Cricketweb decides the greatest bowler ever in a 64 player bracket. Contest thread.

[Red]

@ watson

Botham over Garner?

 

[StephenZA]

Shoaib Akhtar vs Shane Bond
Bert Ironmonger vs Kapil Dev
Richard Hadlee vs Shaun Pollock (this was wrong for a first round)
Ray Lindwall vs Imran Khan

Division 2

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar vs Harold Larwood
Shane Warne vs Wes Hall
Dennis Lillee vs George Lohmann
Mike Procter vs Bill O'Reilly

Division 3

Richie Benaud vs Frank Tyson
Fred Trueman vs Clarrie Grimmett
Johnny Briggs vs Curtley Ambrose
Erapalli Prasanna vs Bishan Bedi

Division 4

Anil Kumble vs Derek Underwood
Charlie Turner vs Neil Adcock
Jason Gillespie vs Bob Willis
Hedley Verity vs Brian Statham

Division 5

Colin Croft vs Jeff Thomson
Andy Roberts vs Waqar Younis
Malcolm Marshall vs Jimmy Anderson (Poor Jimmy)
Fred Spofforth vs Glenn McGrath

Division 6

Jim Laker vs Abdul Qadir
Hugh Trumble vs Fazal Mahmood
Peter Pollock vs Alan Donald (That's just wrong)
Ian Botham vs Joel Garner

Division 7

Alan Davidson vs Alec Bedser
Mohammad Asif vs Keith Miller
Wasim Akram vs Michael Holding
Courtney Walsh vs Sydney Barnes

Division 8

Hugh Tayfield vs John Snow
Muttiah Muralitharan vs Arthur Mailey
Ian Bishop vs Dale Steyn
Maurice Tate vs Subhash Gupte

 

[Red]

Most difficult for me was Lindwall vs Imran, Roberts vs Waqar, Trueman vs Grimmett and Roberts vs Waqar.

 

[Red]

(this was wrong for a first round)

These things we are running at the moment can in no way be considered a ranking, they are purely exercises to find one clear best/second best.

Pollock is a better bowler than plenty who will go thru to the second round here.

 

[viriya]

Shoaib Akhtar vs Shane Bond
Bert Ironmonger vs Kapil Dev
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar vs Harold Larwood
Dennis Lillee vs George Lohmann
Richie Benaud vs Frank Tyson
Fred Trueman vs Clarrie Grimmett
Jason Gillespie vs Bob Willis
Hugh Trumble vs Fazal Mahmood
Alan Davidson vs Alec Bedser
Maurice Tate vs Subhash Gupte

^ All these could go either way imo.

 

[The Sean]

There are some absolutely brutal matchups here - I bloody love it. Votes to follow when I've thought it through.

 

[a massive zebra]

Division 1

Shoaib Akhtar vs Shane Bond
Bert Ironmonger vs Kapil Dev
Richard Hadlee vs Shaun Pollock
Ray Lindwall vs Imran Khan

Division 2

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar vs Harold Larwood
Shane Warne vs Wes Hall
Dennis Lillee vs George Lohmann
Mike Procter vs Bill O'Reilly

Division 3

Richie Benaud vs Frank Tyson
Fred Trueman vs Clarrie Grimmett
Johnny Briggs vs Curtley Ambrose
Erapalli Prasanna vs Bishan Bedi

Division 4

Anil Kumble vs Derek Underwood
Charlie Turner vs Neil Adcock
Jason Gillespie vs Bob Willis
Hedley Verity vs Brian Statham

Division 5

Colin Croft vs Jeff Thomson
Andy Roberts vs Waqar Younis
Malcolm Marshall vs Jimmy Anderson
Fred Spofforth vs Glenn McGrath

Division 6

Jim Laker vs Abdul Qadir
Hugh Trumble vs Fazal Mahmood
Peter Pollock vs Alan Donald
Ian Botham vs Joel Garner

Division 7

Alan Davidson vs Alec Bedser
Mohammad Asif vs Keith Miller
Wasim Akram vs Michael Holding
Courtney Walsh vs Sydney Barnes

Division 8

Hugh Tayfield vs John Snow
Muttiah Muralitharan vs Arthur Mailey
Ian Bishop vs Dale Steyn
Maurice Tate vs Subhash Gupte

 

[smash84]

yeah, i thought bond vs shoaib was tough, as was wasim vs holding, and bedser vs davidson

 

[J_C]

Division 1

Shoaib Akhtar vs Shane Bond
Bert Ironmonger vs Kapil Dev
Richard Hadlee vs Shaun Pollock
Ray Lindwall vs Imran Khan

Division 2

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar vs Harold Larwood
Shane Warne vs Wes Hall
Dennis Lillee vs George Lohmann
Mike Procter vs Bill O'Reilly

Division 3

Richie Benaud vs Frank Tyson
Fred Trueman vs Clarrie Grimmett
Johnny Briggs vs Curtley Ambrose
Erapalli Prasanna vs Bishan Bedi

Division 4

Anil Kumble vs Derek Underwood
Charlie Turner vs Neil Adcock
Jason Gillespie vs Bob Willis
Hedley Verity vs Brian Statham

Division 5

Colin Croft vs Jeff Thomson
Andy Roberts vs Waqar Younis
Malcolm Marshall vs Jimmy Anderson
Fred Spofforth vs Glenn McGrath

Division 6

Jim Laker vs Abdul Qadir
Hugh Trumble vs Fazal Mahmood
Peter Pollock vs Alan Donald
Ian Botham vs Joel Garner

Division 7

Alan Davidson vs Alec Bedser
Mohammad Asif vs Keith Miller
Wasim Akram vs Michael Holding
Courtney Walsh vs Sydney Barnes

Division 8

Hugh Tayfield vs John Snow
Muttiah Muralitharan vs Arthur Mailey
Ian Bishop vs Dale Steyn
Maurice Tate vs Subhash Gupte

 

[watson]

@ watson

Botham over Garner?

Garner is probably the better bowler, but the question is not about who is the best but rather who is the greatest? Once you use the term greatest the exercise becomes more than just a number crunching exercise, and assessment of technique.

Even as a bowler Botham's contribution to cricket and the enjoyment we get from it was huge, and so he trumps Garner IMO.

Having said that, Botham's ICC peak rating of 911 points in 1980 is still higher than Garner's peak rating of 890 during the same year.

http://www.relianceiccrankings.com/alltime/test/bowling/

 

[harsh.ag]

Even as a bowler Botham's contribution to cricket and the enjoyment we get from it was huge, and so he trumps Garner IMO.

Wtf are you talking about

 

[watson]

Wtf are you talking about

27 x 5fers, and 4 x 10fers highlight his importance to the English bowling attack. Plus very few bowlers can boast a spell of 5 for 1 to help win a match on the last day by 29 runs. This is the stuff of cricketing legend.

 

[Saint Kopite]

Division 1

Shoaib Akhtar vs Shane Bond
Bert Ironmonger vs Kapil Dev
Richard Hadlee vs Shaun Pollock
Ray Lindwall vs Imran Khan

Division 2

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar vs Harold Larwood
Shane Warne vs Wes Hall
Dennis Lillee vs George Lohmann
Mike Procter vs Bill O'Reilly

Division 3

Richie Benaud vs Frank Tyson
Fred Trueman vs Clarrie Grimmett
Johnny Briggs vs Curtley Ambrose
Erapalli Prasanna vs Bishan Bedi

Division 4

Anil Kumble vs Derek Underwood
Charlie Turner vs Neil Adcock
Jason Gillespie vs Bob Willis
Hedley Verity vs Brian Statham

Division 5

Colin Croft vs Jeff Thomson
Andy Roberts vs Waqar Younis
Malcolm Marshall vs Jimmy Anderson
Fred Spofforth vs Glenn McGrath

Division 6

Jim Laker vs Abdul Qadir
Hugh Trumble vs Fazal Mahmood
Peter Pollock vs Alan Donald
Ian Botham vs Joel Garner

Division 7

Alan Davidson vs Alec Bedser
Mohammad Asif vs Keith Miller
Wasim Akram vs Michael Holding
Courtney Walsh vs Sydney Barnes

Division 8

Hugh Tayfield vs John Snow
Muttiah Muralitharan vs Arthur Mailey
Ian Bishop vs Dale Steyn
Maurice Tate vs Subhash Gupte

 

[Saint Kopite]

Holding vs Akram was brutal to choose. Two of my favrourite bowlers.

 

[Saint Kopite]

27 x 5fers, and 4 x 10fers highlight his importance to the English bowling attack. Plus very few bowlers can boast a spell of 5 for 1 to help win a match on the last day by 29 runs. This is the stuff of cricketing legend.

At their absolute best, Botham was the better bowler but he was equally erratic also. Garner comparatively may not have been as flashy but was more consistent.

 

[Victor Ian]

Round 1:

Division 1

Shoaib Akhtar vs Shane Bond
Bert Ironmonger vs Kapil Dev
Richard Hadlee vs Shaun Pollock
Ray Lindwall vs Imran Khan

Division 2

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar vs Harold Larwood
Shane Warne vs Wes Hall
Dennis Lillee vs George Lohmann
Mike Procter vs Bill O'Reilly

Division 3

Richie Benaud vs Frank Tyson
Fred Trueman vs Clarrie Grimmett
Johnny Briggs vs Curtley Ambrose
Erapalli Prasanna vs Bishan Bedi

Division 4

Anil Kumble vs Derek Underwood
Charlie Turner vs Neil Adcock
Jason Gillespie vs Bob Willis
Hedley Verity vs Brian Statham

Division 5

Colin Croft vs Jeff Thomson
Andy Roberts vs Waqar Younis
Malcolm Marshall vs Jimmy Anderson
Fred Spofforth vs Glenn McGrath

Division 6

Jim Laker vs Abdul Qadir
Hugh Trumble vs Fazal Mahmood
Peter Pollock vs Alan Donald
Ian Botham vs Joel Garner

Division 7

Alan Davidson vs Alec Bedser
Mohammad Asif vs Keith Miller
Wasim Akram vs Michael Holding
Courtney Walsh vs Sydney Barnes

Division 8

Hugh Tayfield vs John Snow
Muttiah Muralitharan vs Arthur Mailey
Ian Bishop vs Dale Steyn
Maurice Tate vs Subhash Gupte

I didn't vote on anything I was unsure of or didn't know one of the bowlers.

Lindwall and holding copped it bad. Let's hope Imran Khan wins this thing.

 

[morgieb]

Division 1

Shoaib Akhtar vs Shane Bond
Bert Ironmonger vs Kapil Dev
Richard Hadlee vs Shaun Pollock
Ray Lindwall vs Imran Khan

Division 2

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar vs Harold Larwood
Shane Warne vs Wes Hall
Dennis Lillee vs George Lohmann
Mike Procter vs Bill O'Reilly

Division 3

Richie Benaud vs Frank Tyson
Fred Trueman vs Clarrie Grimmett
Johnny Briggs vs Curtley Ambrose
Erapalli Prasanna vs Bishan Bedi

Division 4

Anil Kumble vs Derek Underwood
Charlie Turner vs Neil Adcock
Jason Gillespie vs Bob Willis
Hedley Verity vs Brian Statham

Division 5

Colin Croft vs Jeff Thomson
Andy Roberts vs Waqar Younis
Malcolm Marshall vs Jimmy Anderson
Fred Spofforth vs Glenn McGrath

Division 6

Jim Laker vs Abdul Qadir
Hugh Trumble vs Fazal Mahmood
Peter Pollock vs Alan Donald
Ian Botham vs Joel Garner

Division 7

Alan Davidson vs Alec Bedser
Mohammad Asif vs Keith Miller
Wasim Akram vs Michael Holding
Courtney Walsh vs Sydney Barnes

Division 8

Hugh Tayfield vs John Snow
Muttiah Muralitharan vs Arthur Mailey
Ian Bishop vs Dale Steyn
Maurice Tate vs Subhash Gupte

 

[Lillian Thomson]

It's too late in the day to give this too much thought now. But looking through the match-ups the second round is going to include Hadlee v Imran and Marshall v McGrath. I see half the forum refusing to vote.

 

[NUFAN]

Division 1

Shoaib Akhtar vs Shane Bond
Bert Ironmonger vs Kapil Dev
Richard Hadlee vs Shaun Pollock
Ray Lindwall vs Imran Khan

Division 2

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar vs Harold Larwood
Shane Warne vs Wes Hall
Dennis Lillee vs George Lohmann
Mike Procter vs Bill O'Reilly

Division 3

Richie Benaud vs Frank Tyson
Fred Trueman vs Clarrie Grimmett
Johnny Briggs vs Curtley Ambrose
Erapalli Prasanna vs Bishan Bedi

Division 4

Anil Kumble vs Derek Underwood
Charlie Turner vs Neil Adcock
Jason Gillespie vs Bob Willis
Hedley Verity vs Brian Statham

Division 5

Colin Croft vs Jeff Thomson
Andy Roberts vs Waqar Younis
Malcolm Marshall vs Jimmy Anderson
Fred Spofforth vs Glenn McGrath

Division 6

Jim Laker vs Abdul Qadir
Hugh Trumble vs Fazal Mahmood
Peter Pollock vs Alan Donald
Ian Botham vs Joel Garner

Division 7

Alan Davidson vs Alec Bedser
Mohammad Asif vs Keith Miller
Wasim Akram vs Michael Holding
Courtney Walsh vs Sydney Barnes

Division 8

Hugh Tayfield vs John Snow
Muttiah Muralitharan vs Arthur Mailey
Ian Bishop vs Dale Steyn
Maurice Tate vs Subhash Gupte

I found Turner/Adcock, Tate/Gupte, Prasanna/Bedi, Kumble/Underwood and Benaud/Tyson very tricky.

 

[kyear2]

It's too late in the day to give this too much thought now. But looking through the match-ups the second round is going to include Hadlee v Imran and Marshall v McGrath. I see half the forum refusing to vote.

While groups 4 and 6 are cake walks.