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whos the best spinner ever

Neil Pickup

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halsey said:
Haven't you already been given a warning? :!( :!(
Leave that to us, Halsey please :)

I know it's good intentioned, but use "report post" rather than potentially starting something.

Cheers, mate :)
 

hourn

U19 Cricketer
very hard to tell.

for me i'd go between Grimmett, O'Rielly, Warne and Laker.

All about as good as each other going off their records and reputations and any footage i've seen.
 

V Reddy

International Debutant
I haven't seen Abdul Qadir bowl but his record abroad is worse than even Kumble. He averages about 48 away from Pakistan and which is about 10 more than Anil Kumble who is considered poor away. I think Subhash Gupte deserves a mention as his record is pretty good and have read that Sobers rates him as the best
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
luckyeddie said:
Some excellent names there - but I'm not sure whether I would classify Syd Barnes as the greatest spin bowler - I would, however, classify him as the greatest bowler full stop by a military mile - no-one comes close. He could (allegedly) bowl genuinely quick, medium (both off and leg cutters), orthodox off-breaks and leg-spin - the most complete bowler of any era.

Now, if only he could have batted, Sobers would have only been the second most complete player ever.
Of course Barnes was the best bowler ever IMO - but he was the best spinner ever, too.:D
Rather like had Malcolm Marshall been the best bowler ever he would still have been the best seamer ever.
 

Anil

Hall of Fame Member
Wow! 189 wickets in 27 tests at 16.43. What a record! In terms of stats, Barnes has to be the best ever and according to Eddie, he is the most versatile too.

Of modern day bowlers, Murali followed by Warne.
 

Pratters

Cricket, Lovely Cricket
anilramavarma said:
Wow! 189 wickets in 27 tests at 16.43. What a record! In terms of stats, Barnes has to be the best ever and according to Eddie, he is the most versatile too.

Of modern day bowlers, Murali followed by Warne.
Lohmann had his wickets at 10 a piece. There was Spofforth too. Then there are bowlers like John Wisden who took so many first class wickets cheaply but neevr played tests. I dont think it can ever be resolved who the best bowler ever was like say we say Bradman was the best ever batsman. Marshall, Hadlee among others may seem the best coz we saw them. Bradman though Grimett was better than Warne but its virtually impossible to say who the best bowler ever was.
 

hourn

U19 Cricketer
The problem with comparing guys like Lohmann, Barnes, Ferris, Spofforth and co is that before WWI it's nearly impossible to match their records against todays players.

A guy with a batting average in the high 30's then (ala Trumper) was considered the same as a guy in the mid to high 50's in just about any other period (ala Tendulkar, Sobers).

Because it is just too hard to tell how those guys were i tend to leave them out when people ask me off all-time teams and the like.

One day when i've got a lot of time on my hands i may make an attempt to convert their averages into today's averages. but right now i can't be bothered as it would most likely be a week long process if you wanted to get it really accurate.
 

Craig

World Traveller
vishnureddy said:
I haven't seen Abdul Qadir bowl but his record abroad is worse than even Kumble. He averages about 48 away from Pakistan and which is about 10 more than Anil Kumble who is considered poor away. I think Subhash Gupte deserves a mention as his record is pretty good and have read that Sobers rates him as the best
Sobers says Gupta is a better bowler then Warne.

Apprantly he had a lot more flippers, goglies etc. then Warne.
 

FRAZ

International Captain
I am wondering how was Chander shekhar.He had a physical problem with one arm of his . But still he played like a normal person. Its really a great thing. A friend of mine gave me a dvd to watch, it was an Indian movie , which was some thing like laggaan . He sent that straight from Vancouver as a birthday present . I saw it . It was a nice movie . In it there was a spinner . kachra . A friend was telling me that the film makers have tried to copy Chandershekhar. I checked his record and his life story , Its remarkable . I would say he is the greatest spinner in the world , and my favourite Saqlain is now second best.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
hourn said:
The problem with comparing guys like Lohmann, Barnes, Ferris, Spofforth and co is that before WWI it's nearly impossible to match their records against todays players.

A guy with a batting average in the high 30's then (ala Trumper) was considered the same as a guy in the mid to high 50's in just about any other period (ala Tendulkar, Sobers).

Because it is just too hard to tell how those guys were i tend to leave them out when people ask me off all-time teams and the like.

One day when i've got a lot of time on my hands i may make an attempt to convert their averages into today's averages. but right now i can't be bothered as it would most likely be a week long process if you wanted to get it really accurate.
Never possible to be certain to an exact degree.
Only really possible to say that batting-averages then were worth far more than they are now, and bowling-averages were worth less than now.
For instance, it is perfectly possible to make the case that WG Grace was the best batsman ever as he averaged nearly 50 in his career before he reached the age of 40. This is about 30 ahead of most of his peers; Bradman, similarly, was about 65 ahead of his peers.
It doesn't quite add-up; I still think Bradman was the better batsman. But Grace must have been far better than most others in the game's history.
 

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