In case you doubted how fast he was

MALCOLM DENZIL

In reply to imusic

The biggest takeaway for me is that he wasn’t a tall man.
The same thing amazed me about Fidel.

In reply to imusic

a dude as tall as chris broad did well to get out of the way of that missile. seriously

In reply to Raskil

that's part of the reason he was so difficult to play...his bouncers skidded instead of bouncing to a great height

In reply to imusic

Marshall was one of the Greatest fast bowlers in the history of the game.He was very quick though not the quickest.However of all the bowlers who could hit 90 MPH regularly he did more with the ball than anyone else.He also had a phenomenal cricketing brain.
The fastest bowling spell I have ever seen was by Michael Holding at Lords on the 1976 tour on a Saturday afternoon for WI vs MCC where he absolutely terrorized Denis Amiss and Mike Brearley the MCC opening batsmen in 3 express overs.In those 3 overs both openers were lucky to not get out and Amiss had to retire hurt.Holding after that match acquired a viral illness and when he came back he was quick and got 28 wickets in 4 test matches having missed the first but he was not like the lightning he was in that match vs MCC.
Patterson was also quicker than Marshall but Marshall's cunning and swing and seam movements makes him in a class by himself.

In reply to Dukes


Just curious and not being facetious…….was that spell against MCC faster than his opening over at Kensington Oval against England and Boycott?

YES

In reply to imusic

Roy Gilchrist was even smaller in body mass and height than Marshall but along with Patrick Patterson was
the quickest of all WI bowlers.
Gillie had very long arms and very mean disposition for company too. The Pity was that Caribbean people did not
see him in combination with Wes Hall against England in that 1960 Series and never at all .
The only series they played together was 58-59 vs India away when he took 26 wickets in four Tests and
Hall 30 in Five including 11 ,the one Test Gillie missed.
Marshall was in my view the Greatest fast bowler ever. Took wickets in every country he played in all conditions.
Cherish his memory.

In reply to imusic

I was at Lords that Saturday in May and I think it was either John Arllot or Swanton who also commented about that spell in the Sunday papers. The Monday and Tuesday,he got several wickets but that spell on Saturday sent shivers thru the England batting line up and then he had a really bad chest infection and missed several matches including the first test.I saw him in the second test also at Lords and he was not the same bowler.I do not think he ever hit that pace again not even in the last test at the Oval.. I saw a spell by Brett Lee which might have been as fast but that was on television so it is difficult to judge.
Everybody talks about that spell to Boycott but remember Boycott was 40 years old at the time.

In reply to Jumpstart


Short batsmen for the most part dominate tall fast bowling because the angles of observation are in the favor of the batsmen.

In reply to imusic

Was he that quick. His friend from HS played with our club back in the seventy. He was the openning bowler and Malco was the 1st change in HS. Both were of similar height.The guy was quick at 18 yo

In reply to tc1

You know Macco started out as a batsman.

He played windball "tennis ball" cricket n a local tournament and took 6 for 1 in a game.
He was extremely quick even with a tennis ball.

Macco greatest strength was his smarts.
Probably rated as the most intelligent pacer ever.
In all honesty, arguably the number 1 pacer overall worldwide too.

Macco made the ball talk on dry pitches Asian countries.

In reply to imusic

Yagga credits a Holding spell at either WACA or MCG (can't remember which) the fastest he ever saw
Says slips were praying nick not come to them.
In '83 was shocked how much faster than Mikey/Andy Macko had become and they hadn't slowed down yet. I feared for Gavaskar's life vs Macko around the wicket
M.D. Marshall best fast-bowler who ever lived!

In reply to TanteMerle

Thanks for information.

In reply to Brerzerk

If I recall, Mickey felt he was at his quickest during Tests on a tour of OZ either 1979-80 or 81-82.
Did very well on the latter series.

In reply to hubert

Was Gillie that quick and was Hall near his speed during the 59 tour of India.

I know it’s not about Fidel but I’ll give you a lil story.
Fidel was playing at a park on New York with a concrete pitch covered with a thin carpet…it’s not a small ground but the keeper was steps away from the boundary doing his job.

In reply to tc1

He was. And Wes was very quick too ..Wes was rarely below 90-91 mph in his rookie Test series and
an even faster up till 1965. Colin McDonald the Aussie opener said he was as quick as Tyson who
was rated quickest in the world and given the nickname 'Typhoon' during the 54-55 Ashes series in Australia.
He never played against West Indies in Test, but did so against a West Indies X1 for EW Swanton tourists
in Trinidad.
His first encounter against Barbados, he cleaned Walcott for nought after a few deliveries. But first Hunte tamed him with a ton and Walcott took revenge in the
2nd match for Bim.
.They both played for the WI XI in that 5-day game in Trinidad and it was a strong WI team too with Rae as captain,Hunte,Kanhai,Sobers, Collie Smith,Weekes
and Walcott .
During WI innings,Weekes was batting with Sobers who could not catch up with Tyson's pace early on..and Weekes went down the pitch
and told him'''No hooks today,son'.
Sobers ,Weekes and Smith had just returned from the Test tour in NZ.
Yes. Tyson was very quick and to compare Hall with him says a lot about Wes. And Gillie was quicker.
Wes was a workhorse too and carried on for quite a few Tests without support es[ecially on the 60-61 Iconic Tour of OZ, until Charlie Griff came on the scene.
Only Walsh can compare with Wes as a fast bowler/workhorse. Wes still special and he was great friend of and to Gillie to boot. Special man, Wes.
That match was the first time Kanhai represented at the higher level and also Hunte. Imagine the Board could not
locate Hunte for the next Test series in England in 1957. //// and took 3 duds as openers ,old Ganteaume,Asgarali and Pairadeau who
did not relish pace as he avoided the 1955 Aussies but went to NZ as VC later that same year.
Kanhai,Worrell,Sobers and Smith were used as Test openers during the 5 match series.Trueman,Statham,Bailey and Loader
were too much for the specialist openers, Kanhai debuted as wk- opener and Ganteaume did not play a Test ,thus preserving the highest
Ave in Test cricket (?) for his sole knock of 112.
WI Board has history ...ain't nothing new with it even now

In reply to hubert

Thanks

In reply to Hubert
I like that " No Hooks today son"