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Imran Khan vs Richard Hadlee

The better cricketer

  • Imran Khan

    Votes: 42 68.9%
  • Richard Hadlee

    Votes: 19 31.1%

  • Total voters
    61

kyear2

International Coach
Hadlee overall slightly. Imran is in the top the 10 pacers ever, but Hadlee is in the top 3 ever, and amongst the six(except Bradman)or so I consider to have absolutely mastered their respective disciplines(others being Sachin, Marshall, McGrath, Hobbs, Viv). Even in this group, Sachin and Marshall stand out. The difference between their primary skills and Imran’s bowling is for me equal to the difference between Imran’s batting and Marshall’s odd use as a lower order bat and Sachin’s part time bowling. However in Hadlee’s case the difference between his and Imran’s secondary skill(batting) is lesser than above mentioned and I consider Hadlee to be closer to Marshall than Imran in bowling(if he was midway it would be a tie between him and Imran), so for me the difference in Hadlee and Imran’s bowling is by the slightest margins more than the difference in their batting.
Hope I hadn't responded to this already, but love this post.

Your top 7 is almost identical to mine, just that you have Viv instead of Sobers (I do have Vivian 8th and Steyn 9th) as well as the reasoning behind it. Just the absolute best at their primary skills.
 

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
Hope I hadn't responded to this already, but love this post.

Your top 7 is almost identical to mine, just that you have Viv instead of Sobers (I do have Vivian 8th and Steyn 9th) as well as the reasoning behind it. Just the absolute best at their primary skills.
It's flawed logic. Marshall or Tendulkar being no.1s doesn't give them extra points. Marshalls batting and Imran's batting are a huge gulf and the bowler difference is actually minimal and only seem more because we are obsessed with rankings.
 
I love how we start a comparison thread with player A vs player B…and it turns out to player C vs player D

That’s why we have that ATG arguing thread.
 

kyear2

International Coach
McGrath and Pollock aren’t close as bowlers. McGrath was the better cricketer.
The second disciplines only matter when comparing players who are in the same tier in their first disciplines.

They're not almost equal bowlers though unless you only factor overall bowling average. I can't imagine any of their peers from their era (from neutral countries) NOT saying Hadlee was the better bowler of the two.
Agree with all of this.

There's no way I'm selecting Pollock over any of the top 3 bowlers, probably even the top 8. He simply wasn't as effective nor had match turning potential as a bowler that they did and the barring can't overcome several tier deficit. So McGrath for me clearly over Pollock.

Similarly as Paddles was clearly accepted as the better bowler (and pretty good bat), and they are being chosen for that primary skill, why would being better only in the secondary skill (when Hadlee wasn't exactly a bunny) cause one to jump the other?

Hadlee for me on this one, though not by much.
 

smash84

The Tiger King
Agree with all of this.



Similarly as Paddles was clearly accepted as the better bowler (and pretty good bat), and they are being chosen for that primary skill, why would being better only in the secondary skill (when Hadlee wasn't exactly a bunny) cause one to jump the other?
think about it, the answer to this question is not hard.
 

kyear2

International Coach
think about it, the answer to this question is not hard.
We just disagree philosophically. I think Hadlee was better with the ball to the extent it supercedes the extra 10 runs with the bat.

Even with my preferred 2nd skill, slip fielding I don't replace Sachin with Lara, Hammond or Kallis. And I think that Lara has a better claim than Imran as he was (IMHO) marginally closer to Sachin than Imran was to Hadlee.
 

smash84

The Tiger King
We just disagree philosophically. I think Hadlee was better with the ball to the extent it supercedes the extra 10 runs with the bat.

Even with my preferred 2nd skill, slip fielding I don't replace Sachin with Lara, Hammond or Kallis. And I think that Lara has a better claim than Imran as he was (IMHO) marginally closer to Sachin than Imran was to Hadlee.
So, you already did know the answer? Which incidentally was plastered all over the previous pages. Then why were you putting that question up in the first place? 🤔

I am guessing you also put Malcolm Marshall as a greater cricketer than Hadlee?
 

kyear2

International Coach
So, you already did know the answer? Which incidentally was plastered all over the previous pages. Then why were you putting that question up in the first place? 🤔

I am guessing you also put Malcolm Marshall as a greater cricketer than Hadlee?
It was hypothetical.

Bradman, Sobers, Marshall, Hobbs, Hadlee, McGrath, Tendulkar.
 

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