TheJediBrah
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you probably were tbf
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Rank the leading wicket takers of the past 50 years
- Thread starter Lillian Thomson
- Start date
honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
He is an under rated part of the side that got you back on the road to world domination though. Love me some left arm tall fast stuff. Maybe why I like Mitch Starc too.
GoodAreasShane
Cricketer Of The Year
Reidy was a beast, no doubt about that. Absurdly injury prone though
honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
Yep.. covering all bases. And FWIW, I always thought McGrath would make the perfect first change seamer too. Obviously, he was awesome with the new ball as well but coming after these two, he would have been even more terrifying to face, just from a batsman's perspective.
correct me if I am wrong, but McDermott taking over as the bowling coach was the turning point with how the Aussies seamers were bowling, right? I mean, post McWarne...
correct me if I am wrong, but McDermott taking over as the bowling coach was the turning point with how the Aussies seamers were bowling, right? I mean, post McWarne...
BoyBrumby
Englishman
He really was built like a match with all the wood shaved off though, wasn't he?
Went way past "lean" territory into "actually skinny".
Merv ate his share of the pies, obvz.
aussie tragic
International Captain
I know the OP says 'last 50 years' but I'm wondering how Alec Bedser stacks up with these 9 as he held the record broken by Trueman.
I don't know anything about him but he seems to have a pretty good record.
I don't know anything about him but he seems to have a pretty good record.
trundler
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Statham went past Bedser first.
aussie tragic
International Captain
Good spot, never knew that. He held the record for only a couple of tests before Trueman broke it...how unlucky to have Trueman in the same side chasing your record
morgieb
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Short-term yes, but McDermott wasn't there (IIRC) when Johnson went super saiyan and a lot of it also went down to a golden generation of quicks (Cummins, Hazlewood, Pattinson, Starc) coming through.
honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
I am saying they got better as they were initiated under McDermott's tutelage? or was it after him that they all debuted?
morgieb
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Ehhhh, Hazlewood debuted after he left, Cummins only played the one Test until 2017, Starc was pretty average at Test level before about 2015 (by which time McDermott left). Pattinson, possibly. I still think they'd have been excellent quicks without McDermott's tutelage, though.
Where he excelled was getting the best out of the second tier talents like Siddle and Hilfenhaus. Possibly also Harris.
EDIT: Was wrong, forgot that McDermott came back around 2014/15.
honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
All I remember is that in that series in 2011 when we toured there, McDermott was often quoted talking about the styles of bowling. The bowling coach immediately before him was the guy who rested all bowlers after the blockathon by RSA and was following a more scientific method. Mcdy was the one who seemed to ask them to just bowl more and more, try to hit hard lengths and get the ball to move. The attack in the 2011 series definitely over performed by a huge margin. Was also the one series where the Indian seamers were consistently quicker but looked totally pedestrian in contrast to the Aussie who mixed up lively fast medium with movement both off the seam and in the air, with hard lengths and extracing more bounce along with all that.
morgieb
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Yeah haha I'm certainly not one to deny McDermott's impact, he is a brilliant bowling coach. I guess I just think the Oz attack would've rebounded anyway, if not quite as quick as they did post 10/11 Ashes.
Johan
International Coach
This seems like a good thread
- Sir Richard Hadlee – nothing to explain here, Greatest of them all alongside Ambrose and Barnes in Australia, was a huge match winner, a WPM freak and bowled a ridiculous numbers of over, Asia was a little messy but made it all good in his final series in India with those 3 fifers, not only does he succeed on both the eye test and checklisting, his achievements at home and away are iconic.
- Shane Warne – The revivor of a dying art, one of the most iconic cricketers of all time, certainly the greatest leg spinner of them all, it is always a tossup between him and his great rival but I went for him today. Fantastic everywhere, perhaps the Greatest bowler of all time in England, wiped South Africa in South Africa, Wiped Pakistan on their home grounds, ran riots in Sri Lanka the little he played there, managed to carve a career as a spinner in the graveyard of spin bowling, was the best bowler away from home in the 2000s in my opinion. Warne's only negative would be performance against India.
- Muttiah Muralitharan – Giant of the game obviously, highest wicket taker, a statistical equal of his great rival, a literal cheat code on home wickets, sensational in England and New Zealand, but his most defining factor would be just how much of a game changer he was at home in his peak. I don't really need to explain why Murali, the current highest wicket taker who'd probably remain this way for decades, is top three here. the only flaw would be his record on hard bouncy wickets, and he was taken apart just as badly as Warne in India.
- Fred Trueman – The most destructive fast bowler of all time, the biggest WPM and SR outlier I think among truly fast bowlers (Bedser does not count), didn't struggle with any opposition like Warne/Murali with India/Australia but was less achieved than them away from home. Extremely durable, was quality for a ridiculous amount of time for a pacer, a complete skillset and managed pace drop off really well. He struggles on checklisting but his record in Australia and West Indies is completely fine in context (injured in 58-59, draw wickets in 54) and was the driving factor behind England saving the 1962-63 Australian Ashes and winning the 1960 West Indies series, all on flat wickets, I don't mind his away record even if it is a little shallow/small.
- Dennis Lillee – The Pacer who inspired an entire generation, EXTREMELY successful Ashes bowler, insane WPM though that does come down to low competition, a true lone wolf and insane peer reputation. Fantastic bowler all around, have him below Freddie solely because Freddie did a lot better against the top two batting lineups he could face at the time. A great fast bowler who is certain to be top ten among pacers however
- Courtney Walsh – an honest trier, is the definition of longevity, master at the cutters and therefore managed to dominate in Asia, his record in Australia/England leaves a little to be desired and was never quite as destructive as the true ATG pacers but regardless, he's definitely a better bowler than the names that will come after him on here.
- Lance Gibbs – Lance Gibbs is pretty underrated, he averages almost the same as Kapil Dev and Ian Botham but can obviously bowl a lot more due to his nature as a spinner, and he after 10 years was averaging 24 with the ball, therefore having a long peak with the ball where he was an ATG, what's more impressive is his home wickets were batter paradises and he made a career on those dead wickets, can't in good faith put a nearly 30 averaging bowler near Walsh but certainly can put him above 28-29 averaging pacers.
- Ian Botham – often struggle with Botham vs Dev, Dev has the Windies performances but Botham has the peak, went Botham as 27 fifers show his destructive capability, fifers set up and win you games, don't really count his career after the rib injury finished him off in Australia in 86, just deduct some longevity points, at that point he was averaging 26 with 27 fifers after 80+ games, very impressive.
- Kapil Dev – even though he's last, was obviously an excellent bowler, stayed consistent for a very long amount of time and REALLY came into his own against Australia and the West Indies, had very tough conditions for pace bowling but made a career out of it, a little middling that he didn't have a dominant peak.
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Coronis
Hall of Fame Member
Hmm.
Hadlee should be above Murali and Warne. Also apparently I was pretty harsh on Gibbs.
He goes above Botham and Kapil.
Thala_0710
International Debutant
Hadlee
Warne
Murali
Lillee
Trueman
Walsh
Gibbs
Dev
Botham
Warne
Murali
Lillee
Trueman
Walsh
Gibbs
Dev
Botham
capt_Luffy
International Coach
Hadlee
Murali
Warne
Lillee
Trueman
Walsh
Gibbs
Dev
Botham
Murali
Warne
Lillee
Trueman
Walsh
Gibbs
Dev
Botham
Johan
International Coach
your whole thing is knowing old stuff, rank every single record holder! (min 100 wkts)