  these days  

Answer 13

West Indies and Australia.

Answer 14

I think that West Indies produced the best fast bowlers.

Pakistan is the second

And Australia comes next

And England

New Zealand

Answer 15

Recently I would say Australia have produced the best fast bowlers but a few decades I would of said the WIndies, like Micheal Holding.

Answer 16

West Indies

Answer 17

Pakistan or Australia

Answer 18

West Indies

Australia

Pakistan~

Answer 19

Pakistan and Australia .

Answer 20

1. West Indies

2. Pakistan

3. Australia

Answer 21

The 80s belonged to the west indies ( Marshal, Walsh, Ambrose to name a few)

The 90s to the pakistanis ( wasim and waqar rocked the world )

The 00s have belonged to the australians in every department of the game not only fast bowling