Cricketweb decides the greatest bowler ever in a 64 player bracket. Contest thread.

[J_C]

Kapil
Hadlee
Warne
Lillee
Trueman
Ambrose
Turner
Verity
Younis
Marshall
Laker
Donald
Davidson
Barnes
Muralitharan
Steyn

 

[a massive zebra]

Shoaib Akhtar vs Kapil Dev
Richard Hadlee vs Imran Khan

Harold Larwood vs Shane Warne
Dennis Lillee vs Bill O'Reilly

Richie Benaud vs Fred Trueman
Curtley Ambrose vs Bishan Bedi

Derek Underwood vs Charlie Turner
Bob Willis vs Hedley Verity

Jeff Thomson vs Waqar Younis
Malcolm Marshall vs Glenn McGrath

Jim Laker vs Fazal Mahmood
Alan Donald vs Joel Garner

Alan Davidson vs Keith Miller
Wasim Akram vs Sydney Barnes

Hugh Tayfield vs Muttiah Muralitharan
Dale Steyn vs Maurice Tate

 

[The Sean]

Marshall v McGrath would have been a worthy final, while Hadlee-Imran, Lillee-O'Reilly and Wasim-Barnes would have been worthy quarter/semi-finals at least.

Shoaib Akhtar vs Kapil Dev
Richard Hadlee vs Imran Khan

Harold Larwood vs Shane Warne
Dennis Lillee vs Bill O'Reilly

Richie Benaud vs Fred Trueman
Curtley Ambrose vs Bishan Bedi

Derek Underwood vs Charlie Turner
Bob Willis vs Hedley Verity

Jeff Thomson vs Waqar Younis
Malcolm Marshall vs Glenn McGrath

Jim Laker vs Fazal Mahmood
Alan Donald vs Joel Garner

Alan Davidson vs Keith Miller
Wasim Akram vs Sydney Barnes

Hugh Tayfield vs Muttiah Muralitharan
Dale Steyn vs Maurice Tate

 

[cnerd123]

Akhtar
Hadlee

Warne
O'Reilly

Trueman
Bedi

Turner
Verity

Waqar
Marshall

Laker
Donald

Miller
Barnes

Murali
Steyn

 

[mr_mister]

Score update:

Shoaib leads 12-9
Hadlee leads 17-4

Warne leads 19-2
Lillee leads 11-9

Trueman leads 21-0
Ambrose leads 20-1

Underwood leads 11-10
Verity leads 19-2

Waqar leads 18-3
Marshall leads 13-8

Laker leads 18-3
Donald leads 13-8

Davidson leads 18-3
Barnes leads 16-5

Murali leads 19-2
Steyn leads 20-1

 

[BigBrother]

I guess I'll vote just this once since I'm in the mood. Only voting for match ups where I'm familiar with both players.

Dev
Hadlee
Warne
Ambrose
Waqar
McGrath
Donald
Davidson

 

[OverratedSanity]

Akhtar
Hadlee

Warne
Lillee

Trueman
Ambrose

Turner
Verity

Waqar
Marshall



Laker
Garner

Davidson
Barnes

Murali
Steyn

 

[BigBrother]

Calling it now, it will be Warne vs. Marshall for the final, unless they meet beforehand of course.

Though I'll admit there is a good chance for Barnes being in for one of them too.

 

[cnerd123]

I'm backing Barnes all the way in this. GOAT bowler by a narrow margin for me.

 

[viriya]

I'm backing Barnes all the way in this. GOAT bowler by a narrow margin for me.

If Barnes beats Murali he should go all the way if this whole process followed common sense.

 

[Prince EWS]

Wouldn't be that surprised if Murali lost to Steyn before he even had a chance to go up against Barnes.

 

[Hurricane]

Shoaib Akhtar
Richard Hadlee

Harold Larwood
Dennis Lillee

Richie Benaud
Bishan Bedi

Derek Underwood
Bob Willis

Jeff Thomson
Glenn McGrath

Jim Laker
Joel Garner

Keith Miller
Sydney Barnes

Muttiah Muralitharan
Dale Steyn

 

[G.I.Joe]

I must admit I'm surprised by the Kapil>Shoaib votes. Not being snarky here, what's the reasoning?

 

[viriya]

I must admit I'm surprised by the Kapil>Shoaib votes. Not being snarky here, what's the reasoning?

I think longevity + impact + "what if Kapil played for England he would have a much better record" playing a part.

 

[cnerd123]

+ while Peak Akthar was amazing, he could be so erratic, even on his best days.

Honestly, if not for his performance in the Allstars game, which caused me to look up videos of his bowling at his peak, I probably would have voted Dev lol. Was a tricky choice, I just went for the bowler I liked watching more.

 

[Saint Kopite]

Shoaib Akhtar vs Kapil Dev
Richard Hadlee vs Imran Khan

Harold Larwood vs Shane Warne
Dennis Lillee vs Bill O'Reilly

Richie Benaud vs Fred Trueman
Curtley Ambrose vs Bishan Bedi

Derek Underwood vs Charlie Turner
Bob Willis vs Hedley Verity

Jeff Thomson vs Waqar Younis
Malcolm Marshall vs Glenn McGrath

Jim Laker vs Fazal Mahmood
Alan Donald vs Joel Garner

Alan Davidson vs Keith Miller
Wasim Akram vs Sydney Barnes

Hugh Tayfield vs Muttiah Muralitharan
Dale Steyn vs Maurice Tate

 

[Saint Kopite]

+ while Peak Akthar was amazing, he could be so erratic, even on his best days.

Honestly, if not for his performance in the Allstars game, which caused me to look up videos of his bowling at his peak, I probably would have voted Dev lol. Was a tricky choice, I just went for the bowler I liked watching more.

Also, Kapil spearheaded a poverty attack for majority of his career as well. Not at all easy to do because the greatest bowling attacks usually hunt in pairs. He, like Hadlee was a lone wolf. The second best bowler in Kapil's prime were Ravi Shastri and Dilip Doshi. That is ridiculous. The likes of Chandra, Bedi and Prasanna were already at the tail-end of their career when he retired and the when likes of Kumble and Srinath were emerging, Kapil himself was at the end of his prime and career.

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

Round 2

Kapil Dev
Richard Hadlee
Shane Warne
Dennis Lillee
Fred Trueman
Curtley Ambrose
Charlie Turner
Hedley Verify
Waqar Younis
Malcolm Marshall
Jim Laker
Allan Donald
Alan Davidson
Wasim Akram
Muttiah Muralitharan
Dale Steyn

 

[Chrish]

Shoaib Akhtar vs Kapil Dev
Richard Hadlee vs Imran Khan

Harold Larwood vs Shane Warne
Dennis Lillee vs Bill O'Reilly

Richie Benaud vs Fred Trueman
Curtley Ambrose vs Bishan Bedi

Derek Underwood vs Charlie Turner
Bob Willis vs Hedley Verity

Jeff Thomson vs Waqar Younis
Malcolm Marshall vs Glenn McGrath

Jim Laker vs Fazal Mahmood
Alan Donald vs Joel Garner

Alan Davidson vs Keith Miller
Wasim Akram vs Sydney Barnes

Hugh Tayfield vs Muttiah Muralitharan
Dale Steyn vs Maurice Tate

Hadlee vs Imran was the toughest for me.. But Hadlee was great everywhere so gotta give to him..

 

[OverratedSanity]

I'm surprised by how easily Hadlee is beating Imran tbh. Another one of those cases where most people rate him higher, but only very very slightly.