Hadlee. Akram. Ambrose. Bumrah: India’s pace hero can trump best fast bowlers to tour Australia

Devastatingly dangerous and unplayable as he seems, Jasprit Bumrah is unlikely to ever be received in the same fashion by the Australian masses as Sir Richard Hadlee once was.

Hadlee’s a wanker, rata-tata-tata.

Greg Chappell once explained to the Kiwi icon that the ubiquitous taunt of his 1980s heyday was borne from grudging respect.

“The people here rate you and fear you,” Chappell told New Zealand’s greatest. Hadlee has long believed his hospitalising of Geelong grade cricketer Peter Oxlade with a slew of bouncers in 1981 started the chant.

After being scolded by a schoolboy who ran onto the pitch telling him “you’re a mongrel, Hadlee”, and the next day questioning Australia’s education system, he was the pantomime villain forever more – and the most successful fast bowler to visit the shores in the past 50 years.

In terms of bowling averages on Australian soil, Hadlee is the only paceman in front of Bumrah.

But on several other measures, the Indian superstar will this summer continue to move past some of the all-time greats to visit Australia – names such as Malcolm Marshall, Wasim Akram and John Snow.

Bumrah’s six-over opening spell on day one in Perth in which he took 3-9 featured another dozen balls that were edged, miscued or missed all together as the stand-in skipper single-handedly swung the Test India’s way.

Michael Vaughan rated it as good as any new-ball spell he’s seen. Sunil Gavaskar believes Bumrah would challenge any batter from any era. Travis Head plans to tell his grandchildren about facing him.

The company Bumrah is keeping in the ranks of touring fast bowlers over the past 50 years says it all. When he takes the pink ball in Adelaide’s day-night Test, the distinct possibility arises that the world’s best bowler will be even more dangerous.

Sir Richard Hadlee, New Zealand (1973-87)

12 Tests, 77 wickets at 17.83. Best bowling: 9-52

The most dominant fast bowler to visit Australia in the past 50 years, Hadlee amassed 33 wickets in New Zealand’s 1985 tour – unrivalled in a three-Test series.

So too his 15 wickets at the Gabba and 9-52 to begin the summer, aided by a plastic rubbish bin taking the umpire’s place in the nets to ensure he bowled wicket-to-wicket. On his last Australian tour aged 36, Hadlee finished with three consecutive five-wicket hauls.

Jasprit Bumrah, India (2018-24)

8 Tests, 40 wickets at 18.8. Best bowling: 6-33

As veteran broadcaster Harsha Bhogle noted during the Perth Test, “Bumrah is now the most analysed player in cricket in current times. And yet, batters are no closer to figuring out the best way to play him.”

The Perth Test was not the first time Jasprit Bumrah has had the better of Australia’s batters.Credit: Cricket Australia via Getty Images

Remarkably, he is yet to play Australia on Indian soil. But every second time he takes the ball in Australia, Bumrah claims three or more scalps. Of his 40 wickets here, 53 per cent have been bowled or LBW – a far higher return than most visiting seamers on bouncier Australian pitches. With four more Tests to play in this series and Bumrah at the peak of his powers, that wicket tally is poised to swell significantly.

Curtly Ambrose, West Indies (1988-97)

14 Tests, 78 wickets at 19.79. Best bowling: 7-25

The only bowler to match Hadlee in single-handedly deciding a Test series, Ambrose took no less than six five-wicket hauls across a decade of touring and terrorised Australian batters. Few bowlers are as synonymous with an overseas venue as Ambrose and the WACA, where he took 24 wickets at 12.91 in three visits, including the famed 7-1 spell in 1993.

John Snow, England (1970-71)

Six Tests, 31 wickets at 22.83. Best bowling: 7-40

More than menacing, Australians should have seen a lot more of Snow than just the 1970-71 Ashes series, when his 31 wickets were instrumental in England reclaiming the urn. Possessor of a healthy rebellious streak, the son of a clergyman has also two published books of poetry and provided the enduring memory of felling Terry Jenner at the SCG, prompting the locals to manhandle Snow and pelt him with bottles and half-eaten pies.

Ian Bishop, West Indies (1992-97)

10 Tests, 43 wickets at 23.03. Best bowling: 6-40

David Boon watches Ian Bishop celebrate one of many wickets in 1993.Credit: Steven Siewert

In some eyes, Bishop was the fastest West Indian quick of his generation. To most, even with 161 Test wickets, his was injury-hampered, largely unfulfilled potential. But in Australia, Bishop enjoyed his lowest bowling average of any country. When Ambrose ran roughshod at the WACA in the first innings in 1993, Bishop took charge with 6-40 in the second, finishing the series with 23 scalps at 20.86.

Malcolm Marshall, West Indies (1984-89)

10 Tests, 45 wickets at 23.15. Best bowling: 5-29

Here’s another West Indian champion who Australian audiences didn’t see enough of given he didn’t play a Test on the 1979-80 tour. One photo of the 180cm youngster alongside his towering teammates was captioned “Malcolm Marshall – West Indies new chum”.

When Marshall did take the ball in 1984-85, he was imperious. In one month and three Tests in Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne, Marshall claimed four straight five-wicket hauls in an emphatic 3-1 series win.

Wasim Akram, Pakistan (1990-99)

Nine Tests, 36 wickets at 24.05. Best bowling: 6-62

Regarded by many as the greatest left-arm quick of all-time, Akram’s crowning glory on Australian soil came at the expense of the English. Bless him, and those inswingers that won the 1992 World Cup final. Two years earlier, Akram had stepped out onto the MCG and delivered a truly stunning performance, taking 11 wickets and man-of-the-match honours in a 92-run Australian win.

Wasim Akram celebrates as Mark Waugh is on his way.Credit: Craig Golding

An omnipresent figure during World Series Cricket’s 80-90s heyday, Akram’s 64 one-dayers in Australia (for 87 wickets at less than 25) almost bettered his 67 ODIs in Pakistan.

Michael Holding, West Indies (1975-85)

14 Tests, 63 wickets at 24.22. Best bowling: 6-21

Holding went wicketless when he made his Test debut at the Gabba in 1975. “Whispering Death” became one of the faces of World Series Cricket with 35 wickets at 23.09, and he got better on subsequent visits. Holding claimed 39 scalps across the 1981-82 and 84-85 series, most memorably taking 6-21 at the WACA when the Australian flag was lowered to half-mast given the ’84 Test’s third day fell on Armistice Day. Talk about an omen.

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