Best Bowling Combination Ever

[Thomas_Merton]

This is one for the oldies and historians.

Who were the best bowling combinations ever?

These are my two choices:

1. Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith (West Indies)

2, Freddie Truman and Brian Statham (England)

[Khutan]

Dennis Lillee and Geoff Thompson ?

If they could have stopped being injured, Lillee with the stress fractures and Thommo with his shoulder then think of the records that would have been set.

Maybe also if Lillee's Super Test wickets were included in his stats...

I think one of the big positives of Dennis Lillee's left the game was the improvement in understanding the dynamics of a fast bowler and also how to avoid injuring a bowler doing his duty.

I also think the current pair of Warne and Mcgrath do a good job, and they also have the stats to back it up.

There you go some controversy - like rolling a hand-grenade into a crowded room.

[Old Croc]

Matt has pinched my answer so I'll throw in:

Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh from the West Indies.

Curtly had figures of 7/1 against Oz and 6/24 against Eng. His 405 test wickets came at 20.99 av. He was the scariest man to play the game and not just because of his bowling!

Courtney has 519 test wickets at 24.44.

[lampard10]

1-5..in no particular order

Hall & Griffith

Thopson & Lillee

Trueman & Statham

Ambrose & Walsh

Me & Ray Razzle for Minster Cricket Club.

[chuchok]

1-5..in no particular order

Hall & Griffith

Thopson & Lillee

Trueman & Statham

Ambrose & Walsh

Me & Ray Razzle for Minster Cricket Club.

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I can't remember Hall and Griffiths,but I don't believe that the others can compare to Lillie and Thompson when they were both fit and on top of thier game.I think it was the '72-73 Ashes Tour to Aussie, that they both destroyed the Poms.(i read abook about it when I was a young fella )

[Thomas_Merton]

1-5..in no particular order

Hall & Griffith

Thopson & Lillee

Trueman & Statham

Ambrose & Walsh

Me & Ray Razzle for Minster Cricket Club.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I can't remember Hall and Griffiths,but I don't believe that the others can compare to Lillie and Thompson when they were both fit and on top of thier game.I think it was the '72-73 Ashes Tour to Aussie, that they both destroyed the Poms.(i read abook about it when I was a young fella )

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What made Hall and Griffith so terrifying was not only their speed and uninhibited bouncers in a time when only sissy batsmen wore a school cap for protection, but the fact that first bowling change brought on Garfield Sobers followed by Lance Gibbs.

Just look at this scorecard from what was possibly the greatest cricket team ever facing a pretty mean Australian side (the West Indies won the The Frank Worrell Trophy in the 5 test series 2-1; I listened to this match on a short wave radio, under the bed covers):

The Frank Worrell Trophy, 1964/65, 1st Test

West Indies v Australia

Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica

3,4,5,6,8 March 1965 (6-day match)

Result: West Indies won by 179 runs

West Indies leads the 5-Test series 1-0

Toss: West Indies

Umpires: O Davies and D Sang Hue

Test Debuts: AW White (WI); LC Mayne, PI Philpott, G Thomas (Aus).

Close of Play:

# Day 1: West Indies 239, Australia 32/0 (Lawry 18*, Simpson 11*)

# Day 2: Australia 211/9 (Hawke 44*, Mayne 4*)

# Day 3: Australia 217, West Indies 199/3 (Hunte 74*, Gibbs 0*)

# Day 4: West Indies 373, Australia 42/2 (Hawke 0*, Cowper 2*)

West Indies 1st innings R 4 6

CC Hunte c Grout b Philpott 41 0

SM Nurse c Grout b Hawke 15 0

RB Kanhai c Philpott b McKenzie 17 0

BF Butcher b Mayne 39 0

*GS Sobers lbw b Simpson 30 0

JS Solomon c Grout b Mayne 0 0 0

+JL Hendriks b Philpott 11 0

AW White not out 57 1

WW Hall b Hawke 9 0

CC Griffith b Mayne 6 0

LR Gibbs b Mayne 6 0

Extras (b 4, lb 3, w 1) 8

Total (all out, 69.2 overs) 239

FoW: 1-48 (Nurse), 2-70 (Hunte), 3-82 (Kanhai), 4-149 (Butcher),

5-149 (Sobers), 6-149 (Solomon), 7-181 (Hendriks),

8-211 (Hall), 9-229 (Griffith), 10-239 (Gibbs).

Bowling O M R W

McKenzie 20 2 70 1

Hawke 14 4 47 2

Mayne 17.2 2 43 4

Philpott 14 2 56 2

Simpson 4 2 15 1

Australia 1st innings R 4 6

WM Lawry lbw b Hall 19 0

*RB Simpson c Kanhai b Hall 11 0

RM Cowper c Nurse b Hall 26 0

NC O'Neill c Butcher b White 40 0

BC Booth b Griffith 2 0 0

G Thomas b Griffith 23 0

PI Philpott c White b Hall 22 0

NJN Hawke not out 45 0

+ATW Grout c Nurse b Hall 5 0

GD McKenzie b White 0 0 0

LC Mayne b Sobers 9 0

Extras (b 2, lb 8, nb 5) 15

Total (all out, 95.4 overs) 217

FoW: 1-32 (Simpson), 2-39 (Lawry), 3-42 (Booth), 4-80 (Cowper),

5-96 (Thomas), 6-136 (O'Neill), 7-176 (Philpott),

8-192 (Grout), 9-193 (McKenzie), 10-217 (Mayne).

Bowling O M R W

Hall 24 0 60 5

Griffith 20 2 59 2

Sobers 20.4 7 30 1

Gibbs 16 8 19 0

White 15 4 34 2

West Indies 2nd innings R M 4 6

CC Hunte c Simpson b Mayne 81 300 0

SM Nurse run out 17 0

RB Kanhai c & b Philpott 16 0

BF Butcher c Booth b Philpott 71 0

LR Gibbs b Mayne 5 0

*GS Sobers c Simpson b Philpott 27 0

JS Solomon c Grout b Mayne 76 1

+JL Hendriks b O'Neill 30 0

AW White st Grout b Philpott 3 0 0

WW Hall b Mayne 16 0

CC Griffith not out 1 0 0

Extras (b 20, lb 7, w 1, nb 2) 30

Total (all out, 152.4 overs) 373

FoW: 1-50 (Nurse), 2-78 (Kanhai), 3-194 (Butcher), 4-211 (Hunte),

5-226 (Gibbs), 6-247 (Sobers), 7-311 (Hendriks),

8-314 (White), 9-372 (Solomon), 10-373 (Hall).

Bowling O M R W

McKenzie 33 7 56 0

Hawke 18 5 25 0

Mayne 23.4 5 56 4

Philpott 47 10 109 4

Simpson 15 2 36 0

Cowper 9 1 27 0

O'Neill 7 0 34 1

Australia 2nd innings (target: 396 runs) R 4 6

WM Lawry b Griffith 17 0

*RB Simpson c Hendriks b Hall 16 0

NJN Hawke b Solomon 33 0

RM Cowper lbw b Hall 2 0 0

NC O'Neill c Nurse b Gibbs 22 0

BC Booth b Griffith 56 0

G Thomas b Hall 15 0

PI Philpott c Kanhai b Sobers 9 0

+ATW Grout lbw b Hall 2 0 0

GD McKenzie c Hall b White 20 0

LC Mayne not out 11 0

Extras (nb 13) 13

Total (all out, 78.5 overs) 216

FoW: 1-39 (Simpson), 2-40 (Lawry), 3-43 (Cowper), 4-75 (O'Neill),

5-144 (Hawke), 6-167 (Booth), 7-180 (Thomas), 8-184 (Grout),

9-192 (Philpott), 10-216 (McKenzie).

Bowling O M R W

Hall 19 5 45 4

Griffith 14 3 36 2

Sobers 17 2 64 1

Gibbs 9 1 21 1

White 14.5 8 14 1

Solomon 5 0 23 1

[lampard10]

[

What made Hall and Griffith so terrifying was not only their speed and uninhibited bouncers in a time when only sissy batsmen wore a school cap for protection

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Or a sling on his arm. I can remember when Colin Cowdrey went out to face them with a broken arm in a sling. And he survived. You tell that to the kids of today.

[chuchok]

[

What made Hall and Griffith so terrifying was not only their speed and uninhibited bouncers in a time when only sissy batsmen wore a school cap for protection

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Or a sling on his arm. I can remember when Colin Cowdrey went out to face them with a broken arm in a sling. And he survived. You tell that to the kids of today.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

bout 10 years ago, I met an old NZ cricket player(I'll remember his name in a couple of hours ) that had faced both Hall and griffith.I can remember his exact words when describing griffith...can't use them on this forum.In a nutshell, he called him the nastiest piece of work that he had ever encountered on a cricket pitch.

anyway here a a couple more combos..

Lindwall & Millar

Holding & Roberts

[Thomas_Merton]

[

What made Hall and Griffith so terrifying was not only their speed and uninhibited bouncers in a time when only sissy batsmen wore a school cap for protection

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Or a sling on his arm. I can remember when Colin Cowdrey went out to face them with a broken arm in a sling. And he survived. You tell that to the kids of today.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In 1962, his 307 against Victoria became the highest score for an MCC player in Australia.

The following year's Lord's Test witnessed one of the most memorable moments in the game's illustrious history when, after having had his arm broken by Wes Hall, Colin Cowdrey came in, arm in plaster, to play out the final moments of the match.

In the field Colin Cowdrey was, by his own admission, no athlete, but he was an exceptional slip catcher, with hands like buckets. And he enjoyed nothing more than the occasional practical joke.

During one match, he confused his fielding colleagues and the umpires by quickly pocketing the ball after catching it, leading to an amusing, if futile, search.

Colin Cowdrey's hundredth century came against Surrey at Maidstone in 1973.

It says much for both his ability and standing in the game that, in the following year, when he was flown out to Australia at the age of 42 to face Lillee and Thompson at their fastest, it was at the unanimous wish of the England team.

[lampard10]

[

What made Hall and Griffith so terrifying was not only their speed and uninhibited bouncers in a time when only sissy batsmen wore a school cap for protection

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Or a sling on his arm. I can remember when Colin Cowdrey went out to face them with a broken arm in a sling. And he survived. You tell that to the kids of today.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

bout 10 years ago, I met an old NZ cricket player(I'll remember his name in a couple of hours ) that had faced both Hall and griffith.I can remember his exact words when describing griffith...can't use them on this forum.In a nutshell, he called him the nastiest piece of work that he had ever encountered on a cricket pitch.

anyway here a a couple more combos..

Lindwall & Millar

Holding & Roberts

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Has everyone ( including me) forgotten Laker & Locke.

I was at a party once with the West Indian team, and Andy Roberts was the only one not to give me his autograph on a pound note. I told him Lillee was faster than him anyway and he chased me all round the barn. Mind you we were both p1ssed. His bowling partner 'The Whispering Death' was awesome (cheers Yorkie), but such a nice fella.

[Thomas_Merton]

[

What made Hall and Griffith so terrifying was not only their speed and uninhibited bouncers in a time when only sissy batsmen wore a school cap for protection

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Or a sling on his arm. I can remember when Colin Cowdrey went out to face them with a broken arm in a sling. And he survived. You tell that to the kids of today.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

bout 10 years ago, I met an old NZ cricket player(I'll remember his name in a couple of hours ) that had faced both Hall and griffith.I can remember his exact words when describing griffith...can't use them on this forum.In a nutshell, he called him the nastiest piece of work that he had ever encountered on a cricket pitch.

anyway here a a couple more combos..

Lindwall & Millar

Holding & Roberts

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Has everyone ( including me) forgotten Laker & Locke.

...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh yes - how many wickets did they take? Isn't Jim Laker still the bowler with the most wickets in a match?

I wonder how they would compare with S K Warne?

[COBBER]

[

What made Hall and Griffith so terrifying was not only their speed and uninhibited bouncers in a time when only sissy batsmen wore a school cap for protection

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Or a sling on his arm. I can remember when Colin Cowdrey went out to face them with a broken arm in a sling. And he survived. You tell that to the kids of today.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

bout 10 years ago, I met an old NZ cricket player(I'll remember his name in a couple of hours ) that had faced both Hall and griffith.I can remember his exact words when describing griffith...can't use them on this forum.In a nutshell, he called him the nastiest piece of work that he had ever encountered on a cricket pitch.

anyway here a a couple more combos..

Lindwall & Millar

Holding & Roberts

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Has everyone ( including me) forgotten Laker & Locke.

...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh yes - how many wickets did they take? Isn't Jim Laker still the bowler with the most wickets in a match?

I wonder how they would compare with S K Warne?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thomas, Difficult to compare differant eras. Wickets are better prepared these days. Rarely do you get a spinners paradise anymore.

JIm Laker :1956 Manchester I think , 19 wickets.

If you look at the old film footage of the match the wicket is so bad that even Lampard and Ray Razzle could have taken wickets.

[COBBER]

Best bowling combinations.

Larwood & Voce

Lindwall & Miller

Gibbs & Valentine & Ramadin

Tyson & Statham

Trueman & Statham

Hall & Griffith

Lillee & Thompson

Roberts & Holding

Garner & Marshal

Walsh & Ambrose

Akram & Younis

[Khutan]

Larwood & Voce

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Oh yes, they were a combination.

I would love to see them operating under todays conditions.

[chuchok]

Adcock and Heine

[The_Moog]

Bedi/Chandrasekhar/Prasana/Venkataraghavan. (India)

Botham/Garner (Somerset)

Edited July 25, 2005 by The_Moog

[350torana]

I am not sure if the question is directed at opening bowlers, or a combination later in the innings

oh well here goes(modern era)

Warne/Mcgrath

Any combo for the windies from 70's to 90's

the W's from Pakistan

Allan Donald and Develleirs(sp)

Sir Dick and Ewen Chatfield

[Old Croc]

[

What made Hall and Griffith so terrifying was not only their speed and uninhibited bouncers in a time when only sissy batsmen wore a school cap for protection

Or a sling on his arm. I can remember when Colin Cowdrey went out to face them with a broken arm in a sling. And he survived. You tell that to the kids of today.

I bet Rick McCosker wished he had worn more than a silly cap when he faced Bob Willis in the 1977 Centenary Test. He batted in the 2nd innings for 1 1/2 hours and made 25 to secure a win for Oz.

[chuchok]

here's an interesting link

ABCOFCRICKET

[mittheimp]

Just saw a brilliant documntary about the Basil Dolevera (srry about spelling!!) saga in 1968. This documentary showed a lot of footage (colour and good quality - behind bowlers arm) of the final test between england and Australia at the Oval. Memorable for a number of reasons - but the standard and intensity of the game looks light years away from what we see now. The cricketers were not athletes, but roly poly cricketers comparible with todays club cricketers!! This may not have had much impact on the potential of the batsmen but on the fielders and bowlers it certainly did.

Im not sure about combinations but the best bowlers ive seen are -

(since 83)

MD Marshall

C Ambrose

S Warne

M Murilitheran

W Younis (for a short time)

(and grudgingly ... G Mcgrath)

Marshall and ambrose did bowl togther but neither at their peak. Younis and Akram were pretty potent one summer in England. Best current combinations would be Warne and Mcgrath followed by Murilli and C Vass.

[chuchok]

How about we pick the most feared fast bowling attack ever picked for one test.

Roberts, Marshall, Garner, Holding and Croft and If remember correctly Wayne Danial was somewhere in the mix as well. Ouch!

[ozzydom]

You forgot me,I bowled a few maiden(s) overs in my young days

[lampard10]

How about we pick the most feared fast bowling attack ever picked for one test.

Roberts, Marshall, Garner, Holding and Croft and If remember correctly Wayne Danial was somewhere in the mix as well. Ouch!

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Robert Croft no doubt, not Colin.