Peter Siddle's in the league of 'bowling' bowlers

A keen cricket observer may have noticed how often Peter Siddle gets stumps flying. Just yesterday, he bowled out two well-set batsmen Flintoff and Prior just as the day's play was about to close. In an Australia-South Africa Test Match at the SCG recently, Siddle bowled out the last 4 wickets in the span of 5 overs, which was a great turnaround in the match.

Peter Siddle is one of the few bowlers now who has a good percentage of wickets bowled out. His express pace is not uncommon, but he keeps the ball within the stumps and so he has a good chance of getting batsmen out bowled or lbw.

I got some research done on some of the greatest fast bowlers as well as some modern fast bowlers to throw up a list of fast bowlers sorted according to the combined percentage of lbw and bowled dismissals in Tests.

Bowlers with most percentage bowled and lbw dismissals

Bowler	LBW (%)	Bowled (%)	Total (%)
Roy Gilchrist (WI)	10	49	59
Shoaib Akhtar (Pak)	20	36	56
Waqar Younis (Pak)	29	27	56
Wasim Akram (Pak)	29	25	54
Joel Garner (WI)	22	27	49
Imran Khan (Pak)	22	27	49
Aaqib Javed (Pak)	28	20	48
Michael Holding (WI)	14	33	47
Lasith Malinga (SL)	22	25	47
Charlie Griffith (WI)	13	33	46
Kapil Dev (India)	25	21	46
S Sreesanth (India)	28	16	44
Irfan Pathan (India)	29	14	43
Jerome Taylor (WI)	24	19	43
Wes Hall (WI)	8	34	42

The minimum criterion used in the above table is 50 Test wickets, which is why Roy Gilchrist makes it to the top, with 51 Test wickets. Bowlers who played in 1920s and 30s have been left out for the sake of relevance.

This list is dominated by West Indians and Pakistanis. It is heartening to see 3 Indians making the list. This list may or may not be accurate, because I may or may not have left out some very good bowlers. This is, however, no comment on other bowling greats like Hadlee and Lillee, who could not make it to this list. The greatness of a bowler does not depend just on the number of wickets he takes or his mode of dismissals.

Sri Lanka wake up Pakistan!

Sri Lanka woke up Pakistan from their early morning slumber on the fourth day of the first Test at Galle and what a wake up call it was! From an invincible 71-2 to 117 all out in exactly one session, Pakistan players seemed to have slept extra the previous night, thinking the Test was in their kitty.

And lo, it was not the magic of Ajantha Mendis, or the snaking deliveries from Murali, but it was the modest left-arm spin of Rangana Herath, and the pace of an energized-from-god-knows-what Thilan Thushara that did Pakistan in.

Cricket greats have said that Pakistan are unbeatable ON THEIR DAY. Well, it certainly wasn't their day, and more so, not their session. That is why Test Cricket is so cruel - you play well for 4 days, but it takes just a magic spell from the opposition on the 5th day to turn everything around. Even then, Pakistan should not have lost the match so badly.

It is not the first time that Sri Lanka have delivered such early morning SHOCKS. In Delhi in 2005, India crumbled from a strong first day 245-3 to 290 all out on the second morning. The wrecker-in-chief there was Murali and it was the first innings of the Test Match, not the last. India went on to win the match, but the match is still in memory for Murali's haul of more than five wickets.

Always keep an eye out for a Test Match morning session when Sri Lanka is bowling.

Exciting Table Tennis - Paul Drinkhall vs Jorgen Persson

Yesterday afternoon, I was lucky to watch one of the best table tennis matches I have seen - Paul Drinkhall vs Jorgen Persson. Hold on, I don't follow table tennis much - I was just browsing through TV channels when I saw these guys on ESPN.

Jorgen Persson is a Swedish player, a 43 year old veteran of the sport playing since as early as 1983. In complete contrast, Paul Drinkhall is a 19 year old bright British talent, a National Champion in every eligible age group in the country. The contrast was evident, both in gameplay style and swiftness - but the range of shots is simply superb for both.

Enough of background, just enjoy the video of the match. This video shows the highlights, I had watched the entire match replay on ESPN. This video is good enough, though!

Farewell, Michael Vaughan!

Michael Vaughan, the most successful captain for the England Cricket Team in Tests, announced his retirement, though not entirely unexpectedly. After being left out of the England Test squad for the upcoming Ashes and with fitness and consistency never being on his side over a prolonged period, Vaughan apparently was left with no choice.

Vaughan's most significant contribution to cricket were his technically correct, effortless and sublime cover drives, and of course, the Ashes victory in 2005. He was single-handedly responsible for reviving interest in Test Cricket, crafting a neat and planned series victory over the till-then invincible Aussies. (Which Indian cricket fan does not like to see the Aussies going down!)

When he was in form, he was tough to get out and had a supremely good year in 2002 when he amassed nearly 1500 Test runs. He is one of the best cricket captains in the modern game, having seen heavyweights like Flintoff and Pietersen blossom under his regime. Many players in the current England team owe their place to him.

Vaughan's case just another to show how brutally injuries can mar a cricketer's career. Leave out the knee injuries and the situation could have been different for Vaughan now. We have bid farewell to a fair number of cricket greats in the last18 months or so. Here's bidding an honorable farewell to yet another!