Anderson and Steyn

[Prince EWS]

Neither is Steyn. Seen him bowl high 130s a lot as well. Also seen Anderson bowl high 140s.

Point is, both are quick but not express. I know Steyn has bowled 150 here and there but he's not truly express imo.

Steyn's not consistently express but he's certainly faster on average than Anderson. Certainly.

 

[thierry henry]

Steyn's natural pace is mid-140s. He sometimes deliberately bowls at high 130s to maximise swing but it's not his natural mode.

I know. I dunno when Anderson does all this 130-135kph bowling because usually when I've seen him in NZ or the UK he's been bowling 140+. But I'm prepared to accept that must be an anomaly.

 

[Briony]

Tells you a lot about radar variation and conditions. You telling me Anderson bowled an entire test where he was 135kph at FASTEST? Bring him back to NZ and he'll register 145 regularly.

Don't know about radar variations but whenever I've seen him bowl, the majority of his deliveries have been in the mid to high 130s.

As mentioned if Steyn feels there is something in the pitch for him, he'll bowl in short spells and the majority of his deliveries will be at least 140+ with a high % of them at least 145.

Interestingly enough though, despite his pace, when I hear the Aussie batsmen talking about the SA attack, they say that Morne Morkel is the one who actually 'scares' them a bit. They say he's a difficult customer to face.

Shaun Marsh recently said that he has never really recovered, especially confidence wise from being hit by Morkel in Cape Town.

 

[thierry henry]

Anderson is a speed enigma imo. He's almost always been rapid when I've seen him. Maybe it's also because I've always thought that he's one of those guys who for whatever reason seems to look quite quick to me.

 

[Prince EWS]

Anderson is a speed enigma imo. He's almost always been rapid when I've seen him. Maybe it's also because I've always thought that he's one of those guys who for whatever reason seems to look quite quick to me.

Anderson is capable of averaging low 140s across a spell but he doesn't tend to actually do it much these days as he's figured out he's more effective bowling a bit slower to help control his line, length and swing. Some of his best spells in Australia last summer were in the 128-135 range. The fact that he's got the real thunderbolt up his sleeve as a change-up delivery for the effort ball or even the "effort spell" is what separates him from the likes of Zaheer in terms of pace but the majority of his spells these days lie in the low to mid 130s.

Steyn's very much similar to everything I just said about Anderson, but add about 5km/h to every speed I mentioned.

 

[Briony]

Anderson is a speed enigma imo. He's almost always been rapid when I've seen him. Maybe it's also because I've always thought that he's one of those guys who for whatever reason seems to look quite quick to me.

My memory of him bowling here was that he was mainly in the 130s but with some overcast conditions and a bit of grass on the pitch that's all he needed to be to decimate us.

 

[Arachnodouche]

Steyn is well capable of cranking it up to 150, but the older he gets, the more content he seems with using it as a shock and awe tactic. And that's what makes him such a dangerous bowler to handle, the ability to operate at multiple gears. They both started out at roughly the same times, and were the same precociously talented sort of bowler, but Steyn always seemed to have had supreme control over his run up and action; it's hardly changed over the years, same as when he bowled Vaughan with the pearler all those years ago.

 

[Howe_zat]

The fact that Steyn has done it for almost his entire career is a huge difference.

 

[subshakerz]

Yes, Anderson can bowl the inswinger, but aside from that Steyn has more advantages:

- Simply put, Steyn's record is up there with the greatest ever, Anderson may bowl excellently for the rest of his career but still end up +26 in terms of average. It's hard to say you are a better bowler overall if you have such a big gap in terms of stats. Even in the ICC rankings, Steyn is almost 100 points ahead.

- Steyn has been worldclass for at least 5 years now, Anderson has for almost 2 years only.

- Steyn is marginally better in terms of pace, can crank it up to 145+ when needed.

- Steyn's has won matches in the subcontinent, something Anderson has yet to do.

- In terms of big standout performances, both have performed excellently at home, but nothing Anderson has done compares to the 10-fers Steyn took in Nagpur and Melbourne, those are the sort of performances greats are remembered by.

 

[Daemon]

Tells you a lot about radar variation and conditions. You telling me Anderson bowled an entire test where he was 135kph at FASTEST? Bring him back to NZ and he'll register 145 regularly.

Not really. He was bowling in the low 130s throughout the Middle East series (as was nearly every other quick bowler besides Broad and Cheema). He's probably more rapid in places like NZ and England because of the weather.

The difference between the two is that Steyn gets late swing more than Anderson and bowls a tighter line

 

[Daemon]

Yes, Anderson can bowl the inswinger, but aside from that Steyn has more advantages:

- Simply put, Steyn's record is up there with the greatest ever, Anderson may bowl excellently for the rest of his career but still end up +26 in terms of average. It's hard to say you are a better bowler overall if you have such a big gap in terms of stats. Even in the ICC rankings, Steyn is almost 100 points ahead.

- Steyn has been worldclass for at least 5 years now, Anderson has for almost 2 years only.

- Steyn is marginally better in terms of pace, can crank it up to 145+ when needed.

- Steyn's has won matches in the subcontinent, something Anderson has yet to do.

- In terms of big standout performances, both have performed excellently at home, but nothing Anderson has done compares to the 10-fers Steyn took in Nagpur and Melbourne, those are the sort of performances greats are remembered by.

Way to miss the point of the OP..

 

[BoyBrumby]

Also thinks that Steyn bowls angrier.

I dunno, actually. It was reported the Australians were upset about Anderson's sledging in the 10/11 Ashes, so I think Jimmeh's angry enough.

- Steyn's has won matches in the subcontinent, something Anderson has yet to do.

Pretty harsh to blame Anderson for that tho; he definitely held his end up in the UAE. It was just his batting confreres were gash.

My theory is Steyn just bowls fewer drive balls that get hit for four because his natural length is slightly fuller than Anderson's. Be interesting to see who has the higher percentage of runs scored off them as boundaries, but I CBA to see if it can be checked.

 

[Spark]

The only time I heard anything about Anderson's sledging was at Perth, so probably not the best example.

 

[Howe_zat]

Is it time for that video again I think it is

 

[Spikey]

2nd Test: Australia v South Africa at Melbourne, Dec 26-30, 2008 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

when i'm in need of 'inspiration' I sometimes open that scorecard. what a stud

 

[Furball]

I dunno, actually. It was reported the Australians were upset about Anderson's sledging in the 10/11 Ashes, so I think Jimmeh's angry enough.



Pretty harsh to blame Anderson for that tho; he definitely held his end up in the UAE. It was just his batting confreres were gash.

My theory is Steyn just bowls fewer drive balls that get hit for four because his natural length is slightly fuller than Anderson's. Be interesting to see who has the higher percentage of runs scored off them as boundaries, but I CBA to see if it can be checked.

Other way round if anything. Anderson is one of the tightest quicks around.

 

[BoyBrumby]

The only time I heard anything about Anderson's sledging was at Perth, so probably not the best example.

Adelaide too.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

Anderson is pretty tight in his line, but wouldn't say he is better than Steyn in that respect. Probably equal.

I don't think the speed gives Steyn a huge advantage because he doesn't crank it up that often, plus both bowlers try to bowl in the 130's in order to maximise the swing.

So far FBU is the only one who has managed to answer why Steyn has been better in his career so far. Didn't know that Anderson had problems with his action.

 

[Furball]

Anderson is pretty tight in his line, but wouldn't say he is better than Steyn in that respect. Probably equal.

I don't think the speed gives Steyn a huge advantage because he doesn't crank it up that often, plus both bowlers try to bowl in the 130's in order to maximise the swing.

So far FBU is the only one who has managed to answer why Steyn has been better in his career so far. Didn't know that Anderson had problems with his action.

Anderson's tighter in terms of not giving runs away. In 2010 no quick was more economical than our Jimmy, and I think only Broad rivals him in the '****ing impossible to get away when he's bowling well' stakes.

Steyn is by far a more attacking bowler, hence his strike rate, but one of the consequences of that is that Steyn can get smacked for runs when he gets things slightly wrong. Anderson and Broad have more of a margain for error.

The biggest change in Anderson's career is that he's no longer a complete liability when conditions don't suit. I don't think Anderson at his absolute best is any better than he was when he emerged on the scene in 2003. What has improved over the last 4 years is his control and not being as massively reliant on conditions to bowl well - Anderson has now averaged under 30 in his last 6 consecutive series, mostly in conditions that he'd have been a complete liability in 5 years ago.

 

[Cabinet96]

I very rarely don't see Steyn swing the ball. I remember against Australia in Johannesburg he was conventionally swinging a 70 over old ball with ease. I regularly see times when Anderson doesn't swing it.