I have never any other bowler that bowls so consistently with so much ease in the mid 140s, he must be the greatest left arm quick bowler ever. At age 36 the fella seem to be getting better, and to think there were not much of a gap between him and Mitchell Jonson.

No wonder Australia is so dominant in the past 30 years. In this period they have had some of the greatest bowlers of all time

@bird

better than Akram?

My eyes says yes, the stats says yes

@bird

Though Mitch Johnson wasn't as consistent (I believe he was on something in 2013 Ashes) he was more fearsome. Throughout his short injury plagued career Bruce Reid was smoother with less effort and perhaps even faster. None were as good as Wasim Akram!

I looked at Mitchell Starc, how he just took control in the absence of his other two counterparts. He stamped his authority with the confidence of one who had mastered his craft over time. He placed the ball where he wanted to, when he wanted to with brilliant consistency. I compared him with Archer, who i believe is even more talented, but, at age 30, struggling to find his way to dominance. The difference between them is experience; milage. Starc has played the game, tests, ODI's, T20's , and has developed in endurance, technique, control. He is at the point where he can take control at will, able to place the ball where and when wants. Archer, gone to the shores where he can't accuse anybody that enough cricket is not played at the highest level, was never able to play the volume of quality games to enhance his enormous potential. Years after he was snapped up by the UK as the next salvation, is still the potential he was, and fighting to make a mark. Luckily, the West Indies can't be blamed for that.

a great fast bowler

Starc truly is a wonderful bowler. Together with Cummins, Lyon and Hazlewood - who Australia did not even have for this Ashes series, forms one of the best bowling outfits the game has ever seen. I would also be remiss to not mention Scott Boland.

Just look at these stats:

M.Starc, 35 years old, 103 tests, 424 wkts @ 26

P.Cummins, 32 years old, 72 tests, 315 wkts @ 22

J.Hazlewood, 34 years old, 76 tests, 295 wkts @24

S.Boland, 36 years old, 17 tests, 73 wkts @ 18

N.Lyon, 38 years old, 141 tests, 567 wkts @ 30

Incredible longevity and performance.

@4REALQUICKS

Was hoping Shields could be our Boland, but he cannot even last a series. We need to revisit our training methods, players breaking down a bit too frequently. And a not comparing with a sole.

@natty_forever

Agreed that we need to revisit training, diet etc. This has to be done from the U 19 level to ensure that the bodies can stand up to the rigors of playing domestic, franchise and international cricket. Oz has a fantastic attack and the fact that the WI attack was able to match it in the series this year speaks a lot for the potential for our team. I think that our bowling unit must be Seales, Joseph, Joseph and Warrican plus Greaves as allrounder going forward with Shields, Roach and possibly Phillip coming in as needed and hopefully Springer and the very talented but currently lost Keemo Paul as back up allrounders.