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Left fast magic

I have always liked the word southpaw. You know how there are some words that one takes an affinity to for inexplicable reasons? Southpaw is one of those for me. In a cricketing context I always found it ironic that the term was used much more for left-handed batsmen than left arm bowlers, especially given the origin of the word.

Left arm pace bowlers are a breed I've always loved watching primarily because Wasim Akram was one of my favourite cricketers in my early days of following the game. There was something completely magical and joyful in the way he bowled and I can still recall some of his incredible spells from the early '90s. The memorable '92 WC final of course with those two magic balls, but even more so the first morning of the Oval Test in 1992 a few months later and the sensational spells he and Waqar Younis conjured up to blow away the Kiwis early the next year. Other left arm quicks since haven't quite matched up, but nevertheless Bruce Reid, Chaminda Vaas, Zaheer Khan, Mitchell Johnson, and Irfan Pathan have all been very good in their own right and on their days great to watch. In fact, I've been fortunate that of the eleven left arm seamers to take more than 100 Test wickets, seven have played most (if not all) their cricket during my viewing years.

It was nice then to see a couple of pieces on ESPNcricinfo recently with odes to some left arm bowlers suggesting that I was not alone in my appreciation for the breed. First, this excellently written piece by Jon Hotten which focuses on the mercurial Johnson and how he will be missed during the Ashes. And while I don't fully agree (with a misfiring batting line-up, Clarke and the Aussies don't really need a bowler who can implode as spectacularly as Mitch is capable of), he is fascinating to watch at all times. And while he'll continue to be an important component of the ODI and T20 teams, his Test match career looks to be practically over given the plethora of young, talented quicks the Aussies have lined up. India on the other hand have never had such riches and so its a shame that someone like Ashish Nehra never went on to become the capable Test match bowler he should have been due to a combination of injuries and mismanagement. He did provide us many moments to cherish though as this piece points out, particularly in World Cups. My favourite Nehra moment though comes from the Port of Spain Test in 2002, when he knocked over Lara and Hooper in quick succession during a tight fourth innings chase. India went on to their first Test win in the Caribbean since 1976 and in Nehra and Zaheer Khan it looked like a solid succession line to Srinath had been built. Sadly only one of the two went on to bigger things.

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