Wait did someone really compare Walsh to Zaheer Khan?? Lol. Zaheer bowling on indian roads bla bla bla is just silly. He had plenty of opportunities to do well on more pace friendly wickets away but didnt. On the other hand, Walsh was excellent everywhere, except for Australia but what 90s bowler did well in Australia (not donald, pollock, waqar etc). He sure did excel on the roads of India and Pakistan though.
And this crap about Walsh not being atg because he isn't in a wi first xi is just that crap. It's obviously because wi have a ok depth where fast bowling is concerned. Just like Australia have border, Ponting, chappell, waugh, smith. At least 2 of those atg batsmen will miss out on the oz first xi, still doesn't stop them from being atg. Anyway Walsh is vastly better than vaas, kumble, zaheer etc. Lmao!!
I threw them in the same bucket which is "below ATG level but were great servants for their country". Here's what I said:
Anderson's career stats are around about McDermott's (with a lot better longevity) and that's generally about how good he was. Great on his day, ordinary at other times. ATVG level player. Fans of the side will love them for their servanthood to their country and will remember the highlights while non fans won't think too much about them when they're gone.
Other ATVG players:
Gillespie
Kumble
Vaas
Zaheer
Walsh (though many people would consider him an ATG, he was certainly a step down from Ambrose)
Benaud
Inzimam
There's quite clearly a huge spectrum and maybe you could split a whole bunch of players. Zaheer would be at the bottom of that pile and Walsh at the top (though TBF maybe I'm slightly underrating him because I mostly watched him against Australia). You don't get 300 test wickets while being complete and utter garbage. That's something only 24 pace bowlers in history have managed.
Whether you place Walsh at the bottom of the ATG tree or at the top of the ATVG tree is largely a matter of how many players you put in each category.
Frankly though, there are 20 or more bowlers in history I'd have ahead of Walsh. From the top of my head - Marshall, Ambrose, Garner, Holding, Croft, Roberts, Bishop, Hadlee, Donald, Pollock, Steyn, Philander, Trueman, Statham, McGrath, Lillee, Davidson, Lindwall, Wasim, Waqar and Imran. There are a few others like Reid and Harris who had quite short careers but were better while they played who I wouldn't consider to be ATG. Walsh is somewhere in the mix with those guys for me.