They dont make bowling pairs like em any more.

When we think of test cricket, there are some contests between bat and ball which make it a rivetting one to watch  and indeed follow. For some people a  batsman playing a classical innings is a sight worth seeing and paying your money for, while for some it might be the guile and mystery of a crafty spinner who entices the batsman in to his web and finally gets the better of him. Personally speaking for me the ultimate sight is watching a genuine fast bowler steaming down the pitch and hurling hand grenades at  a batsman  and finally uprooting his stumps off the pitch. Over the years in the history of test cricket, there have been some deadly combinations of pace bowlers who have worked in tandem for their team and destroyed batting orders. One of the most important  advantages that the teams which have a quality pace bowling combinations is the sustained and relentless pressure which can be maintained on the batsmen and the healthy rivalry among the pacers which makes it a nightmare of a job for the batsmen to face them in tandem.  Let us have a look at 5  of these pace bowling combinations since the 1970’s.

Malcolm Marshall – Michael Holding  - The West Indian side of the mid 70’s and 80’s was   genuinely  one of the greatest sides to have ever played test cricket. Apart from world class batsmen, what made this side all the more lethal was the battery of 5-6 fast bowlers with great pace and skill   with the cricket ball. Michael Holding and Malcolm Marshall were one such dangerous new ball pair who on their day could make a mockery of even the best batsmen of that era.  Both these bowlers had contrasting actions and a distinctly unique   bowling style. While Michael Holding   had a   very smooth run up to the crease and such a rhythmical action that he was nicknamed “Whispering Death” because of his easy going approach to the bowling crease.  Malcolm Marshall was on the other hand a skiddy bowler who had late swing which could   bamboozle the batsmen. The true greatness of these bowlers was the ability to just take the pitch out of the equation and beat the batsman in the air with sheer pace and   swing.  Michael Holding had the ability to bowl very very fast and was even clocked faster than Jeoff Thomson of Australia, universally regarded as the fastest bowler of that era.  Such was the skill level and the mastery of Holding that he took 14 /149  at Oval in England in 1976  which is regarded as a flat wicket with some helpful bounce for the quickies. Even Malcolm Marshall who bowled quicker than the batsmen anticipated   in spite of a fractured hand went on to take 5 wickets against Australia.

Dennis Lilee – Jeoff Thomson  - if the West Indies had the likes of Marshall, Holding, Roberts and Garner then the Aussies had their own combination of pace bowlers  who could bowl at lightning speed   coupled with swing which made it a doubly difficult job for the opposition batsmen. Dennis Lillee is arguably described as the most complete fast bowler to have taken a cricket field. If swing and accuracy was Lilee’s speciality then” Thommo” as he was fondly called could terrorize the living daylights of the batsman. Thomson bowled at cuch a lightning speed that once during an Ashes test he bowled a bouncer to an English batsman , the ball was dug in so short that it bounced just once and landed out of the boundary at the back end of the wicket keeper.  The batsman was so shocked that tears welled up in his eyes. If Lilee exploited any weakness of the batsman with his swing bowling, Thommo bowled bouncers and even beamers and loved to see blood on the cricket field. There was a saying among the Aussie team circles that if Lillee could not get you Thommo would.  These 2 fast bowlers bowled australia to innumerable victories in the mid 70’s and early 80’s.

Wasim Akram - Waqar Younis -  Pakistan has had a rich history of producing genuine fast bowlers  who could bowl reverse swing at such a great pace that they could actually frighten a batsman with their toe crushers and late swing. Under the patronage of the great Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis flowered and benefited   from his experience. Wasim Akram made his debut in 1985 against New Zealand and Waqar Younis played his first test in 1989 against arch rivals India at Faislabad.  Right throughout the early and mid 90’s these 2 W’s terrorized the batsmen with their ability to swing the new and the old ball at such ferocious speed which made it virtually impossible for batsmen to even survive let alone score off them. These 2 bowlers bowled in tandem for a long time and there was an alleged cold war between these 2 greats which resulted in a rivalry between them as to who would pick up more wickets and the Pakistani team benefited from their seeming competition as both of them tried to out bowl each other and the poor batsmen had to face the wrath of these bowlers. Most fast bowlers enjoyed the   new cricket ball but these 2 W’s loved the old ball and could literally make it talk and if the batsman was a tailender he had no chance to survive as they made mince meat of the tailenders.

Courtney Walsh - Curtly Ambrose. – After the great fast bowlers of the 70’s and 80’s, the West Indian team was indeed very lucky to   have Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose at the helm of their bowling attack right throughout the 90’s. While Courtney Walsh had a peculiar action which seemed as if he was predominantly an inswinger but the ball occasionally went away completely fooling the right hander. Curtly Ambrose on the other hand  had a teriffic height and bowled as mean as a miser. He rarely bowled a loose delivery  and had nagging accuracy. Both these bowlers because of their height, had the ability to extract extra bounce off the wicket. While Walsh was a work horse who  toiled away relentlessly, Ambrose literally choked the batsman into making a mistake. If only both of these great bowlers had some decent back up   bowling options they could have won a lot of matches for the West Indies. These 2 great bowlers played in an era where the west indian team was a distant shadow of the all conquering team of the 70’s and 80’s.

Allan Donald – Shaun Pollock -  if ever there was a great  bowling combination which was as different as chalk and cheese, it had to be this deadly duo from South Africa who bowled their side to a lot of test victories through the  mid 90’s and  early years of the next millenium. Allan Donald was fondly   known as ‘White Lightening’ as he had the ability to bowl genuinely fast and swung the ball at that deadly speed which  made it a nightmare for the opposing batsmen. If Donald   softened the batsmen with his extraordinary pace, Shaun Pollock killed the batsmen with his   conventional  swing and nagging accuracy.   Pollock was never in the quick bracket in terms of pace but he more than made up for it with  his near perfect outswing and terrific accurate bowling. These 2 complemented each other in a brilliant manner   and helped the Proteas win some important matches after they had just returned   in the cricketing circles in 1991.

 Here is a look at the statistics of these combinations when they were at their peak

194 wkts at an avg of 20.02 with a S/R of 38.0 for Waqar (1990-95)
195 wkts at an avg of 19.87 with a S/R of 46.4 for Wasim (1990-95)
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195 wkts at an avg of 19.95 with a S/R of 42.2 as a pair (1990-95)

238 wkts at an avg of 18.90 with a S/R of 43.1 for Marshall (1981-86)
151 wkts at an avg of 21.61 with a S/R of 45.9 for Holding (1981-86)
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195 wkts at an avg of 20.26 with a S/R of 44.5 as a pair (1981-86)

203 wkts at an avg of 22.17 with a S/R of 45.9 for Lillee (1976-81)
~98 wkts at an avg of 26.05 with a S/R of 49.0 for Thommson (1976-81)
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151 wkts at an avg of 24.11 with a S/R of 47.45 as a pair (1976-81)

221 wkts at an avg of 19.90 with a S/R of 43.6 for Donald (1996-2001)
249 wkts at an avg of 19.95 with a S/R of 52.9 for Pollock (1996-2001)
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235 wkts at an avg of 19.93 with a S/R of 48.3 as a pair (1996-2001)

176 wkts at an avg of 21.40 with a S/R of 53.3 for Ambrose (1994-99)
223 wkts at an avg of 25.44 with a S/R of 57.7 for Walsh (1994-99)

200 wkts at an avg of 23.42 with a S/R of 55.5 as a pair (1994-99)