Cook rubbishes claims of present pace bowling not being equal to early 90s

London: England opener Alastair Cook has rubbished claims that current pace bowling attack isn`t what it used to be in the early 90s.

Cook had a testing time facing West Indies pacers Kemar Roach and Fidel Edwards at Lord`s on Sunday evening. And with South Africans Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel to come later in the summer, Cook believes pace bowling is just as fearsome today as it was in the early 90s. Back then, Wasim and Waqar, Donald and Pollock, Walsh and Ambrose, and McGrath and Gillespie were partnerships that put fear into every opening batsman, The Daily Mirror reports. "I`ve never agreed with that argument that there aren`t any pace bowlers around any more. Seeing as I`m the one who has to go out and face the new ball, I should know. "It always seems to be people 90 or 100 yards away saying that the pace isn`t what it used to be, but at Lord`s I thought the Windies bowled very well," said Cook. "Kemar Roach bowled very quick at times and with great control too, while Fidel has got better since we last saw him and he has the control to go with the pace," he added. ANI