Harris vs. Hauritz vs. Swann

[subshakerz]

Given that spin stocks worldwide aren't what they used to be, I have to say that these three spinners are doing a more than decent job of being part strike part support for the team's main pacers. I was wondering what you guys felt the current pecking order would be of the three. I'm leaning towards Swann as the best, as his finest spells are closest to worldclass IMO though he is not as consistent. Thoughts?

 

[Nate]

Harris is definately the best, most consistent spinner. As an all-round cricketer, I'd have Swann.

 

[Zinzan]

Given that spin stocks worldwide aren't what they used to be, I have to say that these three spinners are doing a more than decent job of being part strike part support for the team's main pacers. I was wondering what you guys felt the current pecking order would be of the three. I'm leaning towards Swann as the best, as his finest spells are closest to worldclass IMO though he is not as consistent. Thoughts?

From the little I've seen of the 3, damn hard to separate. Probably Swann marginally.

Should've run a poll

 

[Andrew Pollock]

Swann then Harris

Hauritz is not even in the best 3 spinners in Aus

 

[aussie]

Presuming we are refering to tests cricket only...

Swann the best all-round spinner. Harris & Hauritz are a joke & too often have been made to look good by teams who play spin weak i.e my beloved England.

Harris in the last 3 years for SA has worked very well in a 5-man attack. So as long as SA have that
5-man attack he will be very useful in tests although he is a joke spinner. If Kallis stops bowling, i dont think Harris will be that effective in a 4-man attack.

Hauritz i still think he is joke - but he no doubt has improved a great deal in 2009 & is the most accurate/economical of the three. But as i've maintained AUS currently can do without playing him in most conditions. Their strenght is the pace attack & should play 4-seamers.

Swann is very solid in most conditions. He is the most likely of the three to get good batsman out consistently with good bowling - instead of batsman doing like Pietersen & getting themselves out due to false strokes/stupid shots. ENG can ATM can easily play him a 4-man attack wtihout much worries (although there will be conditions when ENG may consider dropping him for a 4-man pace attack as well).

Only problem is that with an average/decent pace trio of Anderson/Onions/Broad without Flintoff these days . If one of those guys has an off-days & Swann has to take up extra-responsibility (like a Warne in the 05 Ashes) he can be exposed due to a lack or raw wicket-taking weapons (i.e a doosra).

 

[Andrew Pollock]

Presuming we are refering to tests cricket only...

Swann the best all-round spinner. Harris & Hauritz are a joke & too often have been made to look good by teams who play spin weak i.e my beloved England.

Harris in the last 3 years for SA has worked very well in a 5-man attack. So as long as SA have that
5-man attack he will be very useful in tests although he is a joke spinner. If Kallis stops bowling, i dont think Harris will be that effective in a 4-man attack.

Hauritz i still think he is joke - but he no doubt has improved a great deal in 2009 & is the most accurate/economical of the three. But as i've maintained AUS currently can do without playing him in most conditions. Their strenght is the pace attack & should play 4-seamers.

Swann is very solid in most conditions. He is the most likely of the three to get good batsman out consistently with good bowling - instead of batsman doing like Pietersen & getting themselves out due to false strokes/stupid shots. ENG can ATM can easily play him a 4-man attack wtihout much worries (although there will be conditions when ENG may consider dropping him for a 4-man pace attack as well).

Only problem is that with an average/decent pace trio of Anderson/Onions/Broad without Flintoff these days . If one of those guys has an off-days & Swann has to take up extra-responsibility (like a Warne in the 05 Ashes) he can be exposed due to a lack or raw wicket-taking weapons (i.e a doosra).

Nice post

 

[Furball]

Presuming we are refering to tests cricket only...

Swann the best all-round spinner. Harris & Hauritz are a joke & too often have been made to look good by teams who play spin weak i.e my beloved England.

Harris in the last 3 years for SA has worked very well in a 5-man attack. So as long as SA have that
5-man attack he will be very useful in tests although he is a joke spinner. If Kallis stops bowling, i dont think Harris will be that effective in a 4-man attack.

Hauritz i still think he is joke - but he no doubt has improved a great deal in 2009 & is the most accurate/economical of the three. But as i've maintained AUS currently can do without playing him in most conditions. Their strenght is the pace attack & should play 4-seamers.

Swann is very solid in most conditions. He is the most likely of the three to get good batsman out consistently with good bowling - instead of batsman doing like Pietersen & getting themselves out due to false strokes/stupid shots. ENG can ATM can easily play him a 4-man attack wtihout much worries (although there will be conditions when ENG may consider dropping him for a 4-man pace attack as well).

Only problem is that with an average/decent pace trio of Anderson/Onions/Broad without Flintoff these days . If one of those guys has an off-days & Swann has to take up extra-responsibility (like a Warne in the 05 Ashes) he can be exposed due to a lack or raw wicket-taking weapons (i.e a doosra).

Harris is a lot better than you give him credit for.

 

[Zinzan]

Harris is a lot better than you give him credit for.

Agree

 

[Richard]

Harris has better accuracy than Swann but Swann has better attacking tools. Thus on a turning pitch Harris should be useful, Swann should be deadly. On a non-turner Harris and Swann are still capable of baiting batsmen out but I do think there've been a few more batsmen to fall for said trap than should be doing.

Hauritz has yet to show that he can be a terribly good bowler even on a turning deck.

So in short for me Swann > Harris >>>>> Hauritz.

 

[zaremba]

I like watching all 3 bowl.

Hauritz is capable of bowling beautifully, a really nice classical offspinner. Not a world-beater but a bit underrated imho.

Harris looks so entirely unthreatening, but that is his secret weapon. That and the toxic mind-waves that he emits to lure batsmen into crazy errors against his bowling.

Admittedly it's not saying much, but Swann is by a distance the best English spinner I've seen for a while. He can sometimes get a fair amount of turn, but has a very good delivery that goes straight on (occasionally with a bit of arm-ball swing) and his record against lefties is outstanding.

All 3 are also handy with the bat, but Swann is the best of them.

 

[Jono]

I like watching all 3 bowl.

Yeah me too. Not sure why I like watching Hauritz, but I do.

Really enjoy watching Swann and Harris.

Perhaps I'm just a fan of off spin bowling.

 

[Richard]

Harris has to be one of the least attractive bowlers I've ever seen TBH. That horrible action and the hairdo is just a... well, horrible, combo.

I don't doubt that to some extent that helps him with batsmen underestimating him either.

 

[Streetwise]

Swann had a good series against West Indies but his stats are dire against other countries.

 

[Richard]

Admittedly it's not saying much, but Swann is by a distance the best English spinner I've seen for a while.

People were saying that about MSP barely a couple of years ago. I don't doubt Swann is a bit better than Giles and certainly far, far more reliable than Tufnell (I'd still imagine Tufnell's best bowling on the exceptionally rare occasion he produced it is better than anything Swann can produce but he's got time to show otherwise yet) but I seriously dispute he's significantly if at all better Croft and even the county-spectator's favourite Such. He is currently better than MSP but I do still think MSP could potentially outdo him in the long-run, though that's looking less likely as time goes on.

I've never yet been truly familiar with how good or otherwise the Embureys and Edmundses were (obviously they didn't have the uncovered wickets advantage that their predecessors Illingworth and Underwood enjoyed for the first part of their careers) so I'll gladly not currently try to compare there, but I realise you may be calling Swann the best since Emburey so it may not be important anyway.

 

[silentstriker]

Harbhajan deserves a mention, no? And Murali is still playing, albeit a much reduced force.

Out of the three, I like Swann the best.

 

[Manee]

Harris has better accuracy than Swann but Swann has better attacking tools. Thus on a turning pitch Harris should be useful, Swann should be deadly. On a non-turner Harris and Swann are still capable of baiting batsmen out but I do think there've been a few more batsmen to fall for said trap than should be doing.

Hauritz has yet to show that he can be a terribly good bowler even on a turning deck.

So in short for me Swann > Harris >>>>> Hauritz.

I like watching all 3 bowl.

Hauritz is capable of bowling beautifully, a really nice classical offspinner. Not a world-beater but a bit underrated imho.

Harris looks so entirely unthreatening, but that is his secret weapon. That and the toxic mind-waves that he emits to lure batsmen into crazy errors against his bowling.

Admittedly it's not saying much, but Swann is by a distance the best English spinner I've seen for a while. He can sometimes get a fair amount of turn, but has a very good delivery that goes straight on (occasionally with a bit of arm-ball swing) and his record against lefties is outstanding.

All 3 are also handy with the bat, but Swann is the best of them.

Would agree with most of these. Hauritz is a good off spin bowler - there is no denying that. He is classical in his approach and is great to watch. His numbers may not be world beating and I'd expect he'll end his career with an average approaching 35 - but he does a job for Australia where McGain, Hogg and MacGill (post Warne retirement) failed and therefore has been a valuable asset for Australia.

Would agree with both about Harris. He is effective, but boy is he an uncomfortable bowler to watch.

Swann is the best of the three though. He simply takes the most wickets, turns the ball the most and is the best spinner of the three. However, that is not to discount the other two though, as they are both fine spinners, underrated when unfairly compared to Warne/Murali and when nostalgically compared to spinners of the past, who will always be seen with rose-tinted glasses.

 

[Richard]

Harbhajan deserves a mention, no? And Murali is still playing, albeit a much reduced force.

I think it's a given that Harbhajan is a better bowler than all three - he spins it as much, has better flight and unlike any of the three bowls a good Doosra.

Comparing fingerspinners to Murali is, even if Murali is not the force he once was, as unfair as ever. I'd still imagine Murali, given a turning deck, would outbowl most every fingerspinner going around currently.

 

[Richard]

they are both fine spinners, underrated when unfairly compared to Warne/Murali and when nostalgically compared to spinners of the past, who will always be seen with rose-tinted glasses.

Some day, the same will doubtless apply to them. I look forwards to the CW posters in 2023 who pine for the long-lost days of Harris and Hauritz.

 

[Manee]

Some day, the same will doubtless apply to them. I look forwards to the CW posters in 2023 who pine for the long-lost days of Harris and Hauritz.

Indeed, will be amusing to see how nostalga applies to the 'merely good' bowlers of the current age. However, I do think that the fact that we have such wide ranging footage may mean that talk of Akhtar bowling upwards of mach 3, Mcgrath being able to land the ball on a marker pen spot on the pitch and Muralitharan being able to turn the ball from one side of the cut strip to the other, may unfortunately not happen.

 

[Manee]

I think it's a given that Harbhajan is a better bowler than all three - he spins it as much, has better flight and unlike any of the three bowls a good Doosra.

I think that Swann pushes Harbhaan. Harbhajan rarely bowls his doosra these days (maybe in an attempt to clean up his action), tbh and I think it is currently matched for effectiveness by Swann's arm ball. Although Harbhajan is a criminally underrated bowler in Tests, atm, Swann rarely goes two Tests without a very good spell - and he rarely gets tracks which overtly assist his bowling.