Who is England's greatest ever fast bowler?

Question

A sample selection to ponder over:

Fred Trueman?

Brian Statham?

Tom Richardson?

Harold Larwood?

John Snow?

Bob Willis?

Darren Gough?

Andrew Caddick?

Frank Tyson?

Steve Harmison?

Or somebody else?

Please give reasons for your choice, not just the name!

And yes, I am sick of IPL questions!!!!

Answer 1

I the days of uncovered wickets Sydney Barnes and George Lohmann were near unplayable. Fred was brilliant. But I have to go for John Snow.Intimidating, fast, accurate, penetrative. Allan Ward and Ian J Jones could have been up there but for injuries.

Answer 2

I think Ian Bottham greatest ever England's fast bowler

I think you must forgot his name.

Answer 3

Hey mate, i think we all are sick of the IPL questions. Good question :)

Bob Willis or Fred Trueman

Consistent line at a nagging length was what Bob Willis was all about, i will always remember the greatest bowling spell of all time 8/43 against the Aussies to win the test match for us.

Trueman was just ahead of his time in my opinion, his record is second to none against any fast bowler in the history of the game. Fiery Fred was just too good for most batsmen of his era.

I have to mention that Andrew Caddick had potential to be one of the greatest fast bowlers that England ever produced, BUT if only he wasn't so "soft" in big occasions.

Answer 4

Of those, listed, above, - only FIVE of whom, I actually, SAW, play, (I am, only in my FORTIES), - by "REPUTATION" alone, - I will plump for Nottinghamshire-born, former COAL MINER, HAROLD LARWOOD, - in terms of pure "MENACE". His "LINE AND LENGTH" were SECOND TO NONE"

But, there ARE other forms of bowling, - SPIN, for example, - and, - in THAT category, - my vote would HAVE to go, to former Surrey legend, - the late JAMES CHARLES LAKER!

Many spin bowlers, these days, collect a "FIVE-FER", and think they are performing SUPREMELY, but, remember, that, - at Old Trafford, in 1956, - Mr. Laker took 9-37 in ONE innings, - and followed THAT, in the SAME MATCH, by claiming 10-53, - giving a "MATCH ANALYSIS" of 19-90!

Now, - not wishing to be PEDANTIC, or RUDE, - THAT's a BOWLER!

Answer 5

I'm sick of the IPL questions too. I say Trueman. Please remove Steve Harmison from the list!

Answer 6

Darren Gough.

Answer 7

I haven't seen a lot of them only Steve Harmisson but he is not great.  I've read about Harold Larwood and from what I learnt about him he is one of the greatest considering coming from a low income family and the way he emerged from county cricket to international cricket, it's just a shame he didn't apologise about his involvement in the bodyline otherwise he would have continued on until he wish to retire from international cricket to his own accord but it's also understandable if it's his principle.  He still highly recognise bowler of all time but, and was given a lifetime cricket membership here in Australia coz he migrated here few years after his retirement.

Answer 8

Fred Trueman and here's why,

"I need nine wickets from this match, and you buggers had better start drawing straws to see who I don't get"

"There's only one head bigger than Tony Grieg's and that's Birkenhead"

Answer 9

hahahahaha, Steve Harmison??!!

thanks for the laugh!

seriously, i think it might be Darren Gough

Answer 10

From your list I would say Firey Fred , but in my time I would go for Ian Botham, could always make something happen and had the right attitude towards batsmen...

Answer 11

Dear Oracle,

Harold Larwood is one of my personal favourites.

You may not recognise him as one of the greats from his record, but, he had to fight tremendous odds in the contemporary class-conscious British society.

Finally, and unfortunately, I think his country failed to give him his due recognition.

Rehman of Multan

Answer 12

Fred Trueman - the man used pace with brains. Not many cricketers use the combination today.

Answer 13

Fiery Fred springs to mind but Crazy horse Willis on his day.

Answer 14

I have measred the performances on a comparative scale of 0-100. The top 10 bowlers in test match cricket are:

(1) Sydney F Barnes (100) - 27 matches, 189 wickets.

(2) Frederick S Trueman (87.5) - 67 matches, 307 wkts.

(3) Alexander V Bedser (84.5) - 51 matches, 236 wkts.

(4) Robert Peel (80.3) - 20 matches, 101 wkts.

(5) John A Snow (78.2) - 49 matches, 202 wkts.

(6) David A Allen (74.8) - 39 matches, 122 wkts.

(7) Angus R C Fraser (71.6) - 46 matches, 177 wkts.

(8) Dominic G Cork (71.4) - 37 matches, 131 wkts.

(9) James C Laker (70.5) - 46 matches, 193 wkts.

(10) JB Statham (70) - 70 matches, 252 wkts.

The top 10 bowlers in ODI are:

(1) Darren Gough (82.7) - 159 matches, 235 wkts.

(2) SJ Harmison (82.1) - 46 matches, 67 wkts.

(3) James M Anderson (81.9) - 86 matches, 121 wkts.

(4) John E Emburey (74.7) - 61 matches, 76 wkts.

(5) RGD Willis (73.8) - 64 matches, 80 wkts.

(6) Neil A Foster (73.5) - 48 matches, 59 wkts.

(7) Alan D Mullaly (72.9) - 50 matches, 63 wkts.

(8) Ian T Botham (72.2) - 116 matches, 145 wkts.

(9) Clairmonte C Lewis (71.5) - 53 matches, 66 wkts.

(10) Gladstone C Small (69.8) - 53 matches, 58 wkts.

Jim Laker, the spinner, had one great test match, no doubt. But what about performance in the other matches (174 wkts in 45 matches @ 3.87 wkts per match, is it great ? Bedser was a lot more effective and consistent)

Hope you got your answer.

Answer 15

fred trueman

Bob Willis modern times

,

Answer 16

Fred Trueman / John Snow

Answer 17

The astonishing thing is that statistically it's not even close.FT has almost twice as many wickets as anyone else,relative to overs bowled.The second place has the same as Fred in wickets but twice the overs bowled.Source Cricinfo.com.