I don't necessarily disagree with Steyn being in better form but the below is simplistic;
All pretty ordinary batting line-ups right now, at home or away. Their records in the last 5 years prove it. When was the last time any of them won a series on the back of their batting against even a mid-table team?
In one Test played on a very advantageous deck where Ntini took the big wickets and Steyn cleaned up the tail (which he did well, let's not take too much away from him). He bowled okay in the first Test after an ordinary start, though. In Australia, there were nothing but pancake flat decks all summer and Lee was at the very least threatening on each of them. He took a bundle of wickets, yes, but he didn't take them in hauls of 6 or 7; he spread them out over the whole summer. Every time he had the ball in hand, he was a handful to face against a batting line-up which had an in-form Tendulkar, Ganguly (before that series) and Laxman on pitches which absolutely suited them.
So you didn't see Lee bowl then? Was far from straight up-and-down. Johnson was a bit samey at times but Lee, far from it.
You say Those batting attacks arnt that great right now...
Well..I hate to inform you, but ive just listed Pretty much every current major side bar Sri lanka.... THese are hte teams, other bowlers are being measured against as well...
Your arguing hes taking apart bad teams, thats why he isnt better than lee or whoever... yet, these are the only sides he has been able to play against, and those sides are the same every other bowler gets to bowl to as well... really..where your logic to that?
This isnt the nhl..or nba where theres like, 30 teams to play against... this is international cricket, If i list 4 or 5 teams... thats pretty much, the top 5 teams to play against..
And you say "apart from the first innings blabla" right.. apart from this or that or this..you can say that about any player.
And dont tell me your trying to compare hte way lee bends the ball to the way Steyn does??
Lee has lately found a bit of movemnt, but it nowhere near compares to steyn.
Lee's advantage, is hes faster, bowling on aussie quick decks.And none of htem were remotely as flat as the first test.
Also, south africas pitches arnt what they used to be, they are still faster than the subcontinent, and maby england.. but htey are alot slower now days. Its not like steyn is getting green tops in south africa. The 2nd test had more movement than all the tests in SA combined last year.