who is the greatest?

[AdrianS]

Ok this hasnt been asked for a while, Belmonte or Bradford?

Personally im voting for Bradford, won in nasty NASTY centres more than once(plenty of those in Victoria back in the day) Virtual computer for a mind. Plus i saw him win the Mt Gambier cup twice shooting deliberate brooklyns, do that someday!! As for the rest of his career look it up, its easier to list the stuff he DIDNT win (the SA cup)

ps
Got told this by Don Alexander once, another bowler had wanted a ride to a tourney somewhere but Ian knocked him back, you see he had the car packed for maximum fuel economy and his mate would have stuffed it up!! That my friends was Ian Bradford

 

[clarky030]

Bradford for sure.
The original iceman on the lanes.

 

[MR HOLD3M]

The problem is they are from different decades. One was and one is excellent at their trade.

 

[Easy Tiger]

Absolutely no disrespect to Ian Bradford, but Belmo has won all around the world (Europe, Asia, and the US, the three hardest places to win with the best talent in the world turning up week in and week out, plus winning in Australia as well). His performance on the PBA speaks for itself, not just including the title he won.

 

[granto]

For me personally it would be Belmo. My reason why is Belmo is a much better person off the lanes than Bradford. Belmo is the complete package head to toe!!!

 

[Wal Brooker]

No one can deny Ian Bradford's record on the 'local' scene but Jason has travelled the Globe and tested himself (with success) against the world's very best.

With that in mind Jason Belmonte has to be Australia's all time premier bowler.

However as has been pointed out both players competed in different eras and both should be congratulated on their success on the lanes.

 

[poppy62]

A great deal of the readers here wouldnt have even been born when Bradford was at his peak. His approach to his game was every bit as intense as if you were watching Cara bowl - Robotic - and both virtuallly unbeatable.... only a mirror image being a natural right hander but still could manage a good ave when he bowled leftie when injury to his right prevented him for a long period

Yes Jason is a brilliant bowler and i love watching him bowl but if Bradford was given the same opportunities to bowl on the world scene... He would have succeeded as well.

For Australias all time Premier bowler ?? I think we are looking at the wrong gender...Honeychurch,Baker,Gianotti,Putney...for achievements on the world stage

 

[Jasonguru]

I totally agree with Wal here. Always hard not to agree with ya mate such common sense to things.

I remember Ian Bradford at the Gosford Nationals, watching him in the stands set up and just pure repetition and fluency is what sticks out even now after being so long ago, about 20 years now (geez i AM getting older!).

I firmly believe if he had the same opportunities afforded to him Belmo has had, there would not be a very big difference. Both are from different eras though and it is very difficult to compare.

In saying all of that, I cannot pick one but will say Belmo has proven himself all over the world, whilst Ian bowled at times on conditions you would scream about nowadays and threw amazing scores.

Good topic for discussion Adrian. Am sitting on the fence on this one though! hehe. Both are true champs in my opinion.

 

[jason_doust]

I've been present and competitive in both eras. It's no contest.

It's Belmo.

Why? No wrist-assist for a start. Greater aggression. Much more athletic game. Infinitely better ball roll. Very impressive speed and release adaptability. With the exception of not being able to spin the release and alter his tilt significantly (no thumb in to do so), he can switch ball roll as well as anyone. Jason can play any part of the lane. Any part. I've seen him play 2 board and I've seen him play 3 board from the left with 10 feet of loft, swinging out to 6-7, using a highly increased rotation angle and (here's the clicncher) soft ball speed to throw 235-ish out of the pocket. Try doing that!

If I fire up the DeLorean and take Jason back to the 80-90's, he would have been ultra-competitive. With his super-high PAP numbers and subsequent massive track diameter and inverse tilt, he could float the urethane ball through the tumbleweeds we played on and have it smash much the same. (All that friction, again...) Just like Billy Gardiner did. Jason's more accurate than Billy too, so add it up and it's just as scary as it is today.

To top it off, Jason has an international record that anybody would like to have. The guy beat Walter Ray Williams Jr with a plastic ball, for goodness sake! It's true that I'm not a fan of the two-handed delivery, but the records speaks for itself.

He's got years left in him too.

 

[granto]

Well typed Jason. This type of info is very handy for the younger bowlers to read especially coming from your experience in our sport. Again well said!

Grant

 

[craig]

god help the world, if bradfords mental game and belmo's physical game were bourne into one body

both the best of their era's by a mile,

the p.b.a is the pinnacle of bowling, and thats where belmo got my vote

 

[MR HOLD3M]

I think Bradford in his heyday won a $50,000 dollar Mercedes Benz in the Phillipines.A nice windfall indeed in the late 80s early 90s.

 

[robbo300]

Wat could Ian have done with high tech balls wow!!!!1 but we will never know

 

[jimcross]

Wat could Ian have done with high tech balls wow!!!!1 but we will never know

Maybe not as well. As well as advantages they introduce more variables, which have to be read and adjusted for. They also change the lane conditions faster.

 

[strop]

Well I suppose the question is "who is the greatest". I suppose different is we say "Who was the greatest".

I really don't think we should compare as they come from 2 different era's.

Belmo is great and is doing well for the country, although I want to see him in his 50's with the style he bowl's, who knows, probably no different than he does now.

Bradford was a machine, dedicated and one of the most dominant bowlers thru the 80 and 90's. Too many variables from both era's to compare.

There are both truly great bowlers.

 

[Wal Brooker]

I said in an earlier post that I believe Jason Belmonte is our all time premier bowler. poppy62 rightly suggested that maybe we should be looking at that other gender for our all time best.

It was mentioned that Cara Honeychurch and several others should be considered as well.

It got me thinking about Cara's record on the lanes and it is outstanding. She won a bucket full of gold medals at Bowling's only appearance, at the Commonwealth games, as well as World FIQ events, the Amf World cup plus a host of titles on the PWBA tour all capped off by a 300 game on tv.

In addition, when she was at her peak, there is no doubt that she was the leading bowler in Australia, male or female. Her win in the Melbourne Cup against the very best men available is proof of that.

So does all that change my opinion as to who is our best ever player?

It made me think, I can tell you, but I still have to go for Jason.

Jason Belmonte is the biggest thing in World Bowling over the last 30 years or so. There would not be a competitive player on the plannet that doesnt know about him and his two handed style!

Every where you go kids and the not so young alike are trying to throw a ball the way he does. Even this year's pba Player of the Year, Walter Ray Williams jr has been seen giving it a go.

There are other 'two handed' bowlers around but only Jason Belmonte is the complete package. He bowls every shot with both hands unlike other such as Osku Palerma who shoot a number of their spares the old 'fashion way' with their thumb in the ball.

So that's my case .. the one thing I'm greatful for is that I've been around long enough to watch Cara, Ian, Jason and a host of others such as Joe Velo, Steve Mackie etc at their peak and look forward to a few more in the years ahead.

 

[jimcross]

Maybe, especially after reading Jason's post, we should find some other name to describe whatever it is that Belmo does? Then compare apples with apples with the other people mentioned?

 

[granto]

When all is said and done, all the champions in our great sport each bring a different flavour to the table. I look at it like this - If we had a recipe which we could add a little from each player, imagine how good it would be out of the oven...

 

[bluey]

Cara won the Australian Open 3 years in a row, no one else has even won it 3 times, on a tough condition, better than all others. Bradford and l travelled together to SA one year for the Village Open, great bloke, easy to talk to and what an awesome mental game. Belmo has a zillion revs and opens up the lanes like few others, tough choice.

 

[dags75]

have this to say:-
cricket:- bradman, lara, tendulkar etc
golf:- Tiger woods & nicolas etc
Tennis:- Sampras & Federer,
All have same thing in comon, they cant be compared, due to different eras, technology, playing fields etc.
Imagine giving bradman the bat lara or tendulkar used? lol
or nicolas the clubs woods used.
Cant be compared and therefors should both just be as they are 'GREATS IN THE SPORT'