The Fearsome Four

                            Fast bowling is the most reliable part of the team .If a team has a low score on the board , then the tables can be turned with some serious pace bowling and by delivering it with suitable line and length . When we speak about the pace and look back we remember the bowlers like  Brett Lee , Shoaib Akhtar , Shaun Tait , Shane Bond  and many more .  But , what if there are 3 or 4 bowlers in the same team who , can bowl with real quickness and some treacherous lengths one after another , it will be a real test for the batsmen skill.
                            One of the most  fearsome bowling  line up that was ever produced by the west indies was in between 1970's and till mid 1980's . They were known as the "4 Horsemen of the apocalypse"  or "The Quartet" . These 4 fast bowlers were the real horror for the batsmen . These men had serious pace bowling  , who can deliver the ball at the ravaging speed of 90 Mph(144 Kmph) and 97Mph(155 Kmph) or per haps even more. Many batsmen had dealt with many blows from these bowlers leaving some indelible marks of fear in their memories .

Andy Roberts , Micheal Holding , Colin Croft and Joel Garner also known as the "4 horsemen of the apocalypse"

Andy Roberts:

Andy Roberts  was known as unreadable assassin for his calm and composed way of bowling . His bouncers will be forever remembered by the opposition team as he used to bowl mainly two variations . The one which was slower and other which was coming like a beamer . The batsmen were really baffled with his bouncers as he used first bowl the slow one and in the very next bowl that bouncer was delivered with a greater pace. Many batsmen had fallen for this trick.
                                           

Micheal Holding:

Micheal Holding was well known for his nick name “Whispering Death”. The reason why , he is known for this nick name , because he was so calm while making his run up that even umpires were not able to notice he was approaching for the bowling crease . Holding can bowl at a greater speed of 156 kmph .In his entire international career holding bowled about 900 overs and never conceded a wide . His  bowling figures of 14/149 against England in 1976 still , holds as the best bowling figures by a west Indian pacer . He was also famous for the best over bowled in test cricket in 1981 against the English batsmen Geoff boycott.

Colin Croft:

Standing at  6 foot 5 inches colin croft was one of the aggressive bowlers among the quartet . His bowling action was quiet peculiar . He used to run up behind the umpire , going unnoticeable for the batsmen most of the time and moments before releasing the ball he used to reveal himself . His 8 wickets for 29 runs against the Pakistan in 1977 is still the best test bowling figures in an innings by any fast bowler from the west indies.

Joel Garner:

Joel garner the last of the quartet .He was also known as the "Big Bird" due his huge height of 6 foot 8 inches . He was so proficient in bowling the Yorkers and bouncers at the same time . In just 58 test matches he claimed 259 wickets with the bowling average of just 20.97 . He also bowled the best figures at world cup final , which was in 1979 against England where he claimed 5 wickets for just 39 runs , at that time garner was on a hattrick twice . His bowling figures in one day format are quite remarkable featuring in 98 matches he had 146 scalps at an average of 18.84 , which is like 3 runs per over .

           

            These bowlers will be remembered for the ages in the cricket history . They were the real deal for the team of west indies and a never ending nightmare for the opposition team . 

The DON of the test cricket

                 Cricket was started with test format and it is still considered as the beautiful format in the cricket by many players around the world. Though it may take 4-5 days for completing a match and sometimes the end result may end in draw still , it is a treat to watch this format of the cricket for many cricketing fans . This format is little lengthier and will test the players temperament and patience whether it is with the ball or a bat.
                  When anybody speaks about the test cricket one can remember the legends like Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar , Brian lara , Ricky Ponting and many more . In the present cricketing world there are many remarkable players who are performing pretty good in this format . But , among the Greatest of the Greatest Sir Don Bradman is considered as the greatest test batsmen in the history.
               

Sir Don Bradman

Featuring in just 52 matches and 80 innings Bradman scored 6996 runs with 29 centuries in his test career with a phenomenal batting average of 99.94 . Brandman could have reached to the batting average of 100 in his test career but , unfortunately in his final innings against england during the ashes series in 1948 he was bowled out for duck by the leg spinner Eric Hollies . Bradman fall just short of 4 runs in making the biggest history in test cricket. 

Bradman in his final innings dismissed by Eric Hollies

   It has been 70 years and still no other batsmen in the world is nowhere near to this record . Hope some day this record will be broken by some other player . Until then this record will be reminded as one of the greatest and the rarest feet in the history of test cricket.