There is no greater sight in cricket than a fast bowler in full flight.
It’s a demanding skill requiring a combination of athleticism, technique and mongrel but when it all comes together, it puts batters on edge and has the same effect on spectators in their seats.
Australia have been blessed with a trio of all-time greats in Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and captain Pat Cummins who have 911 Test wickets between them over the past decade-plus.
But they are entering the latter stages of their glittering careers and with their main back-up bowlers in Scott Boland and Michael Neser in the veteran category, young blood will be needed to regenerate the Australian pace attack in the next year or two.
Here are the five leading specialist quicks who are the leading candidates to follow in their footsteps off the long run.
1. Jhye Richardson
If not for a string of injuries, Richardson would definitely have played more than three Tests – two against Sri Lanka in 2019 and an Adelaide Oval Ashes day-nighter two years later when he bagged 5-42 to bury England on the final day.
Richardson is not the tallest fast bowler but he has the rare ability to get natural outswing away from right-handers while bowling at high pace.
At 28 he is no longer youthful but perhaps like Cummins, whose early injury layoffs have ended up extending his career, Richardson could still have a lengthy Test career if he can stay injury-free for an extended stretch.
His workloads are being strictly managed by Cricket Australia’s high-performance gurus but he showed with a three-wicket opening spell against South Australia recently that he still has the potency to rip through a top order.
Richardson’s record at first-class level is superb – 110 wickets at 20.95 from 26 matches, including four five-wicket hauls. He is a match-winner when he’s on song and he could be a difference-maker for Australia in the post-Big Three era.
Lance Morris. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
2. Lance Morris
When it comes to out and out speed, Morris is Australia’s best prospect by a decent margin.
Capable of clocking over 150km/h, he had a golden summer at state level two years ago when he took 31 wickets in just six games at 19.96.
Despite being included in the Test squad the entire summer, he was not given a whirl, much to the relief of the visiting batters, and injuries have hampered his progress over the past 12 months.
He’s had a taste of international cricket with three ODIs earlier this year and with 76 wickets from 23 first-class matches at an average of 25.76, he could be a strike weapon for the Test team who can unsettle opponents when used in short, sharp spells.
Spencer Johnson. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
3. Spencer Johnson
The comparisons to Starc are obvious – a tall left-armer who can swing the ball late, he has also had to overcome some serious long-term injuries before getting his career heading in the right direction.
That has restricted him to just six first-class matches even though he is now 28 but in that time he has managed to claim 26 scalps, including two seven-wicket hauls.
Johnson has played a couple of T20s and eight ODIs for Australia and was named player of the series in the recent 20-over home showdown with Pakistan after sending eight batters on their way across the three matches.
With Starc the oldest of the current pace trio, Johnson’s wait for a baggy green cap may be over quicker than expected.
4. Jordan Buckingham
Buckingham has been in the Australia A set-up over the past couple of years so he is viewed by the selectors as a potential Test option in the making.
The 24-year-old’s stats of 74 wickets at 28.29 from 21 first-class matches don’t leap off the page but he has managed to claim some big scalps when he’s stepped up in class like Pakistani ace Babar Azam in a Prime Minister’s XI game and 6-58 against New Zealand A.
At 1.92m tall, he has height on his side and he is able to extract decent bounce from his front-on action.
5. Fergus O’Neill
Another quick with plenty of height at 1.93m, O’Neill has snared 85 wickets at an impressive 21.16 in 23 first-class matches for Victoria.
O’Neill set up Australia A’s win over their Indian counterparts in Mackay recently with 4-55 from 24 overs, including eight maidens, in a timely reminder to the national selectors that he is a fast bowler on the rise.
The 24-year-old has only been on the Sheffield Shield scene for the past two years but he has quickly made a name for himself with his ability to move the ball each way off the seam and in the air.
O’Neill is more in the Glenn McGrath mould of line and length rather than express pace but it has been a successful formula at domestic level and could be a point of difference for Australia in the Test match arena.
Fergus O’Neill. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
Unlike the batting stocks, there are several other options on the horizon for Australia.
Sean Abbott and Brendan Doggett have been added as cover for the second Test in Adelaide later this week but Boland is likely to get the nod as the third seamer.
Abbott, who has 46 white-ball appearances for Australia, is 32 so he is potentially only going to be a stopgap option for the Test team while Doggett, 30, is also unlikely to be a long-term option if he gets a run.
Sam Elliott has been impressive for Victoria over the past couple of seasons and he tore through Queensland recently with 4-43 to bowl his team to victory on the final day of a Shield clash at the Gabba while South Australia’s Nathan McAndrew has been exceeding expectations at first-class level for several seasons and could fill a role as a late bloomer like Neser in recent years for the Test squad.
The Australian under 19 team which won the World Cup in South Africa a few months ago was built around the pace trio of Mahli Beardman, Queensland’s Callum Vidler and NSW duo Charlie Anderson and Tom Straker.
Jhye Richardson celebrates the wicket of Haseeb Hameed in 2021. (Photo by Mark Brake – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
Beardman was rewarded for his player of the final efforts by getting a call-up to the senior squad’s white-ball tour of the UK in September and although he did not get a game, the 19-year-old Western Australian is on the national radar.
The young quartet need to get regular game time at state level before they start knocking on the door of the Test team but the future looks bright for the Aussies when it comes to regenerating the pace stocks.
Now if only the same could be said about the batting …
