The World Cup's Top 5 Pace Bowlers
The World Cup is nearing and besides our nation's eagerness to see the Black Caps finally show their worth after impressing pre-tournament, we're going to see the very best cricketers up close and personal. That's probably the best thing about the World Cup as these extremely talented cricketers will be placed in situations that simply can't be found in Test cricket or 20 over cricket.
That all starts with the pace bowlers, the seam bowlers, the swing bowlers, the fellas who run in off more than 10 yards and biff it down the pitch. The thing about pace bowling (I'm going to use the term 'pace' which means pace, swing and seam) in ODI cricket is that there's many different scenarios where you simply have to execute. Whether it's bowling good areas early on to create chances but also keep the run rate tight, or coming on during the middle stages to buy a wicket and maintain pressure or if it's that lovely ol' thing of death bowling, there's a job to be done.
It's hard to look past Dale Steyn as the premier fast bowler in the world and someone who will feature heavily throughout the World Cup. First of all Steyn bowls quick and he's able to ruffle feathers if need be, which can be a great asset at the top, through the middle stages as a strike weapon and then at the death. Steyn's out swing, at 145km/h might I add will be difficult to score off in those early stages.
Besides Steyn being a wicket taker at the top of the innings, he takes wickets at an average of 25.14 in ODI cricket, Steyn's quality is in his line and lengths. There won't be a great deal of loose deliveries that are easy to score off, nor will batsmen be able to ease up at any stage as Steyn will constantly be after their wicket, or the neck's.
The most impressive thing about Steyn is what I said earlier, he'll be equally as handy in the three stages of a 50 over innings. If called upon to bowl at the death, Steyn has the tools in his tool belt but expect to see him keep it simple with quick yorkers. It's going to be a pleasure to watch Steyn bowl in the World Cup as he'll be the leader of the anti-batting crew making life as difficult as possible for batsmen and from what we've seen in the past, Steyn will execute all this perfectly.
Mitchell Johnson is obviously going to be a key weapon for the Aussies but his case is a bit more interesting. Well that was until I actually checked his ODI record and saw that his economy rate isn't much higher than that of Steyn's (4.82 compared to 4.80) which throws any thoughts of Johnson being a strike weapon who could perhaps go for a few runs. Johnson will be the stalwart of the Australian attack with the likes of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins likely to rotate around Johnson and Johnson will also be the leader of the attack thanks to copious experience.
While Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins will look to extract any swing from the atmosphere and seam movement off the pitch, Johnson will straight up bully batsmen with pace. Expect to see a master at work in the sense that he'll use the short ball wisely to get the batsmen off balance and then he'll fire a thunderbolt across the batsmen and will likely pick up an outside edge. It's likely that Johnson will be the fastest bowler at the World Cup and any success Australia have will be on the back of Johnson at the very least touching batsmen up.
Tim Southee is the only Black Caps bowler who is a near certainty, but he is a few points behind both Steyn and Johnson in terms of his ODI record. But that's all good as Southee will be bowling in Aotearoa, home conditions and should be a lethal weapon at the top of the innings as well as at the death.
Southee doesn't have the pace of the previous two lads, but he's a natural swinger and it could be argued that his pace is perfectly suited to some nifty out swing. Southee has taken at least 2 wickets in each of the ODI's that he's played against Sri Lanka and Pakistan and for me Southee should have great success against the Asian batsmen opening their innings. These batsmen will want to get bat on ball early, see the scoreboard ticking over and won't want to be tied down which will see them fiddling around their off stump. Fiddling around your off stump is not what you want to do against Southee as his ability to swing the ball will make you pay.
Southee should be good for a few top order wickets every game but we all know that he's a decent death bowler as well. I love his death bowling because it's laid in a foundation of yorkers which is still the best tactic but he can execute all the other little tricks as well. I'm not sure if there's another pace bowler who is more important to his team, Southee will be tasked with leading the attack, taking early wickets and bowling in the high pressure situations.
James Anderson has long been one of the best pace bowlers in world cricket and as such it was pretty hard to leave him off this list. He's similar to Southee in that he's got that out swing gene which is always handy and he'll trouble batsmen at the top of the order with his movement. Anderson has been on the scene for more than 10 years and has bowled in Australia and Aotearoa many, many times which will give him and England a great boost as he'll be able to quickly adjust to any changes in conditions from city to city.
Anderson will also give captain Eoin Morgan great stability at the top of the order as he'll be able to rely on Anderson to bowl in good areas consistently. This will not only allow Anderson to be a wicket taking threat but it will also ensure that England can go some way towards locking down one end. Don't expect Anderson to bowl his 10 overs for much more than 50 runs which will be important as the rest England's attack could very easily get smacked around. Anderson offers great experience and knowledge, which with a rather young England side will be vital and if he is swinging the ball then England have a sniff.
I kind of lied because I don't really have a fifth bowler, I have a wildcard ... or a few wildcards because it's hard to put one over the others. Shout out to the real Wildcard as well. You can take your pick from Morne Morkel or Vernon Philander from South Africa as they are both proven performers on the world stage and each offer something unique. Or you could look at another Aussie quick like Pat Cummins or Mitchell Starc and I'd even listen to a case for Hazlewood. These three Australian quicks are true blue wildcards because any one of them could break the World Cup open and introduce themselves to the upper echelon, the world's elite bowlers.
There's only a few options from the sub-continent, with India again serving up a some wildcards. It's a complete lottery with the Indians, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say Mohammad Shami who has taken 70 ODI wickets in 40 games. Shami's style is best suited to Australian and kiwi conditions, he bowls quick enough and will extract anything that the pitch will offer. While the top four I've named will all lead their bowling attacks, Shami isn't guaranteed selection because well, who can really predict what India's pace bowling attack is going to look like game to game. But if Shami plays most of their games, I reckon he'll end up impressing greatly.