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Top 10 New Zealand fast bowlers of all time

The New
The New Zealand team of 1973 that toured England - Sir Richard Hadlee and Richard Collinge pictured

The Kiwis have always been known for their horde of medium fast bowlers and due to the conditions in New Zealand, it is not really a surprise that the best bowlers to have emerged from the country have almost always been of the faster variant.

New Zealand's usually green pitches, 'English weather' and windy conditions have encouraged a production line of excellent swing and seam bowlers who revel in making the life of visiting batsmen difficult.

Right from the time when they first played Test cricket to the present day, the team has depended heavily on the exploits of its faster bowlers and here is a look at 10 of the best among them.

10 Richard Collinge

Richard Collinge
Richard Collinge

The left-arm fast bowler was one of the earliest greats among New Zealand's bowlers and when he finally called time on his 13-year career, he was the highest wicket-taker in the country's Test history at the time.

Richard Collinge came into bowl off a pretty long run up and was an extremely accurate medium-fast bowler, who could swing the ball with ease. In addition to that, he bowled a fuller length and that made it doubly difficult to negotiate whatever swing that he was able to extract.

Collinge played only 35 Tests, primarily because of his reluctance to go on tours, but still managed to pick up 116 Test wickets at an average of 29.25. He played 15 one-dayers as well but his returns were a rather modest haul of 18 wickets. 

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