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Vaas vs Srinath vs Lee vs Zaheer vs Sobers

Best bowler


  • Total voters
    56

Sir Alex

Banned
Lee played them in 2 2 test series, one where he did well/ok, the other where he did poor. Using that as a gauge is disingenuous.



Vaas himself has had as many bad tests against them, he just played them enough to right his record. In fact, even his record against Zimbabwe is not all too flash, especially at home. And he played them 15 times.

Clutch another straw. You're good at it.
I atleast have several straws but you seem to have just one..

enjoy while clinging onto it.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Both Vaas and Lee have almost identical careers, both started well with averages around 20. By test 24 Vaas average had climbed to 29 and did not alter by more than 3 runs for the rest of his carrer. Lees average hit 29 by test 27 and did not alter by more than 4 runs for the rest of his career. No wild flucuations from either bowler.
There were actually wild fluctuations from both - Lee averaged 40+ for most of his career, with a couple of periods of averaging 20 or less. Vaas regularly went from averaging under 20 in one series to averaging 100+ in the next.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
People have pointed out about the Sri Lankan conditions, although the ball can swing quite a bit early in the day there.
The ball can swing quite a bit anywhere, if it's in the right condition, and the bowler has the requisite skill.

Anyone seeing the ball swing and doing anything other than paying tribute to the bowler (and the ball manufacturer) is doing a disservice, IMO.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Not trying to flare things up, but any bowler that Hayden has had success against is immediately written off by Richard.
As I've said before - well done Amateur Psychologist Par Excellence. I know I was told-off for saying it before, but let's put this bluntly: you don't have the foggiest idea what goes on in my mind and never will. I know better than you what the roots of my thoughts are, and any comment by you on the roots of my thoughts will be lacking in credibility.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
It's also a conclusion someone who watched Zimbabwe play cricket until 2002/03 could come to. The notion that Zimbabwe were substandard before the end of the 2002/03 season is ludicrous - they were as deserving of Test status as any of the weaker sides in history ever were. Only from the 2003 tour of England onwards have they been palpably not good enough for it.

Fortunately, I'm the latter and not the former. Well done on the attempt at psychoanalysis, though. Unfortunately, I know more about my thoughts on Lee than you do.
 

Migara

International Coach
Irrelevant. The sample is too small. Insisting that he would have continued in such a fashion against the two worst sides of his time (and one possibly of all time) is disingenuous. It goes to show the lengths some of you guys are going to point score for Vaas.
I have not seen you putting that forward when the argument suits you.
 

vcs

Request Your Custom Title Now!
I don't buy the argument that Lee's superior strike-rate automatically makes him a better bowler than Lee with their averages being similar. The point is, both bowlers are a product of the conditions they had to operate in. Vaas has a more "patient" style of taking wickets with subtle variations and tempting the batsmen into a trap, which is suited to slow subcontinent wickets if you are a new-ball bowler. Lee's "flashier" style of taking wickets works better on Australian, N.Z. and S. African tracks where he can afford to risk conceding a few more runs in the hope of striking more often. I'd say Malinga's style resembles Lee, and Vaas's home record is clearly superior to his.
 

JBH001

International Regular
Srinath or Vaas. Went for Vaas. Dont really rate Lee as a top quality test match fast bowler over his career - although his 6 tests against SL and India a couple of years ago were an exhibition of good and penetrative fast swing bowling on unhelpful surfaces.
 

Migara

International Coach
Are we talking about the Strike affected WI?
WI in 2008 against NZ

Chris Gayle
Chattergoon
Ramnaresh Sarwan
Xaviar Marshall
Shiv Chanderpaul
Brendon Nash
Denesh Ramdin
Jerome Taylor
Darren Powell
Fidel Edwards
LS Baker

ZIM in 1998/9 against Pakistan

Gavin Rennie
Grant Flower
Murray Goodwin
Alistair Campbell
Andrew Flower
Neil Johnson
Craig Wishart
Heath Streak
Adndrew Whitall
Henry Olonga
Mpumelo Mbangwa

Paul Strang was injured by then

ZIM has a solid middle order, and looks better on paper atleast. little behind in pace department, but spin department miles better than West Indies one. Most importantly ZIM team worked as a unit very well.
 
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Lee played them in 2 2 test series, one where he did well/ok, the other where he did poor. Using that as a gauge is disingenuous.



Vaas himself has had as many bad tests against them, he just played them enough to right his record. In fact, even his record against Zimbabwe is not all too flash, especially at home. And he played them 15 times.

Clutch another straw. You're good at it.
An average of 31.66 for the greatest bowler of all time after Warne, Lillee and mcgrath against the "weakest team of all time" is "well/ok". :laugh:




I think Lee was the best of the lot. Average similar to Vaas but an SR which is completely superior. His home and away record much better also. At his best towards the end he was probably the best bowler in the world for a short period. He always had to contend with 2 other bowlers taking bucketfuls of wickets too.

Wrong, I didn't say Lee has a much superior away record than Vaas - although I think concluding as such is hardly biased. What I said is that comparative to each other's home and away records Lee was more consistent. Meaning he took on foreign conditions much better than Vaas who has a mediocre SR for an opening bowler.

You got it wrong, compared the averages, I showed you the SRs and you're still crying about it. Vaas beats him by 1 on average and loses out by 13 on SR..."nothing else" :laugh:. If anything, your over the top reaction and sensitivity to the matter shows who is more swayed by emotion or bias.
:laugh:
 
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andyc

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Consider this a warning guys. As I said a page or so back, play the post, not the poster. Changing names in quote tags to the things we've been seeing the past few posts is not acceptable.
 
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Ikki

Hall of Fame Member
An average of 31.66 for the greatest bowler of all time after Warne, Lillee and mcgrath against the "weakest team of all time" is "well/ok". :laugh:
:laugh:
No, I only discount minnows when the sample is small regardless if they did well or not; or if they've played the minnows a lot and have inflated their record by it. I don't think a player of Lee's caliber is likely to fail against one of the worst test sides of all time had he played them enough. If a player has played them plenty of times and has failed, then that's his bad.

As I expemplified, Vaas himself has as many disappointing performances against Bangladesh in the midst of his very good ones; it's the fact that he played them enough to make his record respectable that it is good against them. Imagine he had those bad performances in few, but consecutive, tests and didn't play them anymore. It's meaningless.

Anyway, 2 and 4 tests are hardly great samples. You and Sir Alex have been clutching at straws. They average remarkably similarly yet one is absolutely dominant in striking earlier and is more consistent home and away. Those are the biggest factors to consider. You trying to make it about 2 tests vs Zimbabwe or 4 against Bangladesh is just a digression so you look like you have a point to argue.
 
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No, I only discount minnows when the sample is small regardless if they did well or not; or if they've played the minnows a lot and have inflated their record by it. I don't think a player of Lee's caliber is likely to fail against one of the worst test sides of all time had he played them enough. If a player has played them plenty of times and has failed, then that's his bad.

As I expemplified, Vaas himself has as many disappointing performances against Bangladesh in the midst of his very good ones; it's the fact that he played them enough to make his record respectable that it is good against them. Imagine he had those bad performances in few, but consecutive, tests and didn't play them anymore. It's meaningless.

Anyway, 2 and 4 tests are hardly great samples. You and Sir Alex have been clutching at straws. They average remarkably similarly yet one is absolutely dominant in striking earlier and is more consistent home and away. Those are the biggest factors to consider. You trying to make it about 2 tests vs Zimbabwe or 4 against Bangladesh is just a digression so you look like you have a point to argue.
6 tests are not enough to show that Lee failed miserably against the "2 weakest sides of his team" yet 8 tests are enough to show that KP dominated Mcgrath/Warne :huh:

It is ok Ikki.Everyone understands the way you rate players now.
 

Ikki

Hall of Fame Member
6 tests are not enough to show that Lee failed miserably against the "2 weakest sides of his team" yet 8 tests are enough to show that KP dominated Mcgrath/Warne :huh:

It is ok Ikki.Everyone understands the way you rate players now.
They're 2 different teams. KP played one pair of bowlers 8 times. It's a much better sample.

Stop making it as if he played 6 tests one after another against the same team. He played few tests against 2 teams and years apart.

"It is ok Avada Kedavra.Everyone understands the way you rate players now."
 
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