Historically Beethoven was inspired by works of Mozart, while in cricket we have a reverse scenario.
Once or twice he merely rolled his arm over from a dead stop. The ball still shot through and swung around. It was the equivalent of Picasso casually slapping paint on a canvas, or Mozart tapping on some piano keys in boredom.- Saad Shafqat on Wasim Akram.
Who could care for statistics where there is concerned a player of the caliber of Davidson? Richie Benaud on Alan Davidson.
Alan late swing was as potent as Wasim reverse swing , it troubled great openers of that time.
On This Day birth of one of the finest left-arm pacer. It took almost three decades for any left-hander to went past his tally of wickets and who else then great Wasim Akram. Alan Davidson in his 13-year career played 44 tests if we fixed this as our base and compare other LFP bowlers (ignoring era for now).Scalps of LFP in their first 44 tests
- Neil Wagner 187
- Alan Davidson 186
- Mitchell Johnson 185
- Mitchell Starc 183
- Wasim Akram 169
- Trent Boult 161
- Zaheer Khan 129
- Chaminda Vaas 127
Only Blackcaps Neil Wagner was able to go past his record.
Wasim Vs. Davidson
Davidson bowled against some of the greats of the games like Sobers, Compton, Hutton, Peter May, and legendary three W’s of Windies Cricket Barbados.
Aussies top five bunnies where Cowdrey, Puller, Statham, Graveney, and Barrington all Englishmen. In the case of Waz, it was more diverse Srikkanth, Ambrose, Grant Flower, Walsh, and Marshall. One stark contrast between Alan and Wasim is that Alan bunnies were more polished batsman while Wasim’s consists of the majority of tailenders.
Fifty-six percent of Alan dismissal was of top-order, while Wasim overshadowed batsman in 49 percent cases. Both were equally potent in dismantling the timber. Wasim had the upper hand in LBW whereas Oz forced the batsman to play shots and get caught.
LFP(Left Arm Pacer) assuming medium and fast as equivalent in this analysis.
Considered only LFP players with at least 150 wickets.
Top-order; batting position 1-5.