Pace like fire - Inbox at Cricinfo

Although all four were bowling right-arm fast, they offered the full spectrum of artillery, namely: Andy Roberts - fairly short in height, his bustling round arm action allowed him to bowl outswingers with the new ball that were difficult to pick up in the air. His deceptive pace, late swing, nagging accuracy and low delivery trajectory saw him collect a lot of lbw and caught behind dismissals.

Michael Holding - not called 'Whispering Death' without reason, he had the most fluent, languid fast bowling action in the game's history. A champion middle distance runner in his youth, he naturally favoured a long run up to the crease and his effortless poetry in motion belied a capacity to generate great pace and bounce. Without warning, he could disrupt the batsman by going off a short run up to send down even quicker deliveries (was he the game's greatest ever exponent of mixing long-run and short-run deliveries?). Holding's stamina and athleticism also meant he could bowl all day if required.

Joel Garner - if you are 6ft 8ins tall and have a reach-for-the-sky action where the ball is being delivered from a height of ten feet, then what you lose in pace will be made up for with bounce. Garner's ability to make the ball rear up off a good length on seemingly dead pitches made him an extremely awkward proposition in the era before bowling machines would be able to simulate such bounce in net practice. He was the perfect support bowler after opening spells from Roberts and Holding.

Colin Croft - like Garner, a member of the awkward squad but for different reasons. Where Garner went vertical, Croft went horizontal with a curious windmill action that allowed him to slant the ball away from left-handed batsmen and worry the right-handers with uncommon inswing. This crosswards bowling line was accentuated by his delivery point wide of the crease. Never a candidate at risk of being warned for running on the pitch, I felt Croft often got away with the opposite in putting his feet outside the crease at the point of delivery. So there you have it.

I salute Roberts, Holding, Garner and Croft as the greatest fast bowling quartet who bowled together in cricket history. Can you think of a better quartet? For example, are Larwood, Allen, Voce and Bowes turning in their graves at such heresy?

Quite possibly the greatest bowling attack ever, backed by allrounder Collis King.

Australia's attack of McGrath, Gillespie, Lee, and Warne might come close in terms of strength.

But gee, it's terrfying thinking about those four rolling their arm over at you.

SF Barnes might argue the point with you, but that West Indian attack is light years ahead. The attack of Lillee, Thomson, Walker and Gilmour was pretty good as well, as was Imran, Wasim, Waqar and Aaqib.

What great fast bowlers the Windies were. The wickets these days have so many runs in them and its guys like Warne, Kumble and Muralidaran who've had to bowl sides out. I would loved to have seen how the Windies of old bowled in conditions like we have today. With the T20 format growing and the game being dominated more and more with the bat, are we ever going to see fast bowling like the Windies ever again? I hope not because that would be to cricket's detriment.

Great article Mark Wiggins,
Its refreshing to see a comparison that doesn't rattle off statistics through every nook and corner.
The West Indian fast bowling marauders are all the more great when their performance in the sub-continent is highlighted. Slow turners and trademark dust-bowls did nothing to reduce their potency and the fear in opposition batsman.
But i cant help but wonder if this was the best bowling quartet ever, would you rate the best batsman against them , Sunil Gavaskar, the greatest as well!!!!