Best ever ODI bowler

[brackenNY]

Akram had ****tiest fielding team. Many drop catches. Imagine Akram's ability in Aussie team. Man, he wouldn't have to bowl stump to stump so many times any more.

So true.

 

[Furball]

No. As big a fan i am of McGrath, i just dont agree to this. Played most of his cricket on helpful tracks.

Explain to me why, unlike those poor Pakistani boys who had to play all their games on airport runways, McGrath has a worse average at home than away.

 

[smash84]

Explain to me why, unlike those poor Pakistani boys who had to play all their games on airport runways, McGrath has a worse average at home than away.

Can you please bother to take a look at the stats before throwing them around and asking for explanations? McGrath's average at home is better than his career average (20.22 against 22.02). And Wasim's average at home is much much worse than his career average (31.12 against 23.52).

I reckon it is much more difficult bowling in ODIs in Pakistan than in Australia. There would be a significant difference in average ODI scores as well I think. Given below is the bowling career summary of both McGrath and Wasim.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/43547.html?class=2;template=results;type=bowling

Bowling records | One-Day Internationals | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[akilana]

I think ginger was talking about tests

 

[Furball]

Can you please bother to take a look at the stats before throwing them around and asking for explanations? McGrath's average at home is better than his career average (20.22 against 22.02). And Wasim's average at home is much much worse than his career average (31.12 against 23.52).

I reckon it is much more difficult bowling in ODIs in Pakistan than in Australia. There would be a significant difference in average ODI scores as well I think. Given below is the bowling career summary of both McGrath and Wasim.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/43547.html?class=2;template=results;type=bowling

Bowling records | One-Day Internationals | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPN Cricinfo

Given how often he played ODIs there, it's tempting for Wasim to consider Sharjah, not Pakistan, his home territory. Wasim only played 67 ODIs in Pakistan.

 

[Ikki]

Can you please bother to take a look at the stats before throwing them around and asking for explanations? McGrath's average at home is better than his career average (20.22 against 22.02). And Wasim's average at home is much much worse than his career average (31.12 against 23.52).

I reckon it is much more difficult bowling in ODIs in Pakistan than in Australia. There would be a significant difference in average ODI scores as well I think. Given below is the bowling career summary of both McGrath and Wasim.

Bowling records | One-Day Internationals | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPN Cricinfo

Bowling records | One-Day Internationals | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPN Cricinfo

But McGrath's away/neutral record is similar to Wasim's. Possibly better if you account for the era.

 

[smash84]

I think ginger was talking about tests

This is an ODI bowler discussion and even for tests the difference between his career (21.64) and home (22.43) average is not even 1 run.

But like I said this is a discussion about ODI bowlers.

 

[akilana]

This is an ODI bowler discussion and even for tests the difference between his career (21.64) and home (22.43) average is not even 1 run.

But like I said this is a discussion about ODI bowlers.

sorry my bad.. McGrath's away record is better than his home in test matches so I assumed he had tests matches in his mind when he asked that question..

 

[smash84]

Given how often he played ODIs there, it's tempting for Wasim to consider Sharjah, not Pakistan, his home territory. Wasim only played 67 ODIs in Pakistan.

The Sharjah pitches are not bowler friendly either.

But McGrath's away/neutral record is similar to Wasim's. Possibly better if you account for the era.

That might be true. Wasim's record in Sharjah is quite stellar. In some of the other places such as England, Pak and WI it is not that great.

 

[Ikki]

He also did very well in Pakistan - Wasim's home.

 

[smash84]

He also did very well in Pakistan - Wasim's home.

And also quite superbly in WI. McGrath did quite well in ODIs and might even be a better bowler than Wasim but to argue by misrepresenting the facts is not fair. And for ODIs there might be a good case for Pakistan and Sharjah being more difficult places to bowl than Australia.

 

[Ikki]

Brings me back the point I made earlier: in Tests Wasim actually does better at home and in ODIs he does better away. Are there any reasons why this may be?

 

[r3alist]

finding different slants on stats are fun but its not everything.

sometimes you can make a fair judgement based on just observation and giving some reasoning from that angle.

 

[marc71178]

And also quite superbly in WI. McGrath did quite well in ODIs and might even be a better bowler than Wasim but to argue by misrepresenting the facts is not fair. And for ODIs there might be a good case for Pakistan and Sharjah being more difficult places to bowl than Australia.

Spot of irony here seeing as you're doing the exact same thing.

 

[smash84]

Spot of irony here seeing as you're doing the exact same thing.

and how am I doing that???? Maybe misrepresenting is the wrong word. Maybe I should have used the word concocting. Would that make you happy?

 

[marc71178]

Either way, you're equally guilty by making such a big thing about Wasim's home country when in reality he barely played there.

 

[Faisal1985]

Explain to me why, unlike those poor Pakistani boys who had to play all their games on airport runways, McGrath has a worse average at home than away.

Away where? NZ, SA, Eng?

When was the last time McGrath visited Pak pre-SL team attacks/security risks. How many times did McGrath play in Subcontinent pitches/roads compared to other bowler friendly venues?

 

[Faisal1985]

Either way, you're equally guilty by making such a big thing about Wasim's home country when in reality he barely played there.

The discussion is about bowler friendly conditions. Who played more games in bowler friendly conditions. And i bet you the answer is McGrath.

 

[Furball]

Away where? NZ, SA, Eng?

When was the last time McGrath visited Pak pre-SL team attacks/security risks. How many times did McGrath play in Subcontinent pitches/roads compared to other bowler friendly venues?

Was talking in Tests.

McGrath's record in Australia: 289 wickets @ 22.43, SR 54.7
McGrath's record outside Australia: 274 wickets @ 20.81, SR 48.9

Wasim's record in Pakistan: 154 wickets @ 22.22, SR 51.1
Wasim's record outside Pakistan: 260 wickets @ 24.44, SR 56.7

Someone claimed McGrath had helpful surfaces, my argument is that his home pitches weren't as condusive for bowling as away pitches, and claiming that Wasim had poor home pitches doesn't stand up when you compare his home record to his away one.

 

[Furball]

The discussion is about bowler friendly conditions. Who played more games in bowler friendly conditions. And i bet you the answer is McGrath.

Define "bowler friendly." No such conditions exist.