Philander, Ashwin and George Lohmann

[Burgey]

Two of the tests Vern is playing here are in Brisbane and Perth. Should suit him beautifully.

 

[Viscount Tom]

Perth might be a funny one though, you get it wrong as a bowler pacer or not and your goig to get punished against top players.

 

[SJS]

Can anyone of Philander and Ashwin break Lohmann's record of fastest to 100 wickets in test cricket?

Lohmann created this record in 1896 by claiming 100 wickets in 16 tests. Since then this record hasn't been broken.

Philander has 63 wickets in 10 matches and Ashwin has 49 in his 8 matches.

Interesting. While the simple answer is No or highly unlikely, the considered answer is a bit longer than that. But before I go into that, here is a disclaimer :o)

Any conclusion and analysis based on stats I quote is not meant to rank players as better or worse purely on the basis of those stats​

It is impossible to compare players across such a vast period of time when everything was so different. Just to mention two very important ones. The wickets in the days of Lohmann were really bad for batting and centuries were rare double centuries miraculous and triple centuries still in someone's fantasies maybe. In the first twenty years of test cricket (the time when Lohmann retired) only two double centuries were scored (both by Australians.

The laws were very different too. Balls pitching outside the stumps couldn't get you an lbw decision. So lets remember this is an academic and a bar-room exercise.

To compare Ashwin and Philander with the grand old Lohmann I would like to start with Lohmann's first 14 tests. I will explain the reasons later. Here is what we find.

[B]Bowler       	Tests	Wkts	Wkts/T	Avg(R/W)	Str Rt(balls)[/B]
Lohmann   	14	74	5.3	12.8          	42.5
Philander       10	63	6.3	15.9          	33.2
Ashwin      	8	49	6.1	26.2          	52.3

The figures of Lohmann and Philander are very comparable indeed. In fact, the strike rate of Philander is surprisingly good but then one can explain that the lbw rules of Lohmann's time made it very difficult for a break back (off break) bowler like him to get leg before decisions. Batsmen had to just plonk their left leg forward and outside the off stump (where bowlers tended to pitch) and play the drives without fear of being given leg before.
It is interesting although a digression to see how the three get batsmen who miss the straight ball.

[B]Bowler       	Wkts	B	LBW	B+LBW
[/B]
Lohmann   	102	[B][COLOR="DarkRed"]50	2	52[/COLOR][/B]
Philander	63	9	11	20
Ashwin      	49	11	15	26

Interesting but we digress.

So coming back to the comparison, Philander needs 11 wickets in his next four tests to equal Lohmann's 74 in his 14. Definitely doable. Ashwin needs 25 in six possible but there is Australia and England ahead and we shall see. So, surely if the target was the first to, say 75 test wickets, our two contemporaries are very much in the race and one if not both might make it.

But you say first to 100 and that is a contest with very unequal goal posts with Lohmann faced with goal posts of twice the width and height as our young men.

Lohmann's next series was against the South Africans in South Africa. In the first two tests of this series, This is what he did . . .

1. 1st Test 1st innings : Opening the bowling, Lohmann bowled unchanged (a mere 15.4 overs) to take 7 wickets at 5.4 runs each !

2. 1st test 2nd innings : Again opening the bowling and again bowling unchanged Lohmann took 8 wickets this time. However his unchanged innings long spell was of 9.4 overs only and each wicket cost him 0.72 runs !! South Africa were bowled out for 30.

3. 2nd Test 1st innings : This time England, having scored a massive 485 batting first decided not to open with Lohmann. South Africa reached a respectable 70 for 1 wicket. Lohmann coming on first change then bowled unchanged till the Proteas were bowled out. He took 9 wickets at 3.1 run each !!!

4. 2nd Test 2nd innings : Again 'rested for quite some time Lohmann had more modest figures of 3 for 43.

The two tests had yielded him 27 wickets at 4.3 each against a side where no batsman crossed reached even the half century mark. In fact no South frican batsman could score a fifty in their first decade in Test cricket !

Wow! what a great bowler ! Well great bowler no doubt but not because of these figures. The South Africans of the 19th century were the minnows to beat all minnows. England repeatedly took to South Africa teams that consisted almost entirely (with 2-3 exceptions) of people who had never played Test cricket before and were not likely to play again and yet they trounced the South Africans who were pathetic.

This is why the race against Lohmann to the century mark is not fair to Philander or Ashwin, unless we get them to play a series against Afghanistan

 

[uvelocity]

you've been away a while buddy, afghanistan ain't that bad - better to say new zealand

 

[miscer]

ashwin 92 in 16 and still batting at 37. Great player and an absolute star at home.

 

[smash84]

Ashwin WAG