Jeff Thomson vs Shoaib Akhtar vs Brett Lee

Strike rate: The number of balls per wicket is perhaps an ideal yardstick of just how lethal a bowler really is. In Test cricket, Akhtar picked up 12 five-fors and 2 ten-fors, while Lee and Thomson had 10 and 8 five-fors respectively.

Interestingly, neither of the Aussies had a ten-wicket match haul in Test cricket. Akhtar further asserts his supremacy in this segment with a superior Test match strike rate of 45.7 while leaving both the Aussies trailing by a significant margin.

However, as was the case with the averages, Lee’s superlative ODI career enables him to trump Akhtar with a better strike rate (29.4) and more five-wicket hauls (9) in limited overs cricket.

Longevity: Injuries and fast-bowling go hand-in-glove. That each of our three protagonists had careers that lasted over a decade is commendable indeed. Through his 13-year long international career, Akhtar claims to have played with constant pain in his knees.

In several interviews, he spoke candidly of innumerable trips to the doctors who had to draw out the water from his knees with a syringe - a painful procedure that he endured through his career.

Similarly, Lee was no stranger to injuries himself. An unyielding work ethic and commitment to bowl fast no matter what the circumstance meant that he was always susceptible to injuries. An elbow injury kept him from making the historic India tour in 2001.

And if an ankle worry caused him to miss Australia’s triumphant 2007 World Cup campaign, a side strain kept him out of the 2009 Ashes series. Despite these worries, Lee managed a formidable 12-year international career and continued to play T20 cricket for another three years.

If Thomson’s bowling action - akin to that of a javelin thrower - was a spectacle, it placed a significant stress on his shoulder. And after an on-field collision at Adelaide in 1976, he had to resort to seam, swing and cutters.

Despite the perils, “Thommo” managed to play top-flight international cricket for 12 years - a longevity remarkably similar to those of Akhtar and Lee.

A treat to watch

The statistics might hail Lee’s international wicket haul and the superlative number of Tests and ODIs that he played amidst the trio. But there’s no denying the flamboyance that oozed out of every Akhtar delivery, making each performance of his a true exhibition.

Likewise, Thomson was a rare breed that drew attention to a unique brand of fast-bowling - one that witnessed him amble up to the crease and yet deliver at a frightening pace.

All three excelled in a rare art form while indulging in what can only be termed as unadulterated pace-bowling. You could see it in their eyes and feel it in every grunt they let out. Simply put, they loved doing what they did and were cricket’s equivalent of battle-thirsty mercenaries.

How else could you explain Lee pronouncing his intent - "If you're a fast bowler, you are there to bowl fast and knock the stumps over and hit the batsmen”. Or for that matter Thomson, who said, "I enjoy hitting a batsman more than getting him out. I like to see blood on the pitch".

While the “Thommo” brand of sheer fast-bowling was deployed to intimidate and instill fear in the name of gamesmanship, it was but another tool to take wickets. As Akhtar professed, “I never ever enjoyed hitting people. Not for one second of my life. I was more interested in getting people out”.

Love them or loathe them, the practitioners of the art form enthrall when in full song to make the sport a great spectacle. And Thomson, Akhtar, and Lee played their part to perfection - the three unforgettable gems that lit up the game with their firebrand exploits.

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