subshakerz
Hall of Fame Member
Lol I disagree with most of this. I still find it hard to fathom how batting in the tail is harder than up the order or why you would compare Pollock with Imran versus batters of his own era. But I've said my piece.I'm happy putting Imran over Ambrose, whether cutting only his non-bowling tests or more. That's mostly a style preference.
Engineering Imrans record by cutting the games 14 games that best suit him still leaves him at a 22 average and 25 away, with a Steyn WPM. His home record gets ridiculous, but Steyn is still a bunch better away. Strikes a lot faster, and is the only top bowler with just about his entire career in the flat pitch/good bat era. More away wickets per match. I regard away performances as a better measure of quality, but even if I didn't I'd still take Steyn's overall record.
Exactly how many games get trimmed doesn't make much difference to me.
Depending on quality and style of a bat, it gets easier down to 5-7ish. After that it gets tougher for bats with any degree of quality. First new ball is gone either way. 2nd new ball and reverse could hit the lower or the lower middle harder. Bowlers are a little less fresh, but the amount of extra overs makes progressively less of a difference as the game goes on.
Everyone gets out cheaply before getting set to all sorts of bowling. Then cash in relative to career average once set. Lower order bats are missing out on chances to cash in when set by running out of partners/strike farming/swinging.
Pollock is pretty comparable in style and quality to the bowling phase of Imrans career. The other ARs differ on at least one. He is a player you have already brought up and is an easier comparison to Kallis as teamates.