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Greatest Test Spinners

Coronis

Coronis

International Coach
TheJediBrah said:
Massively overrated. Like mentioned he's not top 5 Australian alone. Can't see how he could be top 15. Top 30 maybe

Like Jimmy Anderson, benefits from a long career and a lot of wickets pushing him above much better bowlers in some people's minds
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I mean, its not his fault that Australia has produced more top level spinners than any other country.
 
capt_Luffy

capt_Luffy

Cricketer Of The Year
I would probably say Lyon is 20ish....
Like if I were to rank:
Murali, Warne, O'Reilly, Ashwin, Laker, Grimmett, Kumble, Verity, Tayfield, Gibbs, Underwood, Bedi, Chandrashekhar, Prasanna, Trumble, Benaud, Herath, Mushtaq, Rhodes, then Lyon.
 
Coronis

Coronis

International Coach
capt_Luffy said:
I would probably say Lyon is 20ish....
Like if I were to rank:
Murali, Warne, O'Reilly, Ashwin, Laker, Grimmett, Kumble, Verity, Tayfield, Gibbs, Underwood, Bedi, Chandrashekhar, Prasanna, Trumble, Benaud, Herath, Mushtaq, Rhodes, then Lyon.
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rip Venkat
 
sledger

sledger

Spanish_Vicente
Lyon is clearly not as good as MacGill was, and MacGill barely managed more test wickets than Moeen Ali.
 
Q

Qlder

International Debutant
I really rate McGill but I think people overlook the fact he often played as 2nd spinner when the pitch was very spin friendly (so didnt play when it didn't suit). That's why his stats are so good. Still better than Lyon though 😉

Edit: just checked and he played 16 Tests with Warne as 2nd spinner. 82 wkts at 22.10 so over 5 WPM with Warne (averaged 33.53 when not paired with Warne)
 
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The_CricketUmpire

The_CricketUmpire

U19 Captain
TheJediBrah said:
Massively overrated. Like mentioned he's not top 5 Australian alone. Can't see how he could be top 15. Top 30 maybe

Like Jimmy Anderson, benefits from a long career and a lot of wickets pushing him above much better bowlers in some people's minds
Click to expand...
I agree. I also think Lyon is one dimensional in terms of what he does with the ball - very predictable. If he was playing in a stronger era of Test cricket then the likes of Lara and Tendulkar for example would be using their feet and hitting him all over the place.

Lyon is a good bowler, his record shows that but if for example I was asked to name the top 5 Australian Test spinners that I had seen, then for me Shane Warne is number 1 and coming in at number 2 is Stuart MacGill. If Warne wasn't around then MacGill plays more Test cricket for Australia. MacGill was a world class spinner (leg spinner) who happened to play at the same time a freak was playing (Warne).

Lyon has benefited from longevity, that's why he has taken as many wickets as he has and if we are talking purely off-spinners, then in my opinion I rate Saqlain Mushtaq as a better bowler....and why...because due to what Mushtaq could do with the ball...much more variety and much more dynamic.

I always say that when assessing bowlers, you look at their stats, you then combine their stats (career stats) with what your eyes are seeing and that is - what they could do with the ball.

Again, Lyon....good Test career....his numbers say that but I think a lot of people overrate him purely on his stats/numbers and don't actually assess what he could do with the ball (or couldn't do - a bit one dimensional).
 
The_CricketUmpire

The_CricketUmpire

U19 Captain
TheJediBrah said:
Massively overrated. Like mentioned he's not top 5 Australian alone. Can't see how he could be top 15. Top 30 maybe

Like Jimmy Anderson, benefits from a long career and a lot of wickets pushing him above much better bowlers in some people's minds
Click to expand...
Bowlers like Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad - very good bowlers as their stats show but their longevity is what has helped them get as many Test Wickets as they did.

There is no way that those two are better than Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose....these two bowlers are all-time greats.
 
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