Malcolm Marshall would have been 50 this month.

Nice article by his biographer with some good Boycott/Marshall stories:

Memories of Maco.

Did anybody on here ever watch him bowl? Was he the greatest fast bowler ever?

Fearsome bowler...

could seam & swing the ball both ways at 87-88 mph

Lara Lara Laughs wrote:Nice article by his biographer with some good Boycott/Marshall stories:

Memories of Maco.

Did anybody on here ever watch him bowl? Was he the greatest fast bowler ever?

He bowled the fastest spell I remember seeing at New Road - it was not a particularly bouncy pitch as I recall, but he had our batsmen hopping round like scolded cats.

It's a big call to say that he was the best ever - but there hasn't been a better one since.

I remember him as a hugely impressive bowler - so sad that he went so soon.

Amazing bowler!

Arguably the best since Lillee.

Lara Lara Laughs wrote:Did anybody on here ever watch him bowl? Was he the greatest fast bowler ever?

He was a magician with the ball; like he had it on a piece of string all the time. He could do exactly what he wanted absolutely precisely; and all at terrifying speed!!

The thing is, he wasn't immediately anything to look at bowling. His action was front on which was frowned on back then; he was not tall and his run-up was scuttling; quite the antithesis to the graceful Holding or Lillee. In fact he may almost be in the reckoning for an entry into the uglest bowling action thread.

But I think that pretty much every batsman of his era nominates him as the bowler they most feared (Gower says that the reason he joined Hampshire from Leicestershire is so he could play alongside him and not have to face him.)

We're talking about big names here, Gower, Boycott, the WI batsmen, Botham and he was a lovely, friendly and unassuming guy by all accounts so I am happy to put him up there as one of the truly great greats.

Very very sad that he died so young. A great loss to the world of cricket and WI cricket especially.

Lara Lara Laughs wrote:Nice article by his biographer with some good Boycott/Marshall stories:

Memories of Maco.

Did anybody on here ever watch him bowl? Was he the greatest fast bowler ever?

Yes, several times .. both in the CC and for the Windies both here and in the Carribs.
He was quite simply - phenomenal.
Short (compared to the giants he bowled with), barrel chested with a nippy run-in,
you could almost sense he'd do something special every ball he bowled.
His bouncer was sharp and unexpected - and for a guy his size, he was bloody quick.
I've seen Lillee, Thommo, Hadlee, McGrath, Ambrose, Walsh, Daniel and the Big Bird ...
... but Marshall ... well, he was just fearsome .... and he did it with a smile!!
Would always have him in my World XI.

Always game for a chat with and a smile for those around him, I treasure the bat he signed for me
(along with Viv Richards and Joel Garner) all those years ago at Lord's.

50 ... whod've thought ... Happy Birthday Macco

doctorspin wrote:

Lara Lara Laughs wrote:Did anybody on here ever watch him bowl? Was he the greatest fast bowler ever?

He was a magician with the ball; like he had it on a piece of string all the time. He could do exactly what he wanted absolutely precisely; and all at terrifying speed!!

The thing is, he wasn't immediately anything to look at bowling. His action was front on which was frowned on back then; he was not tall and his run-up was scuttling; quite the antithesis to the graceful Holding or Lillee. In fact he may almost be in the reckoning for an entry into the uglest bowling action thread.

But I think that pretty much every batsman of his era nominates him as the bowler they most feared (Gower says that the reason he joined Hampshire from Leicestershire is so he could play alongside him and not have to face him.)

We're talking about big names here, Gower, Boycott, the WI batsmen, Botham and he was a lovely, friendly and unassuming guy by all accounts so I am happy to put him up there as one of the truly great greats.

Very very sad that he died so young. A great loss to the world of cricket and WI cricket especially.

How the heck was he able to bowl big outswingers with that action?

Lara Lara Laughs wrote:Nice article by his biographer with some good Boycott/Marshall stories:

Memories of Maco.

Did anybody on here ever watch him bowl? Was he the greatest fast bowler ever?

Great read.

One of the two best opposition quicks I ever saw live (along with Paddles). In this Test (more famous for Alan Border's unlikely 7-fer) Boon and Border ground the Windies bowlers into the lifeless dry wicket. That is except for Marshall. In the Aus total of 401, he returned the remarkable stats of 31-16-29-5.

A true great of the game.

My memories of Marshall also include his ability with the bat.

Just remember us keep getting the Windies 6 down for say 260 constantly and then Marshall along with Dujon taking the game away from us...

skully wrote:

Lara Lara Laughs wrote:Nice article by his biographer with some good Boycott/Marshall stories:

Memories of Maco.

Did anybody on here ever watch him bowl? Was he the greatest fast bowler ever?

One of the two best opposition quicks I ever saw live (along with Paddles). In this Test (more famous for Alan Border's unlikely 7-fer) Boon and Border ground the Windies bowlers into the lifeless dry wicket. That is except for Marshall. In the Aus total of 401, he returned the remarkable stats of 31-16-29-5.

Wow. Those are ridiculous figures. An economy rate of 0.93 and only conceding 29 runs out of 400! That is unbelievable! Cheers for that skully.

Thanks to doctorspin, JKL and merlin for their recollections too.

Actually it is the only occasion in Test history were a bowler has taken a Michelle for less than 30 runs in an opposition total of 400+. The next closest economical 5-fer was Jason Gillespie's 20.2-5-39-5 in WI's total of 398 at Georgetown in 2003.

PlanetPakistan wrote:

doctorspin wrote:

Lara Lara Laughs wrote:Did anybody on here ever watch him bowl? Was he the greatest fast bowler ever?

He was a magician with the ball; like he had it on a piece of string all the time. He could do exactly what he wanted absolutely precisely; and all at terrifying speed!!

The thing is, he wasn't immediately anything to look at bowling. His action was front on which was frowned on back then; he was not tall and his run-up was scuttling; quite the antithesis to the graceful Holding or Lillee. In fact he may almost be in the reckoning for an entry into the uglest bowling action thread.

But I think that pretty much every batsman of his era nominates him as the bowler they most feared (Gower says that the reason he joined Hampshire from Leicestershire is so he could play alongside him and not have to face him.)

We're talking about big names here, Gower, Boycott, the WI batsmen, Botham and he was a lovely, friendly and unassuming guy by all accounts so I am happy to put him up there as one of the truly great greats.

Very very sad that he died so young. A great loss to the world of cricket and WI cricket especially.

How the heck was he able to bowl big outswingers with that action?

Good wrist

Did anybody on here ever watch him bowl? Was he the greatest fast bowler ever?

DKL was my hero but I rate Marshall as a better bowler. The best ever? Probably not, but he'd be on the podium.

Probably not? Who's clearly better than him Mick?

No one is "clearly" better , but on the other hand there are a few bowlers that you cant say that Marshall was clearly better than ...

IMO Lillee , Hadlee , Akram , Marshall , Garner , McGrath , Ambrose , Thommo (before he did his shoulder) , Imran , Holding , Roberts and others all have claims ...Different Day , Different Pitch , Different Weather , Different Result

Thing is, MB, Marshall seems to have done it in all conditions, against all-comers, all the time. Only Ambrose and McGrath from that list are similar in that regard.

We could argue in circles about it for ages LLL ...end of the day nothing changes , no medals are awarded , no one wins a prize ...and they all still remain Great bowlers

Lara Lara Laughs wrote:Probably not? Who's clearly better than him Mick?

Barnes has his admirers.

'Tis true, Mick. Barnes is the Bradman of bowling after all. I don't think there are any others that are clearly better than Marshall though. I could be wrong and, like embee says, it is a matter of opinion.

Marshall just seemed to have it all; a superb cricketing brain, good fitness, stamina, athleticism, heart, economy, strike rate, pace, a vicious bouncer, inswingers, outswingers, slower balls, leg cutters, off cutters, consistency, accuracy, a good batsman, good in all conditions, good against all opposition.

Can anyone see a flaw? Perhaps the greatest commendation comes in the fact that although the other West Indian bowlers were all-time greats and unbelievably good, he still stood out as the best of them all. Quite an achievement.

Such a shame he died so young. 41 is no age to die. Some reckon his cricketing brain was so good, he'd have made a great coach.

Mick Sawyer wrote:

Lara Lara Laughs wrote:Probably not? Who's clearly better than him Mick?

Barnes has his admirers.

But only horrie is old enough to have seen him play. And are you gonna take the word of a stoopid Vomit?

Lara Lara Laughs wrote:Thing is, MB, Marshall seems to have done it in all conditions, against all-comers, all the time. Only Ambrose and McGrath from that list are similar in that regard.

Imran?

skully wrote:

Mick Sawyer wrote:

Lara Lara Laughs wrote:Probably not? Who's clearly better than him Mick?

Barnes has his admirers.

But only horrie is old enough to have seen him play. And are you gonna take the word of a stoopid Vomit?

...oi...among caesar's glorious legions there was many a fine bowler....and then of course casca and brutus were effective on particular march pitches...

malcolm marshall was a fine bowler as were all the others on the various lists..the tragedy of modern cricket is there are so few decent quicks around...maybe johnson and one of the saffies will step up and hopefully in the future we will be able to reminisce about them

the tragedy of modern cricket is there are so few decent quicks around...maybe johnson and one of the saffies will step up and hopefully in the future we will be able to reminisce about them

There are currently some excellent young quicks going around like Ishant, Morne Morkel, Steyn, Asif, Broad, Johnson, Taylor, and Southee. It will be interesting to see how they all develop.