Secret to Steyn's rhythm: A smooth & repeatable action

There must be a reason why South Africa are knocking teams over for scores normally seen in the first round of a local inter-school tournament. And in relative terms, finishing matches as quickly. Quite apart from having four batsmen (Smith, Amla, Kallis and de Villiers) who might feature in their all time top ten (now there's a list in itself!) they now have three bowlers (Steyn, Philander and Morkel who take a wicket every 7 overs!) who are forming a team that threatens to be among the best in recent times (my vote for the last similar trio is McGrath, Lee and Gillespie)

And they have a leader to their attack who is sending a tingle down the spine of most batsmen and making spectators sit on the edge of their seats. It is human nature to under-rate the present and grossly over-rate the past but if you outlaw that trait the time has come to place Dale Steyn among the greatest fast bowlers of the game.

He's going at over five wickets a test (323 from 63), averages under 25 (22.67) and takes a wicket in less than 50 balls (40.8). Those numbers for bowling averages and strike rates are acknowledged to be possessed by the best and if you add another cut-off (25 tests to take away the anamoly of one or two great years only), he makes the list of the top ten on any criterion. To be honest, in the lists that follow I looked at bowlers post the second world war since the numbers earlier are terribly skewed, almost suggesting that batsmen took a bat along like a senior citizen might a walking stick: only in case of an emergency!

So looking purely at strike rates the hall of fame for fast bowlers has Steyn, Waqar, Marshall, Donald, Croft, Trueman, Garner, Hadlee and Holding. And if you choose the bowling average as your preferred indicator the list changes, but only somewhat. Alan Davidson, Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner, Curtly Ambrose, Neil Adcock (South Africa let go the chance to mourn him: 104 wickets at 21!), Fred Trueman, Glenn McGrath, Allan Donald, Richard Hadlee and Dale Steyn. Only one player in either list is still playing and he is enriching our game!

... contd.

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