Who do you think the best bowlers are at present??

[Uppercut]

IMO Morkel is Harmison mark II. Hes yet to have a decent test series, his figures in England flatter him hugely and thats despite the fact that he averaged 30. I think while his height and pace can be awkward for batsman and do give him an edge, I cannot see how someone with his current accuracy and bowling action will have long term success. Maybe that might change, but at the moment hes not very good.

As far as Ishant is concerned, hes had some very good series of late and his most recent performance was spectacular when you consider that his more respected and highly rated comrades and opponents in Lee, Clark and Zaheer were continuously inferior in the series. He might not be the best fast bowler around, but hes definetly bowling as well as almost everyone at the moment.

...Yet they get similar amounts of wickets. Occasionally i think nagging accuracy is given too much importance. Wicket taking is the most important thing, Sharma can't quite turn quality bowling into wickets just yet, Morkel can.

I'd still take Sharma, given the choice. But they're not a class apart.

 

[tooextracool]

...Yet they get similar amounts of wickets. Occasionally i think nagging accuracy is given too much importance. Wicket taking is the most important thing, Sharma can't quite turn quality bowling into wickets just yet, Morkel can.

I'd still take Sharma, given the choice. But they're not a class apart.

I didnt watch the India-SA series in India, but from the series in SA and the series in England, I can confirm that there was little 'quality' bowling involved. Its one thing to bowl well and get wickets, its another to get gifted wickets as England frequently did last summer.

With regards to Sharma, in his last 8 tests hes averaging around 26. He might not be naggingly accurate but he doesnt spray it half as much as Morkel and has a bit more variation in his bowling.

 

[Burgey]

Test statistical ranking (qual. 20 wickets min vs. top 8)

1) Mendis
2) Steyn
3) Sidebottom
4) Taylor
5) Anderson - Shakib
6) Lee
7) Vaas - Murali
8) Edwards
9) Clark
10) Morkel
11) Johnson
12) Hossain
13) Sharma
14) Ntini-Bravo
15) Singh
16) Panesar
17) Khan
18) Broad - Kumble - Harris - Vettori

Taylor and Edwards higher than I expected and so was Hossain. Shakib is a gun.

How many tests has Mendis played v top 8 countries? Is it only the one series v India?
If it is, it's probably too early to rate him as the best, but if I wanted a banker for the next say 5 years, I'd take him or Sharma ATM. Honourable mentions to Steyn and Mishra as well.

 

[morgieb]

Murali. Partly based on past performances rather than potential/current performances.

 

[morgieb]

If you consider all bowlers playing some form of cricket, then it would be Warne.

 

[Athlai]

How many tests has Mendis played v top 8 countries? Is it only the one series v India?
If it is, it's probably too early to rate him as the best, but if I wanted a banker for the next say 5 years, I'd take him or Sharma ATM. Honourable mentions to Steyn and Mishra as well.

Just 3 Tests against India in which he took 26 wickets.

 

[Athlai]

If you consider all bowlers playing some form of cricket, then it would be Warne.

lol

 

[G.I.Joe]

If you consider all bowlers playing some form of cricket, then it would be Warne.

Since when were Poker and Pizza eating forms of cricket?

 

[Precambrian]

If you consider all bowlers playing some form of cricket, then it would be Warne.

Nah my neighbour.

 

[Migara]

If you consider all bowlers playing some form of cricket, then it would be Warne.

Was it a joke or . . .

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Flintoff's the best bowler in the world that hasn't played in 2 years, for sure.

Anyway, the obvious answer here is....





















James Anderson.

 

[Athlai]

Flintoff's the best bowler in the world that hasn't played in 2 years, for sure.

Bond.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Bond.

Still playing tbf.

And I'd take Flintoff over him at the moment anyway.

 

[GIMH]

Flintof obv, duh

 

[zaremba]

Mendis is really, really, realllllly obviously far more difficult to play than any of those. He has an ass-kicking first-class record and is yet to fail against anyone.

I shall put it another way.
Evidence that Mendis is awesome: Limited.
Evidence that Mendis isn't awesome: Literally none.

International matches

Tests: 3 matches, 26 wickets @ 18.38
ODIs: 18 matches, 48 wickest @ 10.12 (economy rate 3.58 rpo)
T20Is: 3 matches, 11 wickets @ 5 (4.59 rpo)

All matches

First Class: 23 matches, 145 wickest @ 15.43
List A: 37 matches, 85 wickets @ 10.70 (3.39 rpo)
T20: 10 matches, 17 wickest @ 10.41 (5.05 rpo)



pretty damn awesome

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

How did people not know that his FC record was awesome? Been living on Neptune for the last year and a half?

 

[Precambrian]

International matches

Tests: 3 matches, 26 wickets @ 18.38
ODIs: 18 matches, 48 wickest @ 10.12 (economy rate 3.58 rpo)
T20Is: 3 matches, 11 wickets @ 5 (4.59 rpo)

All matches

First Class: 23 matches, 145 wickest @ 15.43
List A: 37 matches, 85 wickets @ 10.70 (3.39 rpo)
T20: 10 matches, 17 wickest @ 10.41 (5.05 rpo)



pretty damn awesome

His ODI bowling breakup

[B]Opposition	Matches	Overs	Runs	Wickets	Average	RPO	SR[/B]
v Bangladesh	2	17.3	63	2	 31.50 	3.6	52.5
v India		6	51.3	165	19	 8.68 	3.2	16.2
v Pakistan	1	10	47	4	 11.75 	4.7	15
v U.A.E.	1	6.3	22	5	 4.40 	3.38	7.8
v West Indies	3	14	60	3	 20.00 	4.28	28
v Zimbabwe	5	36	129	15	 8.60 	3.58	14.4

He has owned the Indians.

 

[Richard]

Was it a joke or . . .

Well, one could say that morgieb's posts generally are...

Or they could not if they chose to be kind.

 

[zaremba]

His ODI bowling breakup

[B]Opposition	Matches	Overs	Runs	Wickets	Average	RPO	SR[/B]
v Bangladesh	2	17.3	63	2	 31.50 	3.6	52.5
v India		6	51.3	165	19	 8.68 	3.2	16.2
v Pakistan	1	10	47	4	 11.75 	4.7	15
v U.A.E.	1	6.3	22	5	 4.40 	3.38	7.8
v West Indies	3	14	60	3	 20.00 	4.28	28
v Zimbabwe	5	36	129	15	 8.60 	3.58	14.4

He has owned the Indians.

And the UAE.

 

[zaremba]

How did people not know that his FC record was awesome? Been living on Neptune for the last year and a half?

No, the reason I posted it is that it's just wonderful to post it. For the last year or so I've posted it every couple of months on the Sussex messageboard for the benefit of anyone who'll read it (including hopefully the Sussex management).