Anand Vasu

A few good fast men

Anand Vasu looks at some of the bowlers who could make a difference at the World Cup

Anand Vasu
Anand Vasu
11-Mar-2007


Make room: Stuart Clark is the obvious choice to fill Glenn McGrath's boots © Getty Images
This may be the first World Cup staged in the spiritual home of fast bowling, where every player taking the field will be constantly reminded of the feats of some of the biggest names - and foot sizes - in quick bowling, but beyond that, this is unlikely to be a tournament for fast bowlers.
In the conditions that are likely to dominate the latest edition of cricket's greatest spectacle, the most effective bowlers could be the ones that swing it a touch, seam it a fraction, or just wobble the ball. It may not be a happy hunting ground for the world's fastest, but there are many that could hit it big.
Australia are the worst hit, with the unavailability of Brett Lee, but they still have Glenn McGrath to bank on. He hasn't been the force for some time now, but big tournaments squeeze the best out of big players. Stuart Clark is the obvious choice to step into McGrath's boots, but just as Australia have played Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill together in Test matches, there's no reason McGrath and Clark can't play together.
Sri Lanka probably have the most reliable quick bowler going, in the shape of Chaminda Vaas, though he has not been quick in many years. He has the ability to bend the ball back into the right-hander regardless, and on pitches that offer a bit he rolls his fingers on the ball enough to make it cut off the pitch. Where Shaun Tait fails, Lasith Malinga delivers. His tireless effort gives him the advantage of being able to put the ball smack-bang in the blockhole in the dying overs of a game, and equally he sneaks the bouncer in. If you must gamble on a fast bowler, this is it.
For once, India have an attack they can be proud of. Zaheer Khan has rediscovered his mojo, and Ajit Agarkar has realized that one-day cricket may be his platform. Fighting for the third place are Munaf Patel, the most accurate and threatening seamer India has produced in recent times, and Sreesanth, the blustery genuine quick who can change the course of a match - one way or another - in one spell.
The attack that might prove most deadly is South Africa. Shaun Pollock has reached that stage in life where he bowls like a young McGrath, focussing on line and length to the exclusion of all else. Andre Nel loves it when the ball grips the surface and Makhaya Ntini will bowl all day, on a green-top or a glass-top table. And then there's Andrew Hall and Jacques Kallis .


Sajid Mahmood could make a huge difference with his ability to extract lift © Getty Images
England have Andrew Flintoff, perhaps the strongest bowler in the world at the moment, but the man that could make a huge difference is Sajid Mahmood. When on song he naturally hits a tricky length, and can get the ball to go away or come in with a barely perceptible change of wrist position.
Shane Bond could be a hero for New Zealand if he managed to stay fit through a long tournament. Pakistan have lost most of their riches, and perhaps Rana Naved-ul-Hasan could prove to be the trump. The mighty West Indies, once the powerhouse of fast bowling, now fall back on the likes of Jerome Taylor and Daren Powell, but their main man is the military-medium Ian Bradshaw.
There are others, like Bangladesh's Mashrafe Mortaza, but you just get the sense that this tournament, on pitches that are sluggish and slightly unreliable, might belong to the gentle medium-pacers rather than the out-and-put quicks.

Anand Vasu is assistant editor of Cricinfo