Quote:Great bowlers come in different shapes and sizes and utilize different skills of the trade. The aforementioned Michael Holding bowled at foreboding pace. Others, like Malcolm Marshall and James Anderson, mastered the art of swing. Some generated huge turn — Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan come to mind, while Anil Kumble, another slow-bowling great, was highly effective, though he didn’t turn the ball all that much.

But there is one attribute – accuracy — that all elite bowlers possess. It is this one attribute that enables bowlers to exploit all their other strengths, whether it is swing or seam movement, high pace, or an ability to impart substantial spin. Without accuracy, all these skills are surplus to requirements, tantamount to an army having a highly destructive projectile fired by a weapon with faulty sights. The potential for extensive damage is considerable, but you still need to hit the right target.

Bowlers like Shaun Tait and Patrick Patterson were certainly not slow, yet nobody would accord them a place in the top bracket of the game’s fast bowlers. “Fast is fine,” remarked Wyatt Earp, gunslinger and survivor of the celebrated shootout at the OK Corral, “but accuracy is everything.”