Prime McGrath Vs Prime Steve Smith

[Coronis]

It's a much stronger argument for McGrath in that case. Australia had a record of (W-D-L, no ties) 56-11-16 with McGrath, 2-3-3 without him.

Mhm. But it matters with McGrath but not with Smith

 

[Xix2565]

Mhm. But it matters with McGrath but not with Smith

The thing that keeps being ignored is that Smith isn't impacting games like McGrath did because he's not a Test bowler. For a Test team, the bowler is generally a more impactful role because of how games are won, and with that context, how can anyone say 403 wickets at 20/48 isn't a greater prime than most batting primes? Australia wouldn't be as great as they were if they had an average Test bowler in place of McGrath.

 

[Coronis]

The thing that keeps being ignored is that Smith isn't impacting games like McGrath did because he's not a Test bowler. For a Test team, the bowler is generally a more impactful role because of how games are won, and with that context, how can anyone say 403 wickets at 20/48 isn't a greater prime than most batting primes? Australia wouldn't be as great as they were if they had an average Test bowler in place of McGrath.

All I’m saying is Australia wouldn't be as great as they were if they had an average Test batsman in place of Smith.

 

[Xix2565]

All I’m saying is Australia wouldn't be as great as they were if they had an average Test batsman in place of Smith.

Yeah, but they still had a decent bowling attack relative to their peers in that period, especially post 2017 with Cummins coming back. They still had the ability to win matches that Smith's absence didn't erase as much as what happened with McGrath not being available overall.

 

[Coronis]

Yeah, but they still had a decent bowling attack relative to their peers in that period, especially post 2017 with Cummins coming back. They still had the ability to win matches that Smith's absence didn't erase as much as what happened with McGrath not being available overall.

Well we’ve been talking about prime so lets see… lets just start with 2013-14 Ashes

With Smith 63-26-15
Without Smith 3-5-2

 

[Xix2565]

This doesn't really address my point with the bowling vs batting part of the comparison here, especially when it comes to support both players had and the general value of their support vs their own impact. I rate McGrath leading the best bowling attack of his generation and ensuring his side had an easier time scoring runs over Smith's ability to make runs and supplement his bowling attacks with runs.