How would you rank the bowling attacks in world cricket as of today ?

[Xuhaib]

why would you rate an Aus or an SA bowling attack higher then Pakistan all these attacks are very strong in familliar conditions but are not well rounded enough to win games in different condition. I would say England is best then it could be anyone of Aus, Sa or Pak depending upon where the game is being played.

 

[Jono]

England's attack went up in my view after the Pakistan series.

Which actually goes to show just how pathetic their batting ws.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

why would you rate an Aus or an SA bowling attack higher then Pakistan all these attacks are very strong in familliar conditions but are not well rounded enough to win games in different condition. I would say England is best then it could be anyone of Aus, Sa or Pak depending upon where the game is being played.

My list is for attacks in seaming conditions.

 

[Burgey]

why would you rate an Aus or an SA bowling attack higher then Pakistan all these attacks are very strong in familliar conditions but are not well rounded enough to win games in different condition. I would say England is best then it could be anyone of Aus, Sa or Pak depending upon where the game is being played.

Australia beat SL in SL about four months ago.

Edit: with a rookie spinner and a bloke taking the new ball bowling 120kph.

 

[Pothas]

England's attack went up in my view after the Pakistan series.

Which actually goes to show just how pathetic their batting ws.

Yeah exactly right, they did a great job.

Broad especially significant, think this was the series that he really confirmed himself as a really top bowler.

 

[Jono]

Australia beat SL in SL about four months ago.

Edit: with a rookie spinner and a bloke taking the new ball bowling 120kph.

Yeah but its not as if SL's batting is any good or anything. What with them only having the #1, #7 and #26 ranked test batsman in the world, with a combined total of 24,455 test runs.

Totally agree with you that Australia's win, and in particular their bowling performance, in Sri Lanka has been massively underrated by many cricket fans/pundits.

 

[Shri]

England
South Africa
Australia
Pakistan
New Zealand
West Indies
India
Sri Lanka

lolNz

 

[subshakerz]

England are number 1, especially after this recent series. The biggest reason is benchstrength. They have Broad and Anderson who are quality upfront bowlers and gave a solid showing in their first subcontinent series, and have Bresnan, Temlett and Finn in the wings. They have a proven matchwinner in Swann and a quality backup spinner in Panesar.

SA could potentially match them but not in benchstrength. Steyn is top dog for all conditions and their pace attack is looking quite strong, but for some reason they havent found their balance yet as a total attack. Tahir needs to find his rhythm.

 

[Xuhaib]

Australia beat SL in SL about four months ago.

Edit: with a rookie spinner and a bloke taking the new ball bowling 120kph.

Pakistan also won a series in NZ last year without Ajmal. Aus is developing a very good attack but it is fair to say it is unproven in most conditions and certainly not as well rounded as say an English attack

 

[Cevno]

why would you rate an Aus or an SA bowling attack higher then Pakistan all these attacks are very strong in familliar conditions but are not well rounded enough to win games in different condition. I would say England is best then it could be anyone of Aus, Sa or Pak depending upon where the game is being played.

The SA attack is decently well rounded and the top bowlers decently proven in all conditions. More so than England even.

Infact taking all conditions into account over a period of time, for me it certainly has a case for no.1 too.

 

[Cevno]

England are number 1, especially after this recent series. The biggest reason is benchstrength. They have Broad and Anderson who are quality upfront bowlers and gave a solid showing in their first subcontinent series, and have Bresnan, Temlett and Finn in the wings. They have a proven matchwinner in Swann and a quality backup spinner in Panesar.

???????

 

[Spark]

The SA attack is decently well rounded and the top bowlers decently proven in all conditions. More so than England even.

Infact taking all conditions into account over a period of time, for me it certainly has a case for no.1 too.

They do, but Tahir is in no way shape or form "proven".

 

[Cevno]

England's attack went up in my view after the Pakistan series.

Which actually goes to show just how pathetic their batting ws.

I would agree they bowled well, but would also put in a couple of riders tbh. The pitches were not the usual UAE flat tracks and Pakistan's batting (which is not their strong point in anycase) wasn't that great during periods too.

They certainly are the form attack as of right now though and Monty beating Swann is encouraging i guess for their spinner bench strength(though, i think Swann maybe could have done better).

 

[Cevno]

They do, but Tahir is in no way shape or form "proven".

I meant Steyn and Morkel as a combo together there.

Tahir certainly has to show more but is a improvement on Harris or whatever spinner they were using before. Same applies for Philander too, though he has had a great start and is also a improvement on Tsotsobe/Parnell.

 

[pup11]

Yeah but its not as if SL's batting is any good or anything. What with them only having the #1, #7 and #26 ranked test batsman in the world, with a combined total of 24,455 test runs.

Totally agree with you that Australia's win, and in particular their bowling performance, in Sri Lanka has been massively underrated by many cricket fans/pundits.

Yeah... but the same ''poor'' Sri Lankan batting line-up gave a pretty strong English bowling line-up a run for their money in English conditions just a couple of months before this series, the fact remains that the win at Galle (which was an absolute dust-bowl) is one of the best away wins in Australian test cricket history simply because in the past even the best Aussie test sides have looked out of depth in those conditions.

 

[Jono]

Umm, you realise you're just agreeing with me right. I was being sarcastic about SL's batting being no good.

Thought that was clear.

 

[Xuhaib]

The SA attack is decently well rounded and the top bowlers decently proven in all conditions. More so than England even.

Infact taking all conditions into account over a period of time, for me it certainly has a case for no.1 too.

Steyn is world class in any conditions but Morkel has really struggled in his sub cont tours and both Philander and Tahir have not played outside own pitches to make any judgement about them. SA on Asian pitches is very much a one man army.

 

[Xuhaib]

I would agree they bowled well, but would also put in a couple of riders tbh. The pitches were not the usual UAE flat tracks and Pakistan's batting (which is not their strong point in anycase) wasn't that great during periods too.

They certainly are the form attack as of right now though and Monty beating Swann is encouraging i guess for their spinner bench strength(though, i think Swann maybe could have done better).

Pakistan batting is not strong point but they did score a lot of runs in these conditions against SL and SA an attack which you feel has a claim to the top ranking so a good English performance against these same Pakistani batsmen should not be discredited.

 

[Cevno]

Steyn is world class in any conditions but Morkel has really struggled in his sub cont tours and both Philander and Tahir have not played outside own pitches to make any judgement about them. SA on Asian pitches is very much a one man army.

Morkel has really struggled? He might not have done that well individually but as a Combo played a very good supporting role to Steyn in the subcontinent on many occasions too.

In any case who are we comparing them too in relative terms and in terms of consistent performance as a pair on the whole throughout many conditions?

Pakistan batting is not strong point but they did score a lot of runs in these conditions against SL and SA an attack which you feel has a claim to the top ranking so a good English performance against these same Pakistani batsmen should not be discredited.

That's not a fair comparison by any means tbf. The pitches for the SA series and the flattness levels were completely different to the England series.

 

[Xuhaib]

Morkel has really struggled? He might not have done that well individually but as a Combo played a very good supporting role to Steyn in the subcontinent on many occasions too.

In any case who are we comparing them too in relative terms and in terms of consistent performance as a pair on the whole throughout many conditions?

18 wickets in 7 games at an average of 40 is certainly not the best result. Even if you say that he was good since he was playing a support role to Steyn I can turn it around and say that he was disappointing since he could not capitalize on the excellent bowling provided by Steyn from the other end.

That's not a fair comparison by any means tbf. The pitches for the SA series and the flattness levels were completely different to the England series.

On the other hand England played a very settled Pakistan side brimming with confidence while SA played them when it was Misbah's first series as skipper and the team's confidence was at an all time low. SA bowlers also had the opportunity to bowl with big scores behind them. Having watched the two series extensivley I know for sure which bunch of bowlers were constantly threatening the batsman and bowled better subcontinental lengths.

.