Who was the better bowler: Glenn Mcgrath or Wasim Akram?

[smash84]

I don't think so, not really. Firstly, they aren't all that wide, and if they are, it's because they're standing back a bit more to accommodate McGrath's pace. You don't need to stand that far back or far apart for Jimmy Anderson or Zaheer Khan.

Then there's the fact that Australia had a very settled side that had the luxury of practising together for years, knowing how quick their teammates were and not having to shift roles around, etc.

Australia at the time were by far the best anyway, so it's not as though standards have generally slipped across most teams.

dwta.

The Aussie slip cordon was usually wider than most other slip cordons because IMO the Aussie slip cordon of the 90s and early 00s was the finest slip cordon in history. The keeper could dive a long way to take a catch. Tubby Taylor, Shane Warne, MArk Waugh, Ponting, all of them could move around very well in the slip cordon and hence the Aussie slip cordon was very well spaced apart. At least more than usual.

 

[Howe_zat]

dwta.

The Aussie slip cordon was usually wider than most other slip cordons because IMO the Aussie slip cordon of the 90s and early 00s was the finest slip cordon in history. The keeper could dive a long way to take a catch. Tubby Taylor, Shane Warne, MArk Waugh, Ponting, all of them could move around very well in the slip cordon and hence the Aussie slip cordon was very well spaced apart. At least more than usual.

I agreed it was an excellent cordon, exceptional even. I didn't agree that it this reflect badly on current slippers, as it was even more exceptional at the time.

 

[BlazeDragon]

Having followed a lot of McGrath's career I didn't really see him swing the ball a fair bit very often nor did he reverse swing it too often. His strength lay in that subtle variation.

I don't think it is too much of a myth tbh

Weather he did a lot or not he could swing. Its no myth.

 

[BlazeDragon]

Not really.He was average in 1996 and didn't exactly set the world on fire in 1999.He was pretty good in 2003 and great in 2007.Got better with every passing world cup,but i'm not sure if he got better enough to be called the greatest world cup performer in history.

He took 6 wickets in world cup 96 and 18 wickets in 99. He was the second highest wicket taker in 99 after Geoff Allott and Shane Warne with 20 each. So yes he did shine in 99. Even though he didn't shine in 96 he is still the best world cup bowler and arguably the best performer.

 

[smash84]

Weather he did a lot or not he could swing. Its no myth.

So who said that McGrath couldn't swing the ball a milli meter or that he just could not swing it.

The question that we were discussing (and if you would bother to read carefully my friend) is that he did not swing the ball too often. He relied on very different skills to get batsmen out.

 

[kiwiviktor81]

Whatever their relative merits I think that a combination of Akram and McGrath would be the Bradman of bowling, better than any other combination of two bowlers in history. Akram's arsenal with McGrath's precision could work any batsman over in any match situation on any wicket in any conditions.

 

[smash84]

indeed that is true..........

 

[Rush]

Whatever their relative merits I think that a combination of Akram and McGrath would be the Bradman of bowling, better than any other combination of two bowlers in history. Akram's arsenal with McGrath's precision could work any batsman over in any match situation on any wicket in any conditions.

I tend to disagree

 

[smash84]

I tend to disagree

 

[Sanz]

Wasim Akram magic ball to Croft - Incredible - YouTube

One wonders how many such LBWs wickets that Wasim deserved .

Not blaming the umpire here, just a thought on Reverse swing.

 

[Darth018]

Wasim Akram magic ball to Croft - Incredible - YouTube

One wonders how many such LBWs wickets that Wasim deserved .

Not blaming the umpire here, just a thought on Reverse swing.

Oh yeah I'm pretty sure McGrath never suffered from any dubious decisions

One can't help but wonder your agenda for bringing up this thread again.

 

[BlazeDragon]

"THE" WORST UMPIRE OF ALL TIME- 2 PLUMB LBW's NOT GIVEN IN PAKISTAN 1998- MCGRATH - YouTube

 

[Burgey]

McGrath was so average, wasn't he? Not that quick apparently, didn't swing it enough, not a star in WCs, was helped through a fantastic slip cordon. Everything just so mediocre, eh?

Except his record. He just kept getting people out. Those 500+ times all those Test batsmen felt sorry for him and gave their wickets away in an era of flat pitches, fast outfields and cannons for bats. **** he was ordinary.

Just a **** bowler. He should have bowled faster, and swung it a foot. Then he could have been more like Mohammed Sami.

 

[Sanz]

Oh yeah I'm pretty sure McGrath never suffered from any dubious decisions

One can't help but wonder your agenda for bringing up this thread again.

Oh please !!! Stop with all the imaginations and assumptions.

Never blamed the umpire or even called the decision dubious. Simply presenting the link and raising a valid point (and if you listen to the commentary in the clip you will know what I am trying to suggest) that it was so difficult for umpires to get those lbw decisions right and perhaps there were a fair no. of those that the umpires missed.

Maybe Mcgrath suffered similar fate, If I see, I will bring those to this discussion as well. I do have a preference for Wasim over Mcgrath but I do not for a moment consider Mcgrath any less of a bowler, so please stop with you agenda type comments.

 

[Sanz]

McGrath was so average, wasn't he? Not that quick apparently, didn't swing it enough, not a star in WCs, was helped through a fantastic slip cordon. Everything just so mediocre, eh?

Except his record. He just kept getting people out. Those 500+ times all those Test batsmen felt sorry for him and gave their wickets away in an era of flat pitches, fast outfields and cannons for bats. **** he was ordinary.

Just a **** bowler. He should have bowled faster, and swung it a foot. Then he could have been more like Mohammed Sami.

Your Worst Rant so far. Never said that Mcgrath was ****. Hopefully that will calm you down.

 

[Burgey]

Your Worst Rant so far. Never said that Mcgrath was ****. Hopefully that will calm you down.

Your worst response ever.

I never said you did, I'm just jack of idiots coming on here saying because you couldn't see the ball hoop everywhere, he wasn't as good as other blokes.

It's unfathomable that a bloke can take that many wickets at test level (I couldn't give a **** about ODIs), in an era widely regarded as batsman-friendly, take them all over the place, at that average and economy rate over that long a period, and people still doubt that he was one of the best bowlers of all time.

And much of it is because "ooh look though, this other bloke boweld wonderful inswingers/ outswingers/ looked faster".

Who gives a ****? The bloke got every **** out. He was the best of his era.

 

[Sanz]

Well many do and that's the point here many of us have been trying to make. Mcgrath was great and so was Wasim. You consider Mcgrath the best from his era, I consider Wasim best of his era. You may believe that they belonged to the same era, I don't.

It seems that many Mcgrath fans are just threatened by Wasim's popularity as a bowler and the moment someone says that Wasim was a great bowler, they just stoop to the level of denigrating Wasim as a bowler.

 

[Burgey]

Well many do and that's the point here many of us have been trying to make. Mcgrath was great and so was Wasim. You consider Mcgrath the best from his era, I consider Wasim best of his era. You may believe that they belonged to the same era, I don't.

It seems that many Mcgrath fans are just threatened by Wasim's popularity as a bowler and the moment someone says that Wasim was a great bowler, they just stoop to the level of denigrating Wasim as a bowler.

Mate, I wish I had a dollar for the number of times I've said Wasim Akram was just about my favourite cricketer of all time, and certainly of the past 20 years. He was a great bowler, I don't disagree with you one bit on that.

I get the thing on the eras too, mind. There was a fair bit of overlap, but they didn't exactly coincide, for sure.

Mind you, I saw a clip of McGrath from the 2007 Ashes series, and they put up his stats - he was only about 3-4 years into his career at that stage, and was already averaging 25 (this was before his 8 fer at Lord's). So he was getting there towards the mid-late 90s as one of the better blokes around.

 

[Debris]

Oh please !!! Stop with all the imaginations and assumptions.

Never blamed the umpire or even called the decision dubious. Simply presenting the link and raising a valid point (and if you listen to the commentary in the clip you will know what I am trying to suggest) that it was so difficult for umpires to get those lbw decisions right and perhaps there were a fair no. of those that the umpires missed.

Maybe Mcgrath suffered similar fate, If I see, I will bring those to this discussion as well. I do have a preference for Wasim over Mcgrath but I do not for a moment consider Mcgrath any less of a bowler, so please stop with you agenda type comments.

If that is true, it counts against Wasim considering that the whole idea of bowling is to get the umpire to raise his finger. This whole idea of certain bowlers being unlucky doesn't cut it with me. Part of the skill of a bowler is convincing the umpire (maybe UDRS will change this).

 

[smash84]