No Shoaib?Surprised by the total lack of votes for Peter Pollock. Anyways, my top 50 bowlers (post 1900/Test performances only):
- Malcolm Marshall
- Glenn McGrath
- Richard Hadlee
- Sydney Barnes
- Muttiah Muralitharan
- Shane Warne
- Dale Steyn
- Curtly Ambrose
- Wasim Akram
- Imran Khan
- Bill O'Reilly
- Allan Donald
- Dennis Lillee
- Fred Trueman
- Joel Garner
- Michael Holding
- Ray Lindwall
- Alan Davidson
- Waqar Younis
- Courtney Walsh
- Pat Cummins
- Shaun Pollock
- Andy Roberts
- Ravichandran Ashwin
- Jim Laker
- Clarrie Grimmett
- James Anderson
- Hedley Verity
- Kagiso Rabada
- Anil Kumble
- High Tayfield
- Alec Bedser
- Jasprit Bumrah
- Brian Statham
- Bob Willis
- Vernon Philander
- Lance Gibbs
- Neil Adcock
- Derek Underwood
- John Snow
- Harold Larwood
- Keith Miller
- Kapil Dev
- Ian Botham
- B S Chandrasekhar
- Ian Bishop
- Wes Hall
- Frank Tyson
- Peter Pollock
- B S Bedi
Likewise for Macgill, Colin Croft etc who couldn't play more tests due to a superior player in team.Tyson, Chandrashekhar, Bebaud, Bedi all a bit unlucky.
kiwibros love their tragically shortly curtailed career bowlers so that they can hype them up further with “oh what coulda been” to place them hypothetically really high doing a disservice to stalwarts like Boult and Wagner who are ****ing gunHad much better careers though....
i dont mind Ashwin’s final ranking, maybe a couple of spots higher if being picky but its him being behind Verity and Laker that makes him look lowA very good list, we can quibble about individual places but directionally it’s really strong. For the Indians, think Ashwin too low (18-20 feels right), Jadeja too high (40-50) and Dev, Bumrah ranked fairly. Bedi a bit disappointing to miss out relative to folks like Snow but not much in it.
note: I realize the stats don’t make it easy to differentiate Ashwin and Jadeja in that way but you have to see the blow to understand
He just barely missed out. Had I included 5 more bowles, he would had made the cut.No Shoaib?
England usually played a five man attack with Bailey and two spinners back then. Given Wardle was a left armer it could be argued it was the chucker Lock keeping him out of a lot of sides, which probably rankles even more than it just being Laker.At first glance the spinners appear to have been 'short changed' but 13 spinners v 37 pace-men might be a reflection of the 3 to 1 ratio of the bowlers in most teams.
My final votes included nominations for Tyson (several rounds) and Wardle. In the 2022 Tyson ranked above several of those who made this Poll's Top 50. While not fixated on averages, his 76 wickets @ 18.57 stands out like a sore thumb when looking at some of those making the list.
Similarly, Wardle with 102 wickets @ 20.39 has a superior average to other spinners on the list.
I suspect a relatively low number of Tests counts against them. Wardle had to fight for a spot often occupied by highly rated Laker while Tyson's career was ended by injury.
I wonder if the low number of Tests factor will come into play when I start the 2024 Batsmen Poll tomorrow, If the answer is "Yes" then Barry Richards would miss out.
Spinners are lower leverage in most conditions outside of South Asia. As part of a balanced attack, it's much less likely for your "ace" to be a spinner than a seamer in the modern era, and I think it's for good reason. The poll results accurately reflect that, I think. Heck, I'd definitely remove Lyon, and maybe another spinner as well.At first glance the spinners appear to have been 'short changed' but 13 spinners v 37 pace-men might be a reflection of the 3 to 1 ratio of the bowlers in most teams.
Add big Bill Johnston to that list, for mine.Tyson, Chandrashekhar, Bebaud, Bedi all a bit unlucky.
Source?High Tayfield
Durban, I presume.Source?
Whoa whoa whoa - you are South African right? No Indian who watched cricket from around 2005 onwards would even make that claim with a certain South African who retired recently….
Meh.
I also don't agree with rating bumrah this high due to his limited number of games. But I don't think he should be compared to botham. Bumrah is probably the best bowler I can remember watching. I've heard a lot of people describe Botham's peak numbers as better than his performances. Bumrah looks at least as good as his stupid numbers.
And Botham has a proven record of failure ouside of his peak.
FTR, I still think Botham had a better career for now.
Aside from fitness, longevity, and the fact that I'm including Steyns decline while Bumrah's hasn't happened, probably. Not minor things OFC, but that's why I reckon Bumrah is rated too high for now.Whoa whoa whoa - you are South African right? No Indian who watched cricket from around 2005 onwards would even make that claim with a certain South African who retired recently…
The Joel Garner of his time.Jadeja is a support bowler, he’s not a lead spinner. He’s in the team for his batting.
Well I'm sure he is now.Apparently Miller is a worse bowler than Jadeja now. Cool cool cool.