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Wasim Akram vs Allan Donald

Who was the greater bowler?

  • Wasim Akram

    Votes: 24 51.1%

  • Allan Donald

    Votes: 23 48.9%
  • Total voters
    47
T

Tec15

First Class Debutant
Bolo. said:
Donald's record is just so much better.

Can see the argument for Wasim being comparable despite his worse record, but he was just so unthreatening whenever I watched that the comparison seems silly to me, even though I know what I watched was not at all representative.
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You're not all that wrong. Wasim was very nonthreatening from 1996 onwards while Donald was tearing it up during that time.
 
0

_00_deathscar

International Regular
Tec15 said:
You're not all that wrong. Wasim was very nonthreatening from 1996 onwards while Donald was tearing it up during that time.
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Yea he had a middle period (1990-1997) taking 5 WPM @ 20 with a 46 SR and then the early years and late decline around that.
 
S

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
Tec15 said:
You're not all that wrong. Wasim was very nonthreatening from 1996 onwards while Donald was tearing it up during that time.
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Wasim's last great series was against WI at home in 97. After that his pace dropped but frankly speaking he looked a lot more threatening at reduced pace than Donald did 2000 onwards who faded away very quickly.
 
S

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
Another point, which is not special pleading but just context, is that Wasim debuted very early by pace bowler standards at age 18. Virtually every other ATG pacer, aside from Imran, debuted at around 21 or more.

It took him 5 years before he became world class in 1990 at the age of 23. That was 30 tests of a development period in which he was averaging 28. To compare, other ATGs usually kick into world class mode after 5-10 tests.

You can say it took him longer than most but age I think was definitely a factor that affected his record to make it seem worse that he was.
 
trundler

trundler

Request Your Custom Title Now!
subshakerz said:
Another point, which is not special pleading but just context, is that Wasim debuted very early by pace bowler standards at age 18. Virtually every other ATG pacer, aside from Imran, debuted at around 21 or more.

It took him 5 years before he became world class in 1990 at the age of 23. That was 30 tests of a development period in which he was averaging 28. To compare, other ATGs usually kick into world class mode after 5-10 tests.

You can say it took him longer than most but age I think was definitely a factor that affected his record to make it seem worse that he was.
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Nah, debuting as a teen plucked from street cricket obviously doesn't matter. Also Ryan Harris is an ATG because he played 2 series in helpful conditions after spending a decade averaging 30 bowling gentle throw downs in FC cricket.
 
B

Bolo.

International Captain
subshakerz said:
Wasim's last great series was against WI at home in 97. After that his pace dropped but frankly speaking he looked a lot more threatening at reduced pace than Donald did 2000 onwards who faded away very quickly.
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Your memory is wonky.

They are the same age and retired at the same time.

Donald was fine while down a bit on pace in the 2000s. Not as good as at his peak, but he averaged sub 20 until he broke down in his 3rd last series, and in that series he managed 14@25. His last 2 series he took 5 wickets only, and was clearly shot.

Akram managed 7 wickets in his last 4 series.
 
S

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
Bolo. said:
Your memory is wonky.

They are the same age and retired at the same time.

Donald was fine while down a bit on pace in the 2000s. Not as good as at his peak, but he averaged sub 20 until he broke down in his 3rd last series, and in that series he managed 14@25. His last 2 series he took 5 wickets only, and was clearly shot.

Akram managed 7 wickets in his last 4 series.
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Wasim hardly bowled in those last two series.

Wasim's pace declined in 97/98 likely due to his diabetes. But he was still a dangerous bowler in spurts from then until his retirement. Whereas Donald himself said that his pace was his USP, and once it left him he became a 3rd or 4th seamer in the attack by 2002-2003.
 
OverratedSanity

OverratedSanity

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subshakerz said:
Another point, which is not special pleading but just context, is that Wasim debuted very early by pace bowler standards at age 18. Virtually every other ATG pacer, aside from Imran, debuted at around 21 or more.

It took him 5 years before he became world class in 1990 at the age of 23. That was 30 tests of a development period in which he was averaging 28. To compare, other ATGs usually kick into world class mode after 5-10 tests.

You can say it took him longer than most but age I think was definitely a factor that affected his record to make it seem worse that he was.
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Even this is probably underselling young Wasim a bit. He was raw and understandably a little inconsistent, but that period saw him produce several legitimately great performances. He gave Pak a historic win vs WI in the 86 home series and came away with decent figures in the 1987 series in India when both Kapil and Imran struggled on pretty flat decks for the quick bowlers. Probably best of all, he almost pulled off a series win in WI in 88 by taking 7 wickets in the deciding test. If not for a tailend partnership, he'd have been primarily responsible for breaking the WI unbeaten streak. He accomplished all that before turning 22. McGrath, Ambrose, Donald hadn't even begun their test careers at that age. Marshall had played 3 tests and averaged 88.

Those kind of performances are rare and just add to a player's legacy. Going "Oh but his average is 2 points worse because he was actually decent enough to play cricket as a teenager" so he's worse is a very CW thing. Dumbest collective opinion on a supposedly smart cricket forum.
 
honestbharani

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
OverratedSanity said:
Going "Oh but his average is 2 points worse because he was actually decent enough to play cricket as a teenager" so he's worse is a very CW thing.
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But that is not always the case though. It also depends on the culture of the team and the availability of spots within the team. I mean, how the heck would it be fair to punish Lara for not getting into THAT Windies line up just because Sachin was able to get into the then Indian lineup? Assuming every teenager who debuted as a teenager were the only teenagers who were ever good enough to play at that level is a rather silly assumption coz we have examples of both sides of the coin. Unless we assume Ashraful was suddenly a better 18 year old bat than Ponting was.
 
Pap Finn Keighl

Pap Finn Keighl

International Debutant
honestbharani said:
But that is not always the case though. It also depends on the culture of the team and the availability of spots within the team. I mean, how the heck would it be fair to punish Lara for not getting into THAT Windies line up just because Sachin was able to get into the then Indian lineup? Assuming every teenager who debuted as a teenager were the only teenagers who were ever good enough to play at that level is a rather silly assumption coz we have examples of both sides of the coin. Unless we assume Ashraful was suddenly a better 18 year old bat than Ponting was.
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Culture of the team is not quantifiable.
 
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