I feel it is essential for a test match team nowadays to have a quality 5th bowler. Obviously this fifth bowler doesn't have to be as good as the other four, but he is good enough to bowl 10-15 overs with the capability of picking up wickets. Most teams have this now:
South Africa: Jacques Kallis
Australia: Shane Watson
West Indies: Marlon Samuels
Sri Lanka: Tilakaratne Dilshan, Angelo Mathews
Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez
India: Sehwag (*)
Alll the above players bowl quiet a bit, the spinners especially when playing at home
However, what I have noticed is that England don't have this option currently, apart from a few doddlers such as Trott and Pietersen. Even India don't have this option, although Sehwag does bowl quiet a bit when in home conditions.
I feel the need for a quality fifth bowler is vital in any conditions. What happens if your main bowler breaks down? Without a 5th bowler, you've practically lost the match. We all saw what happened in the test matches against England where Umar Gul and Zaheer Khan suffered injuries. Then Farhat and Dohni had to bowl around 10 overs each.
I feel a good fifth bowler is a great option to have, they can be partnership breakers, or get the odd wicket which you don't expect. ie Marlon Samuels vs Pietersen in the last test match.
Furthermore, you have the option to bowl them instead of your premier bowler incase your premier bowler is playing cack, ie when Hafeez bowled around 20+ overs in one of the test matches in the UAE vs England...
There are many other reasons, although i have only listed a few...
So England fans, what do you think about the lack of a quality 5th bowler? It may not be a problem at home, but we all saw what happened in the UAE.
And what do you all think about the importance of a fifth bowler in tests?
*I can't seem to get this article on the main cricket board
Importance of a quality 5th bowler in tests
posted on 22/5/12
the 5th bowler slot is more for players of the calibre of kallis. that has to be filled by an all rounder, and a gd allrounder. if your first 4 bowlers cant pick wickets then neither can ur 5th bowler. that is a simple fact. remember not every bowler can be a steyn or a muralidharan.
test cricket is about bowlers hunting in pairs. i think the no.5 slot shud go to a an all rounder and that is what every team other than sa lacks. england dont need a no.5 bowler because they have a gd ballance between pace and spin. swann picks up wickets occasionally and then broad is always picking up wickets. and anderson as well.
posted on 22/5/12
How do SA lack an allrounder when they have kallis?
posted on 22/5/12
every other team apart from SA
posted on 22/5/12
Fair point robin about hot conditions and too many overs being bowled
posted on 23/5/12
sa have a bige hole to feel once kallis goes. kallis is somewhat sa crickets backbone. I have rarely seen him get injured. despite being a medium pacer, he is very fit, unlike our indian boys, where medium pacers like sreesant, pk, vinay kumar and zak are always injured after 5 games.
posted on 23/5/12
Not neccesserily. It depends on the conditions. On the sub you need 2 spinners and possibly 2 or 3 seamers.
England's balance is fine with only four bowlers because Swann is such an effective option and Anderson, Broad and either Bresnan and Finn are world class.
If we did need or have a Kallis eske player, Ben Stokes is our only option. He is only 20. Further down the line - Gregory, Kapil and Wood are young, impressive players but need to prove themselves for their counties
posted on 23/5/12
Well theres the obvious argument that at least one of those 5 should be an average batsmen. Eng have quality batsmen all the way down the order. (Swann at no. 10. A lot of teams would be lucky to have him at 8. When you are 5 down, you dont want to be scared that you could be all out within a blink of an eye.
posted on 23/5/12
The balance between sufficient bowling to bowl a side out twice and having the batting strength to create scoreboard pressure is important. Andy Flower has so far got this balance perfect.
It's clear that our bowlers have great confidence in our batsmen to score big totals and the batsmen's belief in the skill of our bowlers to take wickets.
All the top teams throughout history have achieved that balance.
Scoreboard pressure is far more powerful than a fifth bowler.
posted on 23/5/12
I wouldnt really call Kallis a 5th Bowler as for most of his carear he has been the 1st change bowler to come on after the new ball pair. Its only recently that he become 5th bowler probably due to age and giving him a rest.
posted on 23/5/12
Amazing you found a fifth bowler for both India and Australia. They don't even have a first second third or fourth?
Come on England