PlayerComparisons
International Vice-Captain
Which bowling quartet is better?
I don't think it's really close as individual bowlers. Jamieson over Jones, Boult over Flintoff, Wagner over Hoggard and Southee over Harmison are all significant upgradesI guess the NZ quartet probably did perform better. New ball swing, Jamieson a great first change threat, and Wagnerball to come. Very complimentary skills and a huge threat in NZ conditions.
The English quartet is maybe less complimentary and feels a bit more like they all are most dangerous with the new ball.
Flintoff and Jones had such huge ceilings imo but we rarely got to see them at the peak of their powers.
I agree that the NZ quartet works better in this regard (mostly due to Wagner's uniqueness), but Jones had his reverse swing and Flintoff rarely opened the bowling IIRC, and could do some nice hostile short-stuff spells (not marathon ones like Wagner, mind), so I don't think they're that unbalanced wrt new ball/old ballThe English quartet is maybe less complimentary and feels a bit more like they all are most dangerous with the new ball.
The English quartet was on the field 16 times
Bowling records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPNcricinfo.com
stats.espncricinfo.com
...so that answers the OP right? The English quartet is 9 better.NZ quartet 7 times
Bowling records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPNcricinfo.com
stats.espncricinfo.com
What did they collectively average when all playing together?On a slight tangent, and I know the era plays a part in this, the next generation of cricket fans is probably going to be quite confused when they discover that English quartet as one that gets talked about and romanticised, then look them up and discover that 3 of them average over 30 and the one who didn't played 18 tests.
Then maybe they'll think "oh, perhaps they also had a really solid spinner who made them an efficient unit" and, erm...
26.88 if I've worked it out right (do we say the impact of playing in a batting-friendly era is roughly cancelled out by 2 of their 16 tests together being against Bangladesh?). Which is very solid but probably worse than people would generally imagine they'd averaged together?What did they collectively average when all playing together?
@Prince EWS Daily reminder that Wagner>LilleeI don't think it's really close as individual bowlers. Jamieson over Jones, Boult over Flintoff, Wagner over Hoggard and Southee over Harmison are all significant upgrades