Philander in SA or Anderson in England

[DrWolverine]

Who is more difficult to play in test cricket?

 

[Johan]

Philander in SA is a cheat code.

 

[Kirkut]

This is an interesting thread.

Very hard to zero down on a single bowler, peak Anderson under overcast skies possibly edges out peak Philander on an SA greentop.

In general, I might go with Philander on SA wickets since batsmen have made big runs against Anderson when he's not in pomp.

 

[Johan]

England is better for batting than South Africa, in the 2010s if we'd roll 10 pitches, 7 would be balanced/bowler friendly and 3 would be batter friendly, batter friendly pitches in SA happened once in a blue moon.

 

[Prince EWS]

Anderson in England was a better bowler than Philander in SA, but the latter was more difficult anyway because conditions in SA were just generally more difficult.