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Muttiah Muralitharan vs Dennis Lillee

Who is the better test bowler?

  • Total voters
    28
S

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
Qlder said:
Sorry but marking a player down because they didn't play somewhere is ridulous. Does that mean Bradman was an over rated hack because he didn't play in New Zealand, West Indies, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka or South Africa?
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Bradman averaging 99 makes him the exception to everything.

But a modern era player is expected to prove themselves in a variety of conditions and SC is acknowledged as a challenge for the top pacers to conquer.

Why wouldn't I rate those with SC success over those with none, all else equal?
 
Q

Qlder

International Regular
subshakerz said:
But a modern era player is expected to prove themselves in a variety of conditions and SC is acknowledged as a challenge for the top pacers to conquer.

Why wouldn't I rate those with SC success over those with none, all else equal?
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Lillee was primarily a 1970's bowler with 2 years lost to WSC. Please enlighten me as to what other pace bowler covered all countries with a large sample size of tests in the 1970's?

Your basically saying you don't rate any pace bowler pre-1980
 
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DrWolverine

DrWolverine

International Debutant
Qlder said:
Bradman played 52 out of 52 tests in Australia and England. I guess that makes him even more unproven than Lillee
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Bradman averaged 99.94 and the second best was around 60.

If Lillee averaged 10 with the ball and the likes of Marshall/Hadlee averaged 20, no one would have questioned Lillee.
 
Q

Qlder

International Regular
DrWolverine said:
Bradman averaged 99.94 and the second best was around 60.

If Lillee averaged 10 with the ball and the likes of Marshall/Hadlee averaged 20, no one would have questioned Lillee.
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Unrealistic expectations but this sums up the player comparison forum logic and why I should have stayed away from it 😆
 
DrWolverine

DrWolverine

International Debutant
The subcontinent is widely accepted as the best challenge for a fast bowler. Why would I accept Lillee who was unproven in Asian pitches as a greater bowler than the likes of Marshall, Hadlee, Holding, Donald and Steyn who have proved themselves in more countries?
 
S

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
Qlder said:
Lillee was primarily a 1970's bowler with 2 years lost to WSC. Please enlighten me as to what other pace bowler covered all countries with a large sample size of tests in the 1970's?

Your basically saying you don't rate any pace bowler pre-1980
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It's quite simple. Lillee is in my top 10 pacers. He is an ATG and best of his 70s era. But I am going to rate pacers who are similarly highly rated but who demonstrated success across more conditions.
 
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DrWolverine

DrWolverine

International Debutant
Is Lillee an all time great? Yes
No one is disputing that.
But can’t rate him ahead of proven greats
 
Coronis

Coronis

International Coach
DrWolverine said:
The subcontinent is widely accepted as the best challenge for a fast bowler. Why would I accept Lillee who was unproven in Asian pitches as a greater bowler than the likes of Marshall, Hadlee, Holding, Donald and Steyn who have proved themselves in more countries?
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Davidson confirmed GOAT. Closely followed by Walsh.
 
kyear2

kyear2

International Coach
When Lillee retired in the early '80's he was widely acknowledged as the greatest of all time, especially as a fast bowler. The only other candidates for that position would have been Barnes (for the older crowd that included him), O'Reilly and Lindwall.

To this day Viv, Chappell and others still rate him above Imran and Hadlee as test bowlers he faced.

I don't rate him that highly and he wasn't extensively tested in various environments, but he's still top 10 for me and definitely ATG. The bashing does go a bit far.
 
Migara

Migara

International Coach
kyear2 said:
When Lillee retired in the early '80's he was widely acknowledged as the greatest of all time, especially as a fast bowler. The only other candidates for that position would have been Barnes (for the older crowd that included him), O'Reilly and Lindwall.

To this day Viv, Chappell and others still rate him above Imran and Hadlee as test bowlers he faced.

I don't rate him that highly and he wasn't extensively tested in various environments, but he's still top 10 for me and definitely ATG. The bashing does go a bit far.
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By late 80s I am sure he was replaced by Hadlee and Marshall. Rather short lived crown.
 
Migara

Migara

International Coach
DrWolverine said:
Even in 1990s Lillee was considered the best. Maco being considered the best ever fast bowler happened sometime in the 2000s.
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By 1990s we considered Akram to be better than Lillee and Hadlee as the pinnacle and Marshall as the GOAT
 
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