Tom Halsey
International Coach
Warne in my book.
Leave that to us, Halsey pleasehalsey said:Haven't you already been given a warning? :!( :!(
Enough.warne eats pies said:Warne eats pies
Of course Barnes was the best bowler ever IMO - but he was the best spinner ever, too.luckyeddie said:Some excellent names there - but I'm not sure whether I would classify Syd Barnes as the greatest spin bowler - I would, however, classify him as the greatest bowler full stop by a military mile - no-one comes close. He could (allegedly) bowl genuinely quick, medium (both off and leg cutters), orthodox off-breaks and leg-spin - the most complete bowler of any era.
Now, if only he could have batted, Sobers would have only been the second most complete player ever.
Lohmann had his wickets at 10 a piece. There was Spofforth too. Then there are bowlers like John Wisden who took so many first class wickets cheaply but neevr played tests. I dont think it can ever be resolved who the best bowler ever was like say we say Bradman was the best ever batsman. Marshall, Hadlee among others may seem the best coz we saw them. Bradman though Grimett was better than Warne but its virtually impossible to say who the best bowler ever was.anilramavarma said:Wow! 189 wickets in 27 tests at 16.43. What a record! In terms of stats, Barnes has to be the best ever and according to Eddie, he is the most versatile too.
Of modern day bowlers, Murali followed by Warne.
Sobers says Gupta is a better bowler then Warne.vishnureddy said:I haven't seen Abdul Qadir bowl but his record abroad is worse than even Kumble. He averages about 48 away from Pakistan and which is about 10 more than Anil Kumble who is considered poor away. I think Subhash Gupte deserves a mention as his record is pretty good and have read that Sobers rates him as the best
Never possible to be certain to an exact degree.hourn said:The problem with comparing guys like Lohmann, Barnes, Ferris, Spofforth and co is that before WWI it's nearly impossible to match their records against todays players.
A guy with a batting average in the high 30's then (ala Trumper) was considered the same as a guy in the mid to high 50's in just about any other period (ala Tendulkar, Sobers).
Because it is just too hard to tell how those guys were i tend to leave them out when people ask me off all-time teams and the like.
One day when i've got a lot of time on my hands i may make an attempt to convert their averages into today's averages. but right now i can't be bothered as it would most likely be a week long process if you wanted to get it really accurate.