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4th Test: Australia v India at Gabba Jan 15-19, 2021

undertaker

Coach
Messages
10,817
If Patty Cummins can do what he does on drop in concrete base roads at the MCG, what on earth would he have done on some of those decks? Hazelwood looks scary at Adelaide, imagine him sending them down on a West Indian monster in Kingston circa 1985....

I have no doubt if you transported Brett Lee, Shoaib Akhtar etc at their peak back into a time machine during the '70s and '80s, they would've scared the crap out of batsmen that exact same way Jeff Thomson did circa 1972-76 before his collar bone injury. With the lack of protective equipment back then, batsmen wouldn't be aggressively attacking their bouncers with hook shots like they do today because batsmen now have helmets and other protective gear.

In the post-McGrath era, Dale Steyn hands down is the best fast bowler in international cricket over the past decade and a half. To average 22.95 on predominantly abrasive flat tracks (South African pitches have been very similar to Australian pitches during Steyn's career) and to succeed as a fast bowler in the subcontinent sets him head and shoulders over the rest of the pack. Being shorter than 6' tall, you have to have that something special as a fast bowler of that height to stand out from the rest of the crowd and like Malcolm Marshall, Steyn had that. If it wasn't for chronic knee injuries, Ryan Harris would've come very close to matching Steyn, as he also had that variation to consistently trouble batsmen at times when Johnson/Starc/Siddle weren't able to. Such a shame injury cruelled his career, as Harris could've been one of the all-time Australian greats in the post-McGrath era. Same can be said for Shane Bond from NZ.

Regarding Anderson and Broad, they may have taken much more wickets than Steyn, but they've had the luxury of playing a large portion of their test matches with the Dukes ball in conditions/pitches that are heavily conducive to swing/seam bowling (hence maximising their strengths).

Regarding spinners, Anil Kumble and Muralitharan are the same: have taken 1400+ test wickets between themselves, but took the majority of their wickets on rank turners in subcontinent conditions that are reminiscent of what the SCG was like during the '80s and '90s, when 2 - sometimes 3 - spinners played (regarding Murali, it must also be pointed out he took 176 of his 800 test wickets vs Bangladesh and Zimbabwe; an opportunity Warne didn't have).
 
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Old tiger 79

Juniors
Messages
1,745
I have no doubt if you transported Brett Lee, Shoaib Akhtar, Shane Bond etc at their peak back into a time machine during the '70s and '80s, they would've caused major problems for batsmen. With the lack of protective equipment back then, batsmen wouldn't be aggressively attacking their bouncers with hook shots.

In the post-McGrath era, Dale Steyn hands down is the best fast bowler in international cricket over the past decade and a half. To average 22.95 on PREDOMINANTLY flat tracks (South African pitches have been very similar to Australian pitches during Steyn's career) and to succeed as a fast bowler in subcontinent conditions sets him head and shoulders over the rest of the pack. Being shorter than 6' tall, you have to have that something special as a fast bowler of that height to stand out from the rest of the crowd and like Malcolm Marshall, Steyn had that. If it wasn't for chronic knee injuries, Ryan Harris would've come very close to matching Steyn, as he also had the variation to consistently trouble batsmen at times when Johnson/Starc/Siddle weren't able to.

Regarding Anderson and Broad, they may have taken much more wickets than Steyn, but they've had the luxury of playing a large portion of their test matches with the Dukes ball in conditions/pitches that are heavily conducive to swing/seam bowling (hence maximising their strengths).

Regarding spinners, Anil Kumble and Muralitharan are the same: have taken 1400+ test wickets between themselves, but took the majority of their wickets in subcontinent conditions that are reminiscent of what the SCG was like during the '80s and '90s, when 2 - sometimes 3 - spinners played (regarding Murali, it must also be pointed out he took 176 of his 800 test wickets vs Bangladesh and Zimbabwe; an opportunity Warne didn't have).
Excellent stuff brus, your a true student of the gamen
 

hineyrulz

Post Whore
Messages
148,840
Why didn't Ryan Harris hang around on the gravy train post career?
He’s a coach in the cricket Aus set up, if a homeless spud like Langer can land the top job anyway else is just gravy brussssss.


I’ve meant Harris and he is one of the best blokes you’ll meet, likes a punt on the dish lickers talk about salt of the earth.



fish lickers he’s not a lesbo FFS!!
 

Old tiger 79

Juniors
Messages
1,745
He’s a coach in the cricket Aus set up, if a homeless spud like Langer can land the top job anyway else is just gravy brussssss.


I’ve meant Harris and he is one of the best blokes you’ll meet, likes a punt on the fish lickers talk about salt of the earth.
He’s a beast,

unlike you catboy lol
 

Old tiger 79

Juniors
Messages
1,745
He’s a coach in the cricket Aus set up, if a homeless spud like Langer can land the top job anyway else is just gravy brussssss.


I’ve meant Harris and he is one of the best blokes you’ll meet, likes a punt on the fish lickers talk about salt of the earth.
Yeah Ryan Is a lovely bloke. Well spoken, friendly....rootable lol
 
Messages
42,876
He’s a coach in the cricket Aus set up, if a homeless spud like Langer can land the top job anyway else is just gravy brussssss.


I’ve meant Harris and he is one of the best blokes you’ll meet, likes a punt on the fish lickers talk about salt of the earth.
Good to hear. I'm not a cricket tragic but he just seemed to disappear and barely gets a mention.
 

hineyrulz

Post Whore
Messages
148,840
Good to hear. I'm not a cricket tragic but he just seemed to disappear and barely gets a mention.
He was lured up to QLD to play for Toombul, my boss was high up at Toombul so Ryhno was easily assessable to us plebs. Spent a night with him at a Chrissy party at the Albion trots and he was just about the best bloke. We backed about 8 winners between us and the Quaddie, it was love at first sight.
 

Bazal

Post Whore
Messages
99,802
Well this has degenerated.

I've gotta face a fiery four foot tall Sri Lankan who bowls 130s tomorrow, so I'll leave you piss heads to it
 

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