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Originally Posted by Navo
Ian, I agree that speed is definitely a factor but how much speed do you need?
Among the 10 you listed, how many would you pick in your all time xi? Andy Roberts, Jeff Thompson or Steyn maybe? The others have been very good, without becoming all time greats. Shaun Tait is usually very wayward when he bowls at his fastest and Bond was always prone to injury. Lee and Malinga (in ODIs and T20) have lived up to their potential somewhat but the remaining have not.
Many of the bowlers who are spoken of when all time xis are made are usually a bit slower than the above but admittedly, not by much. You have the Wasims, Waqars, Holdings etc. Towards the end of their careers, Wasim and Waqar still took a sizable number of wickets despite their pace easing up.
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Everyone you mentioned bowled 145 kph and above. In history, the greatest fast bowlers were also those who bowled these speeds.
In the modern game, it is only McGrath (who bowled 128-135) and Pollock (who started at 145 then dropped to 134) who can be classed as legends as bowlers who deserve legendary status - but they were not STRICTLY pace bowlers anyway.
Blah's argument is so flawed because to be classified as truly 'fast' you are bowling above 145. None of the Bangladesh bowlers can do that regularly. Only Rubel has crossed that a few times. So none can be classified thus as fast bowlers.
A great fast bowler can drop his speed and swing the ball about (Steyn, Donald, Anderson) if they need to. A medium pace bowler cannot suddenly find 10-15 kph from nowhere.