The Day of the Bowler

The new millennium has seen quite a few outstanding bowling performances - a pleasant turnaround from the run-feasts that One-Day cricket has made us accustomed to. I think Test cricket reached an ebb in the summer of 1997 when Sri Lanka scored 952 for the loss of 6 wickets in a Test match against India. Purists would have to agree on this. Batting wickets are too common and any Test ending within 3 days raises questions about the pitch. So let us take some time out and consider some great bowling moments of the first 3 months of 2000.

When Sri Lanka visited Pakistan for a 3-Test series, Muttiah Muralitharan won the battle of the best Test match off-spin bowler in the world against an injured Saqlain Mushtaq. Muralitharan won the series for the tourists almost single-handedly by taking 26 wickets. He should be able to break Lance Gibbs' record of 309 wickets for an off-break bowler within a year or two. If Sri Lanka were to play as much as Australia, Muralitharan would surpass Shane Warne's record for spin bowlers as the Lankans rely on him far more than the Aussies do on Warne.

Warne recently overtook Dennis Lillee as the all-time Australian wicket-taker in Tests. People may not like him, but there's no doubt that he is the greatest leg-spin bowler ever. Is he the greatest spin-bowler ever? Well, I don't want to get into that. I think Jim Laker was great but that was a different era and that makes comparisons even more difficult. How about Muralitharan? It would be interesting to get into that debate.

Earlier in the year Wasim Akram took his 400th wicket in One Day Internationals (ODIs). It seems like just yesterday he became the only person in the 300 club in Tests as well as ODIs. Now, at the end of the Sri Lanka-Pakistan series (of which he didn't take much part in), he stands only 17 wickets short of being the only man in the 400-400 club. Starting the 500-500 club sounds like an appropriate way to bow out of the game. He just needs the strength to withstand the politics that affect the way the game is played in Pakistan.

A thrilling Test was played between Zimbabwe and the West Indies at Trinidad in the middle of March this year. A grand total of 635 runs was produced which is less than some ODI aggregates. Was it a bowler's paradise? Andy Flower scored an unbeaten century in Zimbabwe's first innings. Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose led the West Indies to an amazing victory and bowled out the tourists for 63. Only once before in the history of the game had a team successfully defended a target of less than 100 runs and that gave birth to the Ashes.

The 2nd Test of the series was perhaps even more memorable for the superfit Courtney Walsh who broke Kapil Dev's bowling record of 434 Test wickets. He is one of the game's most respected players and will be badly missed once and if he retires. Amongst his Test batting records are his West Indian 10th wicket partnership of 106 and his world record 35 ducks. Pakistanis probably remember Walsh best for his act of sportsmanship in the 1987-88 World Cup in Lahore when he warned a batsman for backing up too far instead of running him out. For that act, Walsh was awarded a Suzuki automobile. Whether he fit inside it is unknown.

Pakistan recently ended its losing stream to South Africa of 14 ODIs. The stream started back when Pakistan were world champions in 1994. The game that ended it saw Waqar Younis capture his 300th ODI wicket, the second to do it after Wasim Akram. This season we have seen several indications of Waqar possibly returning to his devastating old self. He finally did on March 26 when he ran through a very strong Indian batting lineup by taking 5 wickets. I feel that this was a very significant moment in his career as even his own supporters had written him off. But you can't ignore a bowler who takes each of his 290 Test wickets every 41 deliveries and each of his 300 ODI wickets every 30 deliveries. Those numbers themselves place him amongst the all-time greats. Throughout the season he appeared to be determined to revive his career. He has returned to the team as a much more mature and wiser bowler.

A final word on Shoaib Akhtar. He has already won many matches for Pakistan like Waqar and Wasim and will continue to do so. But I don't see him lasting the demands of the modern-day game for more than 3 to 4 years before a burnout. The only record I can imagine him breaking is the speed barrier. I hope I am terribly wrong.