Aussie legend picks cream of current crop:
McGrath names his top five bowlers
Australian champion fast bowler Glenn McGrath has named the best five
bowlers in the world at the moment, judged over the last 12 months and
across all three formats of the game.
Speaking on Fox Sports' Inside Cricket, the 124-Test veteran made a
conscience decision not to show any bias to his country of birth, opting
for only one Australian in the top five. Otherwise, they would have been
all Aussies!
1. Mitchell Johnson - Australia
It's hard to imagine when Johnson was considered wayward and a
liability with the ball. His slingy action leaves batsman even less time
to react to the 150kph bullets he fires at them from 22 yards. Johnson
kept teammate Ryan Harris out of the top five, who would have come in at
No.2 had McGrath shown favouritism to the Baggy Green. The video below
sums up just how terrifying facing Mitchell Johnson is.
2. Dale Steyn - South Africa
On track to become the fastest pace bowler to 400 Test wickets, Steyn
has consistently been the No.1 ranked bowler in Test cricket over the
past two years. With his whippy, skidding action, Steyn can produce
blinding pace and late swing with new ball and old. His destruction of
Australia on the fourth evening of the second Test in Port Elizabeth
earlier this year showcased his ability to extract reverse swing and use
it to great effect.
3. James Anderson - England
England's swing king, Anderson has decimated batting lineups both
home and abroad in recent times. His ability to bend the ball both ways,
via traditional methods or reverse swing makes him a handful in all
conditions. At 32, Anderson will play his 100th Test next time he pulls
on the whites for England, needing only four wickets to surpass Ian
Botham as his country's highest Test wicket-taker.
4. Rangana Herath - Sri Lanka
The second Sri Lankan on the list, Herath earns fourth spot through
his exploits in Test cricket. In his last 10 Tests Herath has
confiscated 60 wickets; 14 coming in his last Test against Pakistan in
Colombo. Diminutive but deceptive, Herath has filled the void perfectly
since Test cricket's leading wicket-taker Muthiah Muralidaran retired in
2010.
5. Lasith Malinga - Sri Lanka
The Sri Lankan slinger makes the list on his limited-overs
performances over the past year. Now strictly a white-ball specialist
after retiring from Test cricket in April 2011, Malinga's deadly yorkers
and mesmerising slower balls continue to fool batsmen the world over. A
cornerstone of Sri Lanka's one-day pace attack for more than a decade,
Malinga will again be the ace in the hole for the Lankans in the 2015
Cricket World Cup. |