I just listened to an interview with David Shenk the author of The Immortal Game on ITConversations.
Here Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with David Shenk, about how chess influenced the first computer scientists, and how Garry Kasparov dealt with being beaten by a computer.
This is something very interesting. A competition held in 1979 to find the fastest bowler in the world. The greats of that time compete with each other. The feared bowlers of this time include Jeff Thomson, Denis Lillee, Imran Khan, Richard Hadlee, Michael Holding etc. These are all time greats and most feared fast bowlers of each time. However, the test is a revelation. Except for Thompson who achieved a speed of 147.8 kmph the rest achived speeds in the 130s or below. It was a disappointment since with these names I had associated sheer pace which modern day bowlers cannot match. It seems the present day bowlers are much faster. Brett Lee consistently bowls at over 145kmph and often above 150kmph. Akhthar being no different. Bowlers of the calibre of Harmison, Shane Bond, Ntini all seem to be faster than most these guys. Even our own Lasith Malinga and Dilhara bowls faster than most.
So the question is why are these guys considered greats and so feared by batsment in their era. I can still remember world series games in Australia where the pace attack led by Holding, Garner, Marshall and Roberts terrorized Sri Lankan batsmen. There could be many reasons here're some possible reasons:
The speed radar used here could be flawed. It's technology 27 years ago so this is possible.
Those days pitches had more grass and more lateral movement and had more bounce than the batsman friendly pitches of today. So accuracy, aggression and decent pace made it difficult for batsmen.
Batsmen did not wear helmets so always feared getting struk on the head.
Here Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with David Shenk, about how chess influenced the first computer scientists, and how Garry Kasparov dealt with being beaten by a computer.
