weldone
Hall of Fame Member
I'm unsure if Wasim ran through a quality top order more times than Ambrose did in the 90s. I can look at that when I have more time, but I highly doubt it.Look up Ambrose's series-by-series of the late 90s. I mean, it's great to maintain a low average if you have 4-74 with an economy rate below 2 over a whole series but that's not the sort of job I'm looking for when I'm expecting the greatest bowler of all-time. I think his raw stats exaggerate the impact he had on tests post-1995 a fair bit. Obviously, he'd sometimes have spells like in Perth v. Australia in 97 but by and large he was too much of a holding bowler for half a decade as opposed to generating strike output for me to consider him the greatest of the decade.
I was exaggerating about Waqar being the best as well because I love him so. I think he's second or third. I think the first probably has to be Wasim. He was awesome pretty much throughout the decade without any major dips in form.
Putting it this way, if you were entering a novice team who could pick only one bowler from the 90s for the decade, Ambrose will rip up **** for five years and then be content with not letting anyone score and picking a few poles now and then. Waqar would be the best of all-time for five years and a merely good but expensive strike bowler for the remaining five. Donald won't play the first three years and Mcgrath/Pollock won't play five. When I frame my question that way, Wasim appears to be a no brainer.
Edit: Almost all of 22 5-wicket hauls of Ambrose include a bulk of quality top order wickets. I'm not sure that the same can be said about Wasim.
Last edited: