worst leg spinner to play test cricket

[Uppercut]

Never did like Kreja for OZ, thought he bowled too much for what he was worth.

Krejza's an off-spinner. Inb4 someone else tells you much more rudely. And by someone else I probably mean me.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Yeah, but he is averaging significantly more than Salisbury. Salisbury has nearly 900 first-class wickets, McGain has 77. Their first-class records present the choice between a bowler who was largely unsuccessful at a very high standard of cricket and someone who was largely successful at a lower, but still high, standard of cricket.

McGain's test debut was a freak occurance, but that doesn't mean you can give him credit for how you think he would have done had he played more tests. Salisbury proved himself to be good enough for county cricket, and even more conclusively not good enough for tests. McGain never proved anything. What has he ever done to justify ranking him above Salisbury? You couldn't possibly conclude that based on his single test and tiny first-class experience. Nor could you conclude it by watching him bowl in first-class games, unless you watched Salisbury bowl in first-class games too.

My point was that all spinners get tap in Oz. McGain's FC record is superior to pretty much all his contemporaries (Casson, Krezja, White, Hauritz, etc) so it's not fair to say he's been "largely unsuccessful".

I'm not saying I think McGain is conclusively the better bowler (based on the limited evidence I've seen I couldn't possibly), but (with all due respect to the dear old county championship) he's been performing at a higher level. If he ever picked up a county gig (which seems unlikely with his batting) we'd be able to make a more meaningful comparison.

 

[wpdavid]

Ian Salisbury by 2 country miles.

Not even the worst English leg-spinner in the last 10 years.

Have we all forgotten that Chris Schofield played a couple of tests?

 

[Himannv]

How about this man?

Yeah he wasn't great.. Seems like a nice guy though..

This hack.

He's officially the worst test bowler as well as leg spinner too; has conceded more runs than anyone else in test cricket without a wicket to show for it.

I dont think it would have mattered if he never bowled a single delivery in his life. Awesome bat and even underrated by some.

 

[BoyBrumby]

I dont think it would have mattered if he never bowled a single delivery in his life. Awesome bat and even underrated by some.

My tongue was firmly in cheek.

 

[Uppercut]

My point was that all spinners get tap in Oz. McGain's FC record is superior to pretty much all his contemporaries (Casson, Krezja, White, Hauritz, etc) so it's not fair to say he's been "largely unsuccessful".

There's one really obvious reason why.

I'm not saying I think McGain is conclusively the better bowler (based on the limited evidence I've seen I couldn't possibly), but (with all due respect to the dear old county championship) he's been performing at a higher level. If he ever picked up a county gig (which seems unlikely with his batting) we'd be able to make a more meaningful comparison.

There isn't an awful lot to go on, no. But I'm good to give Salisbury this one on account of his reasonably successful 20-year-long first-class career. It's not much, but McGain doesn't really have an achievement to speak of.

 

[Smudge]

As is Greg Loveridge - basically picked because NZ was obsessed with finding a legspinner. Didn't help that he never bowled in his only test.

Just to back up my nomination, Loveridge averaged a delightful 53.23 in FC cricket...

 

[Richard]

Salisbury was a serviceable FC performer, but totally out of his depth in tests.

Was far more than just "serviceable" for a time.

Invariably bowled a "four" ball an over

Not later on in his career he didn't. Early on that description may well be true but later his accuracy had improved. His ability to dismiss Test batsmen, however, had not.

His bowling at the Oval in 98 (which I witnessed in person) on a deck on which Murali took (IIRC) 16 redefined dire.

No more than his bowling in the preceding two Tests against South Africa. And obviously the suggestion that Murali taking 16 wickets means the conditions were spinner-friendly is plain wrong - that deck in case anyone is unaware was as flat as you'll see. Murali took 16 on it because he bowled superlatively beyond superlatives, and no reason besides. Salisbury got the ball of the straight plenty, because he like Murali could turn it on glass. But Murali's areas were infinitely better.

 

[Richard]

If he's switching between the two then presumably it's not a case of one being significantly better than the other, or else he'd have been sticking to the more effective variety in an effort to get his bowling average below 50?

We've had this one on CW several times - some people have made the rather bizarre claim that Sobers would routinely bowl seam when the conditions were unfriendly to it and spin when the conditions were seam-friendly. If true, marks Sobers out as possessing rather less cricketing brain than talent, which seems pretty inconceivable for a long-term international captain.

Me I'd just like to know when it was Sobers started bowling wristspin at all.

 

[Richard]

Not even the worst English leg-spinner in the last 10 years.

Have we all forgotten that Chris Schofield played a couple of tests?

Given the profile that those games enjoyed, I'd not be surprised. I have the third day of the First Test of that Zimbabwe series on tape and if I didn't I might well have no memory of so much as a single stroke or delivery of it - and that in what is almost certainly my favourite summer of international cricket, ever.

And also the fact that Schofield was so bad and thus faded so quickly, unlike Salisbury who was good enough to hang-around for a very lengthy county spell, probably counts in the minds of those with casual eyes.

 

[pasag]

No, you're just being harsh on Ian Salisbury, whose FC record pisses all over McGain's. Neither of them did themselves justice at test level. Salisbury was extremely dire for fifteen matches, McGain was unspeakably dire for one. What grounds are there for ranking McGain above Salisbury? That you've guessed that he might have improved in his next few tests if he played any? Nothing he's ever actually done gives him the right to be ranked above Salisbury. The only thing that does is non-existent wickets you estimate that he MIGHT have taken if he'd played a few more tests.

Was commenting on the "he's got to be up there" part of the post, not really Salisbury who I don't think Ive ever seen play. All I'm saying is

LEAVE BRYCE ALONE!

 

[thierry henry]

Brooke Walker

Plays social grade indoor cricket atm and doesn't look threatening, and unlike the other FC cricketers I've seen there he is obviously trying pretty hard.

 

[Craig]

I watched Walker's Test debut and the funniest bit was when he got Cullinan out.

 

[Noble One]

Question asks who is the worst leg spinner to play test cricket. I take that as who is the ultimate worst leg-spin bowler, non deserving of ever playing a test match.

Having watched Bryce McGain in countless Sheffield Shield matches live I can safely say he does not belong in that category. Far superior to any other leg-spinner in Australia currently, and a bowler who possesses the necessary control and variety to be a successful Test cricketer regardless of what his one bad Test match suggests. Whilst no Warne or even Stuart MacGill, I would rank him either above or on par with other Australian leg-spinners of recent years such as Peter Sleep (above), Trevor Hohns (par), Bob Holland (par) and Peter McIntyre (above).

 

[JBMAC]

Believe it or not Don Bradman

 

[Uppercut]

Was commenting on the "he's got to be up there" part of the post, not really Salisbury who I don't think Ive ever seen play. All I'm saying is

LEAVE BRYCE ALONE!

Haha, I quite like the guy, I like most leg-spinners. Was genuinely disappointed when he bowled so badly in that test.

 

[Himannv]

My tongue was firmly in cheek.

Yep I figured. Just thought I'd say something nice about the guy.

 

[Richard]

Question asks who is the worst leg spinner to play test cricket. I take that as who is the ultimate worst leg-spin bowler, non deserving of ever playing a test match.

Having watched Bryce McGain in countless Sheffield Shield matches live I can safely say he does not belong in that category. Far superior to any other leg-spinner in Australia currently, and a bowler who possesses the necessary control and variety to be a successful Test cricketer regardless of what his one bad Test match suggests. Whilst no Warne or even Stuart MacGill, I would rank him either above or on par with other Australian leg-spinners of recent years such as Peter Sleep (above), Trevor Hohns (par), Bob Holland (par) and Peter McIntyre (above).

And take Keith Stackpole's word for it, John Watkins was comfortably worse than any of the aforementioned.

David Sincock must've been pretty awful too.