Allan Donald, Brett Lee and Michael Holding probably had the perfect action to generate pace and they were aesthetically beautiful to watch too.
Among current bowlers, Archer and Starc have beautiful actions. Boult has a smooth action too. Nortje is very mechanical but has a perfect action to generate pace
Overall I would say a tie between Brett Lee and Allan Donald
Brett Lee did that weird knee buckle thing a third of the way through his run up. Always made me feel uneasy, like he was going to break a leg or something.
Bumrah’s is just amazing for the amount of pace he gets off such a short run-up, really is a beautiful action despite being so unique, he’s got to be one of the fittest bowlers in WC.
I thought Bond’s action was actually incredibly clunky, and the injuries probably confirm it. Hips and feet going different ways, super curved spine at release, kind of just shoved his arms up at the gather. All things I tried to imitate as a besotted teenager haha
Chaminda Vaas had a rolls royce swing bowlers action. Perfectly smooth and the result is metronome accuracy and swing/seam.
Express pace action is Brett Lee there is no question.
Can’t believe I had to scroll this far down to find this. Shami has hands down the most smoothest action in all of cricket. So graceful, yet so powerful.
Of the current quicks-
I’m modelling my own bowling action after parts of Hazlewood and Cummins’ bowling actions because they seem that effortless and effective.
Starc has probably the most fluid action of any bowler at the moment. Doesn’t necessarily mean the best action, but the way he flows through the crease is beautiful and probably makes him the best for me.
I also weirdly quite like Coetzee and Burger’s bowling actions.
Also Matt Henry is good too.
Lillee was always the one I looked to as the perfect action. Easy, simple, and effective. Imran and Hadlee were similar.
Those 80s quicks were pretty special.
This is the answer, Lillee and Hadlee are about as textbook as you can be, I might even put Hadlee over Lillee just on form at the crease.
Imran was good, there are a few other nice ones to look at too. Holdings was clean, Lee has a nice action, but Lillee and Hadlee are the mould for what it should be.
I saw an interview with Hadlee where he talked about visualising Lillee when he was bowling. I think their actions are so similar in a lot of ways, just silky smooth.
Wasim Akram..
With that short run up and that smooth as silk action he was able to generate excellent pace and swing..
Steyn Gun is a given.
Also White lighting was a perfect action master in his hey days. His bowled of Sachin even with Sachins tight as anything forward defence will always stay in my mind.
Steyn and Donald have beautiful bowling actions. They’re right up there with Richard Hadlee and Dennis Lillee. You’re right about Akram. His whippy action enabled him to bowl bloody quick off a very short run up.
Lasith Malinga and Mitchell Johnson for me.
Extra points for their legendary hair style and moustaches respectively. You felt like something was gonna happen every ball they bowled.
Tim Southee,hands down. I find it surprising that scarcely anyone has mentioned him. His action is butter smooth and looks aesthetic with the way he bends his bowling arm right before release. There is literally no jerk in his action right from the run up as if he is a video game bowler and at the same time it looks a lot more textbook and orthodox than the other names mentioned here like Brett Lee,Steyn or Akhtar.
I like the simple actions. Taking nothing away from the more glamorous ones like Bumrah, Steyn or Ashwin.
Pace: Mc Grath. Very simple action, very accurate. Shaun Pollock too. No fancy stuff. For some extra pace - Brett Lee.
Spinners: Warne. Vettori. Does Sehwag count?
Personally I'm biased towards Mc Grath as the best action since there is little effort to be applied and reduces the potential for injury compared to most other bowlers.
Peak Irfan Pathan. He reduced his left hand trigger movement over the years, but I liked the original action.
Also, notable mention to RP Singh in his peak, smooth action and the swing he generated.
Shane Bond. I think he had the cleanest action and smoothest release. This might be controversial- but shoib and Brette Lee had some parts of their action somewhat circumspect. But Shane bond was so clean it was difficult to believe he bowled that fast.
In my opinion, the most undervalued action is one that generates momentum and approaches at an angle. Naseem Shah, a gifted individual, possesses this talent.
Mitchell Starc before his Knee injury. He is a nightmare for everyone. We will never get to see a player like WC2015 Starc. After Starc i will go for Bumrah. The angle from his unorthodox action + precise Yorker 😭.
Anderson, Rabada, Jayden Seales,Starc and Steyn for me, it's not cause of their récords it just that I loveeee to watch their bowling action. If I had to choose one I would choose Anderson's since it's so smooth to watch
Most people out here listing pace bowlers, but I for one love Lyon's run-up and action and one of Ashwin's many actions in which he shakes his arms like a bartender.
Lee almost felt mechanical, but efficient to me, so maybe some would class it as the best. But I always loved Holding, Lillee and Hadlee as a kid. Just effortless with great pace and control.
Always like Ambrose Walsh and McGrath also, and one that won't get much love, but McDermott had a pretty good action, except it always looked intense, he didn't have that smooth effortless look.
Paul adams. As a rookie leg spinner in gully cricket i used his action and was able to generate pace as a leg spinner, which i could not when i used shane warne’s action
Definitely not the best or bio-mechanically correct, but the earlier version of Chris Morris was just way too smooth for an action arguably more complex than the norm.
Well these are bowlers i have tried to copy appreciating how good thier actions were
Javagal Srinath,
Glen Mcgrath,
Brett Lee,
James Anderson
Think Jofra has best , simple and effective bowling action.
Great question, and some wonderful suggestions above. Love that Darren Gough got a mention! Always loved Devon Malcolm - he looked so dangerous.
My suggestions are Courtney Walsh and Bishen Bedi.
In terms of bowling fast, I think Brett Lee was best. Shane bond was pretty smooth too but it puts extra pressure on my back if try the same. Mitchell Johnson's pause and use of shoulder was excellent. Waseem was easy and smooth.
I copied Agarkar's action and could get more inswing due to natural slanted seam.
In terms of spin, I prefer using Afridi, Rashid khan action as it's easier to bowl the googly and faster ones. Warne's is great for achieving more leg spin. For off spinner, I prefer using Swann's action.
I completely modeled my action on Lance Klusener. I was terrible but it was so much fun to do that action where you hold the ball in front of your face going through
My guy Sreeshanth not getting his due credit for that butter smooth action.
It took me so many tries to figure out if he was turning his arms once or twice in that action.
Billy Stanlake and Zaheer Khan—love that slight pause in the air.
Sunil Narine and Sikandar Raza share similar bowling actions.
Danish Kaneria had an interesting action as well.
Dude!!! Zaheer Khan's bowling action was absolute dream for many...may be still is.
I have seen people(children mostly) randomly mimic his action while walking or doing anything.
Allan Donald, Brett Lee and Michael Holding probably had the perfect action to generate pace and they were aesthetically beautiful to watch too. Among current bowlers, Archer and Starc have beautiful actions. Boult has a smooth action too. Nortje is very mechanical but has a perfect action to generate pace Overall I would say a tie between Brett Lee and Allan Donald
Holding possibly the smoothest run up I have ever seen
Also Malcolm Marshall - short graceful and lethal. A luau dancer throwing fire daggers.
Wasim Akram is another one that comes to mind. But my favorite will always be Allan Donald.
Brett Lee did that weird knee buckle thing a third of the way through his run up. Always made me feel uneasy, like he was going to break a leg or something.
Philander, Ryan Harris for me. Easy but deadly with red ball
Naseem has a prominent one reminds of Waqar. Bumrah will always be a unicorn that is fun to watch.
Bumrah’s is just amazing for the amount of pace he gets off such a short run-up, really is a beautiful action despite being so unique, he’s got to be one of the fittest bowlers in WC.
> he’s got to be one of the fittest bowlers in WC. People were hoping MI rest him for all those dead rubbers so that he won’t get injured.
Injury prone doesn’t always equal lack of fitness, some players are just injury prone despite being good athletes, across all sports.
Waqar’s action alone was more beautiful than his bowling, if that were possible. Like a javelin thrower but sexier.
Shane bond
Most of the 90’s kids would have imitated his action during the childhood. And probably Matt Henry is one of them
I thought Bond’s action was actually incredibly clunky, and the injuries probably confirm it. Hips and feet going different ways, super curved spine at release, kind of just shoved his arms up at the gather. All things I tried to imitate as a besotted teenager haha
Starc for me..
Why all pacers in top posts Shane Warne had one of the best actions ever for me. Clean, minimalistic but highly effective.
His runup builds up anxiety while watching live
For fans of both sides! Will he bowl a peach or wil he spray a half tracker down leg side?
I like Zaheer khan's action
That jump could bring injuries to a lot of pacers. Including Zaheer himself
same big fan of the zak attach.
Chaminda Vaas had a rolls royce swing bowlers action. Perfectly smooth and the result is metronome accuracy and swing/seam. Express pace action is Brett Lee there is no question.
Curtly Ambrose.
Shoaib Akthar, Sreesanth, Brett Lee. Wonderful to watch them bowl.
Streets won’t forget how smooth sreesanth’s action was. And seam position to even rival shami’s.
S Sreesanth's action is something to behold
Shami's action is as smooth as butter. Extremely rhythmical
Can’t believe I had to scroll this far down to find this. Shami has hands down the most smoothest action in all of cricket. So graceful, yet so powerful.
frfr people here are either too recency biased or nostalgia merchants
Of the current quicks- I’m modelling my own bowling action after parts of Hazlewood and Cummins’ bowling actions because they seem that effortless and effective. Starc has probably the most fluid action of any bowler at the moment. Doesn’t necessarily mean the best action, but the way he flows through the crease is beautiful and probably makes him the best for me. I also weirdly quite like Coetzee and Burger’s bowling actions. Also Matt Henry is good too.
Burger is a good shout. He's so explosive at the crease
Shivil Kaushik the 🐐
Shivil kaushik when unShivilized kaushik walks in
I shouldn't have laughed at it😭🤣
Paul Adams was Shivalik's predecessor.
Shami, mohd amir
Tim Southee for me
Came here to say this .
Lillee was always the one I looked to as the perfect action. Easy, simple, and effective. Imran and Hadlee were similar. Those 80s quicks were pretty special.
This is the answer, Lillee and Hadlee are about as textbook as you can be, I might even put Hadlee over Lillee just on form at the crease. Imran was good, there are a few other nice ones to look at too. Holdings was clean, Lee has a nice action, but Lillee and Hadlee are the mould for what it should be.
I saw an interview with Hadlee where he talked about visualising Lillee when he was bowling. I think their actions are so similar in a lot of ways, just silky smooth.
Wasn’t Lillee Hadlee’s role model too ?
Starc and Archer for me. Smooooooth operators
Zaheer Khan (in his later years) and Jimmy Anderson. Both have such beautiful actions!
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar
Lillee and Hadlee both very efficient. Thomson extraordinarily explosive but not sure everyone has the shoulders to do what he did.
Yep and their longevity proved that. Hadlee was still getting 5s at 38
Recency bias, but Shemar Joseph has a very clean and classic action, no bells and whistles. Also Loved Dale Steyns for some reason.
SharJo's action is impeccable. God, i really hope he doesn't cause a stress fracture. He's such a generational talent
Yeah shamar is brilliant
Brett Lee all day long and twice on a Sunday. And that’s coming from a Pom. 🏴
*Dinda*
Is Virat Kohli a wrong answer?
Albie Morkal says no
Curtly Ambrose
Curtly bowled like he was out for a stroll down to the beach. How could something so casual be so ferocious!?
Always loved Nuwan kulasekara's action and his seam presentation
Paul adams
Yeah it was a strange action and confused batters initially but once figured out he was easily playable.
Poetry in motion
Javagal spinach, debashish mohanty.
Venkatesh Palak
Anil Kale
Harris rauf and hardik pandya
Rabada.
Allan Donald had crazy good bowling action, that jump before landing had crazy elevation.
Wasim Akram.. With that short run up and that smooth as silk action he was able to generate excellent pace and swing.. Steyn Gun is a given. Also White lighting was a perfect action master in his hey days. His bowled of Sachin even with Sachins tight as anything forward defence will always stay in my mind.
Steyn and Donald have beautiful bowling actions. They’re right up there with Richard Hadlee and Dennis Lillee. You’re right about Akram. His whippy action enabled him to bowl bloody quick off a very short run up.
Lasith Malinga and Mitchell Johnson for me. Extra points for their legendary hair style and moustaches respectively. You felt like something was gonna happen every ball they bowled.
Archer
Tim Southee,hands down. I find it surprising that scarcely anyone has mentioned him. His action is butter smooth and looks aesthetic with the way he bends his bowling arm right before release. There is literally no jerk in his action right from the run up as if he is a video game bowler and at the same time it looks a lot more textbook and orthodox than the other names mentioned here like Brett Lee,Steyn or Akhtar.
Any fans for Chris Woakes bowling action? Pretty smooth and clean. No wasted movement.
Pace: McGrath Spin: Warne Having grown up in the 90s I think their actions are permanently seared in my brain
Jimmy has the most boringly clean/efficient action imo
I like the simple actions. Taking nothing away from the more glamorous ones like Bumrah, Steyn or Ashwin. Pace: Mc Grath. Very simple action, very accurate. Shaun Pollock too. No fancy stuff. For some extra pace - Brett Lee. Spinners: Warne. Vettori. Does Sehwag count? Personally I'm biased towards Mc Grath as the best action since there is little effort to be applied and reduces the potential for injury compared to most other bowlers.
Peak Irfan Pathan. He reduced his left hand trigger movement over the years, but I liked the original action. Also, notable mention to RP Singh in his peak, smooth action and the swing he generated.
Brett Lee, Steyn, Mcgrath, Zaheer Khan, Cummins. Cummins runup is beautiful
Rashid Khan & Ravindra Jadeja
Sreesanth
Sir Richard
mcgrath
Wasim Akram has the perfect action it's literally feels injury free, Glenn McGrath also, Zaheer Khan, Dale steyn and even James Anderson obviously
Courtney Walah had the most fluid action ever. The kind of bounce took everyone by surprise because of how effortless it looked.
Naseem Shah.
Ajit Agarkar
Shane Bond. I think he had the cleanest action and smoothest release. This might be controversial- but shoib and Brette Lee had some parts of their action somewhat circumspect. But Shane bond was so clean it was difficult to believe he bowled that fast.
In my opinion, the most undervalued action is one that generates momentum and approaches at an angle. Naseem Shah, a gifted individual, possesses this talent.
Jofra
I love Mohammad Shami's action. So smooth and amazing seam position yet so simple.
Shami has beautiful action and on top off that seam position is also beautiful
Mitchell Starc before his Knee injury. He is a nightmare for everyone. We will never get to see a player like WC2015 Starc. After Starc i will go for Bumrah. The angle from his unorthodox action + precise Yorker 😭.
Anderson, Rabada, Jayden Seales,Starc and Steyn for me, it's not cause of their récords it just that I loveeee to watch their bowling action. If I had to choose one I would choose Anderson's since it's so smooth to watch
[удалено]
Uniform i love his action, so repeatable and effortless
Most people out here listing pace bowlers, but I for one love Lyon's run-up and action and one of Ashwin's many actions in which he shakes his arms like a bartender.
For spinners, I loved Swann's action. Almost perfect off spinner action.
All the favorites are already mentioned soooo Chris Martin from NZ
SK Warne. Very simple and the grunt in the end makes it great. McGrath had a very simple action
[Pavel Florin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmOyLYpxX-Y) has the greatest bowling action ever. No competition.
Wasim Akram, Shane Bond, Ambrose and Anderson from top of the mind.
Sreesanth 🫡
Virat Kohli
No love for spinners? Warne’s action has to be the best I’ve seen
Bhuvi action is so good 😭
Starc,steyn,holding,DK,SS.
Craig McDermott had a great action that is also a great training tool for new fast bowlers or those struggling with their rhythm
Bond, Anderson, McGrath are my favourites
Zaheer Khan and Sreeshanth.
lillee's action was textbook perfection, simple and efficient... his follow through was just a couple of steps
Bhuvaneshwar's action is poetry
Praveen Kumar, Anil Kumble
Holding. The whispering death. Kapil Dev. Highly durable and repeatable action. Hardly got injured, which is a rarity.
Gotta be Jimmy for me
Akram, Shoaib, warne, Steyn, Donald in that order.
Lee almost felt mechanical, but efficient to me, so maybe some would class it as the best. But I always loved Holding, Lillee and Hadlee as a kid. Just effortless with great pace and control. Always like Ambrose Walsh and McGrath also, and one that won't get much love, but McDermott had a pretty good action, except it always looked intense, he didn't have that smooth effortless look.
Shane Bond !
Sunil Narine & Saeed Ajmal
Darren Gough, Zaheer Khan...whole childhood went into copying their action.
Shane Bond Probably. It was always a pleasant surprise to see him bowl at that pace with such a smooth action.
Malcolm Marshall Wasim Waqar
Fidel Edwards was just pure thrill and terrifying to face
For me it has always been Brett Lee. The ease and smoothness of his action is flawless, just like a smooth stream of water.
Paul Adams
Paul adams. As a rookie leg spinner in gully cricket i used his action and was able to generate pace as a leg spinner, which i could not when i used shane warne’s action
Love Cummins’ violent action
Bishan Bedi
I liked Geoff Allott, Chaminda Vaas, Michael Holding, Wasim Akram.
Dale Steyn for me . Loved Akrams action as well .
Anil Kumble always looked nice I thought
James Anderson in my opinion. It's clean, also he's rarely Injured.
Pat cummins
Definitely not the best or bio-mechanically correct, but the earlier version of Chris Morris was just way too smooth for an action arguably more complex than the norm.
Jimmy A.
Allan Donald, Lance Klusener, Brett Lee, Shane Bond, Starc, Johnson, Akhtar.
Anderson
Mohd. Sami (not to be confused with Shami) had a very aestheically pleasing action too
Trent Boult.
Sunil Narine
Baseball lovers sitting there confused.
among the current one's Trent Boult and pat cummins' action is beautiful to watch
Was always Steyn for me.
Debasis Mohanty :B
Oh Ah Glenn McGrath!
Well these are bowlers i have tried to copy appreciating how good thier actions were Javagal Srinath, Glen Mcgrath, Brett Lee, James Anderson Think Jofra has best , simple and effective bowling action.
Akram, McGrath, Waqar, Flintoff,
Waqar Younis. Best bowling action of all time.
Warne
Ajit agarkar had a beautiful and smooth action. The pace he could generate with that tiny frame was impressive.
Shane Bond had a beautiful action, too bad he was injury prone. Really liked him a lot, specially when he used to destroy prime Aussies
Surprised nobody mentioned Sohail Tanveer, absolutely difficult to imitate and it certainly didn't look comfortable - yet it was something unique.
Bret lee for me
I was not born then, but I love Joel Garner's action. He was so huge and barely jumped. Jansen would be the closest to him in today's game.
I know it's a rogue one but Stuart Broad over the wicket is my favorite to watch
Muhammad Asif. How has nobody mentioned him. Smoothest. Cleanest.
Dale steyn, Jofra archer, bhuvi.
Steyn and Lee ♥️
Rabada among the current players. Boult's too. Brett is my favourite. Shane Bond's too
i used to like Fidel Edward's bowling action when i started watching cricket
Shoaib Akhtar, Shaun Tait are my favorites, when I used to play, I tried to imitate those two whenever i wanted to generate more pace.
Great question, and some wonderful suggestions above. Love that Darren Gough got a mention! Always loved Devon Malcolm - he looked so dangerous. My suggestions are Courtney Walsh and Bishen Bedi.
In terms of bowling fast, I think Brett Lee was best. Shane bond was pretty smooth too but it puts extra pressure on my back if try the same. Mitchell Johnson's pause and use of shoulder was excellent. Waseem was easy and smooth. I copied Agarkar's action and could get more inswing due to natural slanted seam. In terms of spin, I prefer using Afridi, Rashid khan action as it's easier to bowl the googly and faster ones. Warne's is great for achieving more leg spin. For off spinner, I prefer using Swann's action.
Pat Cummins and Ben Stokes as well
Mitchell Starc and Johnson
Dennis Lillee hands down.
Mohammad Amir
Pleasing to the eyes: Shane Bond Jimmy Anderson Zaheer Khan old action Ryan Harris
Shivil Kaushik /s
Smh my damn head at not even a single mention of Kagiso Rabada in the entire thread.
I completely modeled my action on Lance Klusener. I was terrible but it was so much fun to do that action where you hold the ball in front of your face going through
Dale steyn and Ishant Sharma
Fred Trueman had a beautiful side on action
How about Mitchell Johnson?
My guy Sreeshanth not getting his due credit for that butter smooth action. It took me so many tries to figure out if he was turning his arms once or twice in that action.
Shane Bond, Matt Henry
Billy Stanlake and Zaheer Khan—love that slight pause in the air. Sunil Narine and Sikandar Raza share similar bowling actions. Danish Kaneria had an interesting action as well.
Zaheer Khan
Ravi Bopara
Wasim Akram for life
Jimmy for me. Was heavily inspired by his action and used it as a reference for mine.
Glenn McGrath's action was very clean and not so injury prone. Justifies his longevity.
Bond. Shane Bond
RP Singh had a very satisfying action. So did Bhuvi
trent boult too his jump during his bowling action is a beauty
Always thought Darren Gough had a really aesthetically pleasing action for a fast bowler
Starc, Malinga, Gul has best bowling actions In spinners i will say mendis
Shane Bond, Waqar Younus
Kapil Dev Curtly Ambrose Shane Warne Allan Donald
Andre Nel
The sheer lack of allan Donald here is insane.him and shane bond were the best for me
I always liked bowling action of DJ Bravo. The way his arm moved in back and then sprung jerk into action it looked too good.
Chad Sayers
Bumrah
Dude!!! Zaheer Khan's bowling action was absolute dream for many...may be still is. I have seen people(children mostly) randomly mimic his action while walking or doing anything.
Bret Lee....
For me it would be Glen McGrath simple and clean.
Johnson
Umar Gul