How fast do the Zimbabwean "quicks" bowl?

andy24 wrote:its interesting. theres a bloke over at the netherlands called Mark Jonkman whose ment to b the quickest out side the test areana. a country like netharlands to produce that, its prety good. by the sounds of it he bowls 140s. and his only 21. if only zim had someone like that comin threw the ranks.

I saw him bowl a few years back and he wasn't getting anywhere near those speeds, so it quite possibly could be a case of Chinese whispers. He looked a bit under-developed at the time though, for lack of a better phrase, so he might have achieved a significant rise in pace with some gym work. I think someone like Mpofu could benefit from some gym work of this sort.

zimdan wrote:You dont need pace to be successful, Glenn McGrath proved that. If you have a good line and length, your still just as hard to hit as someone with pace.

This is correct, however, even McGrath bowled quicker than all the current Zimbabwean bowlers, and he's famous for his lack of pace! McGrath did a lot more than just hit a good line and length, too - he set up the batsman better than any bowler I've ever seen, got excessive bounce due to his height and moved the ball off the seam both ways at will.

115km/h straight up and down with no real plan (or a really basic, simple plan) from a shortish bowler such a Brent isn't going to cause anyone any problems, even with McGrath-like accuracy (which he doesn't have).

We aren't asking for Brett Lees here; just someone who bowls at a pace acceptable enough for international cricket. Have there really been any successful international bowlers since uncovered wickets who bowled seam up at Brent/Mupariwa pace, from any country? It's really not good enough, especially if all the bowlers have the same problem.

in zimbabwe most of the quicks are bowling between 115-125km/h..people lyk trevor garwe nd taurai muzarabani can get it to 132km/h with the lyks of chigumbura & vitori who can hit the mid 130s..from what iv seen ex Falcon boy Gerald Aliseni is the fastest..Remember he was once rated as the fastest 14year old in zim & south africa(2001-2002)..He can get it in the mid to high 140s(143km/h-149km/h)..i reckon if Aliseni is managed properly he can bowl 150km/h or more that is wat Mark Vermuelen says..From wat iv heard of him he lacks seriousness but throw a cricket ball at him he'll get the speed guns talking..its a pity that such talent is bein wasted by Zimbabwe Cricket..i hope zim cricket takes these youngsters seriously..the problem with these private school kids is they come from wealthy families or privileged backgrounds..once frustrated they leave eg Kyle Jarvis now at Pretoria University..He can get it into the mid 130s to early 140s but ZC let him leave..Is there a force working against private school kids in ZC?? becoz year in year out its the same story..its a sad situation..i hope things improve & we dont let 'our' talent leave..