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Ravichandran Ashwin vs Hedley Verity

Who is the better test bowler?


  • Total voters
    27

the big bambino

International Captain
No one has made a single argument for why Verity is better than Ashwin and there is no way you can justify the bar not being higher for people he played in an era of two max three capable cricketing countries, fewer test matches and lower professional standards.
The last "point" is recency bias. Soon enough time will move on, standards improve again, and you'll have to give up on Ashwin for playing in a lower professional era.

Who are you talking about when you say 2 or 3 max capable nations? Is it the present era where Oz, India and Eng are called the big 3? It could be the more test playing nations the more opportunities to soften your stats against rabbits. Capt Luffy touched on this point when he said Verity's away record was 34 v Aus and 29 v SA but was lowered substantially against India in 33/34.

34 in Aus from an OS spinner is quite good. The strength of his opponent considerable. Australia's batting has not been as strong since except the 90s and noughties. Plus Bradman on top of that. Ashwin bowled to some great Aussie players here but, teamwise, really nowhere as comparable in strength. The series in SA was played on 5 of the flattest roads contrived and against opponents like Mitchell, Nourse, Melville and Rowan.

I draw the opposite conclusion to Capt Luffy; Proportionally Verity did not have the opportunity to play as many weaker sides as Ashwin and bring down his average accordingly. Yet he is still more than holding up in a comparison.

Both are fine bowlers. Don't take my comment about Ashwin as any more than a wind up. I also agree with OS' point about him being the best bowler in a recent series. Amazing he can make a good point when he's not so concerned about light skinned cricketers. But the tone of this thread has been comically parochial when reviewing 2 bowlers who's records deserve better.
 

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