Thunder Bolt
Silly old bat
87/5
I was replying in terms of 'my life-time', but even stretching it to all-time, Anderson surely deserves his place, opening the bowling with Sydney Barnes.
He'd be well behind Larwood and Trueman for me, if Fred had played as many matches as Anderson he'd be over 600 wickets by now (and at a much better average) and Larwood was the most terrifying bowler England has ever produced.
Pretty much any of England's front line bowlers would be terrifying if you were batting on uncovered pitches, with no helmet, chest or arm protection, and five fielders lined up behind square to catch anything you fended away!
All-time side of players I've seen? Anderson would, Broad wouldn't. All-time England side? Neither would
That's true enough but no other England bowler, yet, has touched 100 mph. We had uncovered pitches and no chest protection for about 100 years but no other England bowler caused an international incident. Even in the modern era, a genuine fast bowler can cause problems - look at the damage Johnson did to England in the last Ashes series.
If I were picking the all-time team, I'd want a really genuine quickie in it - Trueman and Larwood would be a frightening opening attack (with Barnes and Botham to mop up the rest)
Wasn't that due to the 'bodyline' change of tactic? I'm sure some of today's bowlers could do similar.That's true enough but no other England bowler, yet, has touched 100 mph. We had uncovered pitches and no chest protection for about 100 years but no other England bowler caused an international incident.
Again?499 for James/A.
Firstly, neither you (nor anyone else) have any idea how fast Larwood bowled (other than 'faster than his peers'). Personally given that modern bowlers are better athletes as a rule, and MUCH taller (Steven Finn is almost a FOOT taller than the 5'8" Larwood), its pretty unlikely that he was genuinely quicker than a host of other England bowlers since.
And yes his bowling on the infamous tour caused an incident, but that was really far more down to Jardine's captaincy and tactics than just Larwood's bowling, surely?
499 for James/A.
Firstly, neither you (nor anyone else) have any idea how fast Larwood bowled (other than 'faster than his peers'). Personally given that modern bowlers are better athletes as a rule, and MUCH taller (Steven Finn is almost a FOOT taller than the 5'8" Larwood), its pretty unlikely that he was genuinely quicker than a host of other England bowlers since.
And yes his bowling on the infamous tour caused an incident, but that was really far more down to Jardine's captaincy and tactics than just Larwood's bowling, surely?
No-one has any idea exactly how quick bowlers of previous eras were because the technology didn't exist.