Bowling has always been an art only few have mastered over the years in Cricket. The windies Lloyd era bowlers are a different genre altogether. They not only bowled to the batsmen, they also terrorized, intimidated, dominated them. In the current era where everything in cricket is favoring the batsmen, good bowlers are a rare species to find. I think I can consciously leave Pakistani bowlers out of this, i will never understand how they manufacture/produce/create good bowlers at will. But Australians should consider themselves lucky to have got 2 such species to play for them. Warne and McGrath OFCOURSE!
Warne is one of the geniuses cricket has ever produced. He reinvented the art of leg spin. The control, the guile and the variety he got into his leg spin is simply amazing. He made people wonder "Can a cricket ball do so many things?". Every ball he bowls is pure entertainment for the viewer, Wicket Keeper and OFCOURSE the batsman! Can someone ever forget the ball bowled to Gibbs in the WC' 99 Semifinals? How many times have we got up early in the morning in India just to watch this bowler weave his magic around the batsmen. It is so mesmerizing that you want this guy to keep bowling over after over. The Drift he produced in the ball kept asking questions at the batsmen. More than everything he had control over the spinning ball when bowling a leg spin! What more can you ask? Test cricket will miss his magic and the "Bowling Shane" shout from Adam Gilchrist.
Patience pays. McGrath couldnt have exemplified this term more. The pinpoint accuracy and the consistency, every cricket bowlers crave for came natural to him. The bounce and seam movement he achieved with cricket ball was amazing. May be Lara or Atherton can tell more on this. This man could make the most technically brilliant batsman doubt his footwork and shot selection. The probing length and the most awkward line in an around off-stump undid most batsmen. Australia will surely miss the services of this Accurate fast bowling machine.
Test cricket will never be the same without these great performers. The next time Australia takes field without these stalwarts, I am sure to miss McGrath and Warne. Watching bowling has never been so interesting when these two bowl in tandem. May be these retirements are the only solace for England in this Ashes Whitewash. I still believe 2005 Ashes is a one time BLIP in cricket history and we read too much into that.
Warne is one of the geniuses cricket has ever produced. He reinvented the art of leg spin. The control, the guile and the variety he got into his leg spin is simply amazing. He made people wonder "Can a cricket ball do so many things?". Every ball he bowls is pure entertainment for the viewer, Wicket Keeper and OFCOURSE the batsman! Can someone ever forget the ball bowled to Gibbs in the WC' 99 Semifinals? How many times have we got up early in the morning in India just to watch this bowler weave his magic around the batsmen. It is so mesmerizing that you want this guy to keep bowling over after over. The Drift he produced in the ball kept asking questions at the batsmen. More than everything he had control over the spinning ball when bowling a leg spin! What more can you ask? Test cricket will miss his magic and the "Bowling Shane" shout from Adam Gilchrist.
Patience pays. McGrath couldnt have exemplified this term more. The pinpoint accuracy and the consistency, every cricket bowlers crave for came natural to him. The bounce and seam movement he achieved with cricket ball was amazing. May be Lara or Atherton can tell more on this. This man could make the most technically brilliant batsman doubt his footwork and shot selection. The probing length and the most awkward line in an around off-stump undid most batsmen. Australia will surely miss the services of this Accurate fast bowling machine.
Test cricket will never be the same without these great performers. The next time Australia takes field without these stalwarts, I am sure to miss McGrath and Warne. Watching bowling has never been so interesting when these two bowl in tandem. May be these retirements are the only solace for England in this Ashes Whitewash. I still believe 2005 Ashes is a one time BLIP in cricket history and we read too much into that.
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