Pap Finn Keighl
International Debutant
GillespieAs an example from amongst the players I have watched, I have absolutely no doubt that Gillespie and Walsh are two bowlers who could have had much better stats had they been the lead bowlers in their sides. They almost all the time had to bowl into the wind and try to bowl dry spells to ensure Ambrose or McGrath on the other end can attack. While I understand the glamour of individual stats for arguments such as these, especially among bowlers, it is very important to note what role their team needed them to play and how well they played it.
And perhaps you would find some who could play every role really well and maybe those bowlers do need to be rated higher. One example I can think of, is Pollock. He often bowled into the wind when bowling with Donald but he also performed really well as the lead bowler, rough stats against one of the greatest sides ever aside. It is not such a simple thing as to go by just bowling average and strike rate in what is basically a team game.
Walsh
Akram