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

ankitj

Hall of Fame Member
Am I the only person to have voted on this combination so far? Even ankit that 'liked' the post abstained on one of them. :laugh:
I am genuinely confused. I always lump Ambrose, McGrath and Warne together. Ranking 3 of them is difficult.
 

viriya

International Captain
I'm curious to know why people are picking Marshall over Murali in a landslide. Is it really that clear, or is it mainly because it's hard to compare spin and fast bowlers and so people are going by gut feel/average more?
 
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Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
I'm curious to know why people are picking Marshall over Murali in a landslide. Is it really that clear, or is it mainly because it's hard to compare spin and fast bowlers and so people are going by gut feel/average more?
It looks like 10-6 to me, hardly a landslide. But as has been stated many many times before, in a straight shoot out there is no indication of how close people think the two bowlers are.

Warne
Marshall
 

kyear2

International Coach
I'm curious to know why people are picking Marshall over Murali in a landslide. Is it really that clear, or is it mainly because it's hard to compare spin and fast bowlers and so people are going by gut feel/average more?
Can't speak for anyone else, but for me it is that clear. But I also believe that Marshall is one of the 3 greatest cricketers ever, and the order varies between the 3.
 

viriya

International Captain
Can't speak for anyone else, but for me it is that clear. But I also believe that Marshall is one of the 3 greatest cricketers ever, and the order varies between the 3.
OK then maybe my question should be why is Murali not at the level or greater than Marshall in your opinion?
 

kyear2

International Coach
Just as successful home and away. Dominated every app on en in every condition. Could bounce you out or swing you out depending on conditions. Lost one match as an opening bowler in his career despite constant retirements and severe drop off of form from Richards and Co later in their career. No matter the changes in the team, while he was there they were the best. When he came in they were a great team, he made them.the best ever, and this was after Richards absolute peak and after Holding and Roberts etc retired.

The absolute peak of greatness of the West Indies team was when he was the spearhead.

From '83 / '84 he was the fastest bowler in the world and went to India on unresponsive pitches and proved it.

There was nothing he couldn't do. Contain, attack, extreme pace, banana swing, pace variations etc.

His strike rate was phenomenal, as was his average and economy rate. He had a brilliant cricketing brain and primarily set his own fields.

No one dominated him. They were some great batsmen in his era, and they were hundreds scored against the team, but no one ever dominated him. No series when anyone took him apart.

They were no minnows in his era, no easy wickets. But his record doest suffer for it.

And please note, this is just my opinion and I am aware most people would disagree, especially with regard to the team success, but that's all part of why they are out there.
 
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Slifer

International Captain
Just as successful home and away. Dominated every app on en in every condition. Could bounce you out or swing you out depending on conditions. Lost one match as an opening bowler in his career despite constant retirements and severe drop off of form from Richards and Co later in their career. No matter the changes in the team, while he was there they were the best. When he came in they were a great team, he made them.the best ever, and this was after Richards absolute peak and after Holding and Roberts etc retired.

The absolute peak of greatness of the West Indies team was when he was the spearhead.

From '83 / '84 he was the fastest bowler in the world and went to India on unresponsive pitches and proved it.

There was nothing he couldn't do. Contain, attack, extreme pace, banana swing, pace variations etc.

His strike rate was phenomenal, as was his average and economy rate. He had a brilliant cricketing brain and primarily set his own fields.

No one dominated him. They were some great batsmen in his era, and they were hundreds scored against the team, but no one ever dominated him. No series when anyone took him apart.

And please note, this is just my opinion and I am aware most people would disagree, especially with regard to the team success, but that's all part of why they are out there.
Awta!!!
 

viriya

International Captain
Just as successful home and away. Dominated every app on en in every condition. Could bounce you out or swing you out depending on conditions. Lost one match as an opening bowler in his career despite constant retirements and severe drop off of form from Richards and Co later in their career. No matter the changes in the team, while he was there they were the best. When he came in they were a great team, he made them.the best ever, and this was after Richards absolute peak and after Holding and Roberts etc retired.

The absolute peak of greatness of the West Indies team was when he was the spearhead.

From '83 / '84 he was the fastest bowler in the world and went to India on unresponsive pitches and proved it.

There was nothing he couldn't do. Contain, attack, extreme pace, banana swing, pace variations etc.

His strike rate was phenomenal, as was his average and economy rate. He had a brilliant cricketing brain and primarily set his own fields.

No one dominated him. They were some great batsmen in his era, and they were hundreds scored against the team, but no one ever dominated him. No series when anyone took him apart.

And please note, this is just my opinion and I am aware most people would disagree, especially with regard to the team success, but that's all part of why they are out there.
Good points, and I agree he has a very consistent career record.. maybe the only blemish being an average @NZ record which probably doesn't mean much due to small sample size. I think a good comparison is probably McGrath who had a similar consistent career. Both players benefited from a great supporting cast which positively affected their averages (and probably lowered their wkts/mat). I'd pick the Aus team of the 2000s as the GOAT team over the WIs of the 80s mainly because they won much more frequently and so were more dominant.

Makes me think that there should be separate "best pace bowler" and "best spin bowler" threads but it's too late for that.
 

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