Dale Steyn vs Allan Donald vs Shaun Pollock

[SillyCowCorner1]

Steyn is currently at 44 votes
Donald follows closely with 36 votes


The 3rd party candidate, Shaun Pollock at a meager 7 votes.


Vote folks.

 

[Arachnodouche]

He was over 26 years old when he was playing in his second Test match. I'd say he lost at least 4 years

This is very pertinent. You can argue isolation allowed him to emerge fully-formed, but that's four prime years of a fast bowler's life.

 

[Red]

does not belong there.

yeh he does, absolutely

 

[stephen]

Yeah Migara has no idea of he doesn't think Lillee isn't in the same class as the others.

 

[Slifer]

Yeah Migara has no idea of he doesn't think Lillee isn't in the same class as the others.

Now you under how I felt when people said the same thing about Donald and Steyn

 

[subshakerz]

Steyn simply had more match-winning performances overseas than Donald, including in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, England, Australia and West Indies. When Steyn fired, there was a 90% chance SA won. He saved his best for when it mattered most. This is one area he is far ahead of Donald. He was the no.1 reason SA was unbeaten overseas in this period.

Donald may have pretty figures but was merely first among equals on away tours. To my knowledge except in England he rarely outright won matches on his own the way Steyn did.

 

[Kirkut]

Quality thread. So many amazing anecdotes.

P.S. I forgot I had posted here before :P

 

[Pap Finn Keighl]

Tests - Steyn > Donald >> Pollock

Steyn is the 5th greatest test bowler of all time only behind Barnes, Akram, Marshall and Hadlee

ODIs - Donald > Pollock > Steyn

Donald is the 4th greatest ODI bowler of all time, only behind Akram, Garner and Mcgrath.

 

[kyear2]

Tests - Steyn > Donald >> Pollock

Steyn is the 5th greatest test bowler of all time only behind Barnes, Akram, Marshall and Hadlee

ODIs - Donald > Pollock > Steyn

Donald is the 4th greatest ODI bowler of all time, only behind Akram, Garner and Mcgrath.

I'm just
I agree that he is definitely in my top 4 as well. Just genuinely asking on what basis you rate Akram as 2nd best?

My top 4 btw Marshall, Steyn, McGrath, Hadlee. Barnes being especially hard to rate because there is hardly any footage of him bolwing and some of the descriptions sounds more like O'Reilly type quick spinner. Plus his figures were greatly enhanced by facing the minnows of his day if I correctly recall.

 

[bagapath]

in tests Donald is marginally ahead of steyn; with shaun behind them both.
in ODIs Donald is marginally ahead of shaun; and steyn is behind both of them.

all three guns.

 

[Noumenon]

Donald with his look and air of a Bond villain wins it for me.

 

[StephenZA]

Donald with his look and air of a Bond villain wins it for me.

Yes, but did he have crazy eyes?

 

[Noumenon]

Yes, but did he have crazy eyes?

Steyn with his crazy eyes and mannerisms is fit for Austin Powers

 

[Pap Finn Keighl]

I'm just
I agree that he is definitely in my top 4 as well. Just genuinely asking on what basis you rate Akram as 2nd best?

My top 4 btw Marshall, Steyn, McGrath, Hadlee. Barnes being especially hard to rate because there is hardly any footage of him bolwing and some of the descriptions sounds more like O'Reilly type quick spinner. Plus his figures were greatly enhanced by facing the minnows of his day if I correctly recall.

Why not Akram? His stats are similar to other ATGs, only that he played for longer with a poor fielding support.
His contemporaries ( both batsmen and bowlers ) rate him as the best of the generation ( which included Mcgrath, Donald and Ambrose )
And No other bowler would have been considered as an under achiever with 400+wkts at 23+ avg.

 

[karan_fromthestands]

Steyn was as good as Malcolm Marshall IMO.

 

[Chrish]

Without looking at numbers, Steyn looked more thrashable. He did produce more math-winning performances out of nowhere at there were periods where he looked vulnerable to batsmen going after him.

Donald on the other hand from memory, dominated batsmen more ie. he usually didn’t go for too many runs. And on rare occasions when batsmen did go after him, he usually got them out (his battles with Lara and Tendulkar come to mind). He also relied more on hostile accurate short-pitch bowling which I like more. Pace like fire!

Donald slightly edges this one. Also amazing odi bowler.

 

[honestbharani]

math-winning

Gotta love a good Mathelete.

 

[_00_deathscar]

Without looking at numbers, Steyn looked more thrashable. He did produce more math-winning performances out of nowhere at there were periods where he looked vulnerable to batsmen going after him.

Donald on the other hand from memory, dominated batsmen more ie. he usually didn’t go for too many runs. And on rare occasions when batsmen did go after him, he usually got them out (his battles with Lara and Tendulkar come to mind). He also relied more on hostile accurate short-pitch bowling which I like more. Pace like fire!

Donald slightly edges this one. Also amazing odi bowler.

The game had changed too by the time Steyn came around, nevermind the pitches. Batsmen in the 90s generally wouldn't go after bowlers either, they bided their time etc.

Steyn > Donald (but not too much in it) > Pollock

Steyn is a top 5 ATG test bowler. Akram isn't in that conversation.

 

[Chrish]

People are underestimating Wasim.. He was a champion bowler. He sort of underachieved despite his numbers (not often you say that for a bloke who averaged 23 and took 400+ wickets). If Pakistan had a half-decent slip-cordon, I feel confident his average would been lower by 2 runs. Go on YT and look any random Wasim video. It always starts with someone dropping a catch in the slip. It almost seems staged.

 

[Bolo.]

Without looking at numbers, Steyn looked more thrashable. He did produce more math-winning performances out of nowhere at there were periods where he looked vulnerable to batsmen going after him.

Donald on the other hand from memory, dominated batsmen more ie. he usually didn’t go for too many runs. And on rare occasions when batsmen did go after him, he usually got them out (his battles with Lara and Tendulkar come to mind). He also relied more on hostile accurate short-pitch bowling which I like more. Pace like fire!

Donald slightly edges this one. Also amazing odi bowler.

Donald was distinctly inaccurate by ATG standards. His habit of bowling length/ back of a length coupled with lift kept him from being that expensive though.

Steyn bled runs at the start of his career when he was looking for a wicket with every ball, coupled with his bowling style (skiddy, late swing, full etc.). Later on he was doing a lot of channel bowling that was mostly containment, and reserving his wicket hunting for particular spells. His average didnt change much, but he was a more effective bowler in the first phase due to his strike rate. He knew it too, was just trying to save his body to get more mileage.

His average is at least as good as Donalds considering eras. They both had the job of primary strike bowlers, and Steyn was better at it in the period he was trying to do it exclusively, so I dont see why going for a bunch of runs from time to time in that period should be held against him.