Former Australia fast bowlers Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Damien Fleming have all named Wasim Akram the greatest left-arm quick in Test cricket history, each recalling how the Pakistan great’s skill left them with no answer at the crease.
Speaking during a podcast, the trio was asked to rank their all-time top five left-arm pacers in Test cricket. All three placed Akram at number one.
Gillespie went first, working through Trent Boult, Chaminda Vaas, Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc before settling on Akram at the top.
McGrath went second and gave a similar list before explaining why Akram stood above the rest. He described Akram’s unusual bowling action, in which his back foot pointed toward the side screen rather than down the pitch, an unorthodox method that still allowed him to generate significant pace through the crease.
McGrath recalled the first time he faced Akram as a batter, admitting he had no idea what had happened to the ball until the wicketkeeper already had it in his gloves. “I always said Wasim had more skill in his little finger than I had in my whole body,” he added.
Fleming, the last of the three, also placed Akram at number one, above Zaheer Khan, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc and Alan Davidson. He recalled a delivery by Akram he faced in Rawalpindi as the toughest ball he encountered in his Test career.
He also described being left “all at sea” as Akram switched to bowling around the wicket, before the ball swung in sharply and then away late, knocking his off stump out of the ground. “Best ball I ever faced in Test match cricket,” he said.
Known as ‘Sultan of Swing’, Wasim Akram played 104 Tests for Pakistan, taking 414 wickets at an average of 23.62 and a strike rate of 54.6, with 25 five-wicket hauls and five ten-wicket match returns.
In One-Day Internationals (ODIs), he took 502 wickets in 356 matches at an average of 23.52, becoming the first bowler to reach the milestone.
He was also a key member of Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup-winning side.
