Which cricketer has the most complete record?

[Avada Kedavra]

Mcgrath edges out Marshall because Mcgrath played more countries.Does anyone else - batsman or bowler- have a record as complete as Mcgrath?

[GotSpin]

Why is playing more countries an important criteria

[vcs]

Nobody comes closer to having a blemishless record than McGrath in my time watching cricket. Not just the uniformly brilliant records against every opposition in every country.. I can't even remember him having a single poor series or run of bad form.

[Avada Kedavra]

Originally Posted by Got_Spin

Why is playing more countries an important criteria

I mean they both have one country away from home where they average 30+. Mcgrath played more countries than Marshall and still has just the one country where he averages that much.

[GotSpin]

Originally Posted by Avada Kedavra

I mean they both have one country away from home where they average 30+. Mcgrath played more countries than Marshall and still has just the one country where he averages that much.

Just because McGrath had the opportunity to play away in more different countries doesn't necessarily make him the player with the most complete record.

[bagapath]

you think marshall would have struggled agaist sri lanka, south africa, zimbabwe and bangladesh? one factor in favor of mcgrath is that he played for about 5-6 years on batsman friendly tracks and still maintained high standards. but nothing of marshall suggests he would have had a tough time bowling at the modern batsmen. i think marshall has a more complete record overall. his "worst" record is against australia. he averages 22 point something against them. mcgrath averages 25+ against new zealand and 27+ against south africa.

[Anil]

marshall was the better bowler...

[Sanz]

Marshall played Pakistan in Pakistan and averaged about 21.5, Mcgrath averages in Pakistan about 31. How is Mcgrath's record more complete than Marshall's ?

Marshall bowled to a much stronger batting lineup of Pakistan, NZ, England and the Indian batting strength Both the bowlers bowled to was somewhat equal.

[Xuhaib]

Originally Posted by Sanz

Marshall played Pakistan in Pakistan and averaged about 21.5, Mcgrath averages in Pakistan about 31. How is Mcgrath's record more complete than Marshall's ?

Marshall bowled to a much stronger batting lineup of Pakistan, NZ, England and the Indian batting strength Both the bowlers bowled to was somewhat equal.

Marshal bowled on Pakistani tracks which suited pace bowling as Imran wanted to beat WI on tracks that assisted pace bowling whenever McGrath played in Pak the tracks were mostly batting friendly.

[Sir Alex]

Originally Posted by vcs

Nobody comes closer to having a blemishless record than McGrath in my time watching cricket. Not just the uniformly brilliant records against every opposition in every country.. I can't even remember him having a single poor series or run of bad form.

This so much. His worst performances in subcontinent is comparable or even better than career averages of almost all indian bowlers ever. WAG.

[bagapath]

marshall was mcgrath bowling at lee's pace. simply the best i have seen.

[Avada Kedavra]

Marshall may or may not have been better, that is not relevant.Marshall may have performed against South Africa,Sri Lanka and others but he may not have also.He enver got the chance so we will never know.It is the same logic people use when they rate a batsmen averaging 50 after 100 tests higher than another averaging 50 after 50 tests.Mcgrath averages 30+ in Pakistan and Marshall averages 32 in New Zealand.Marshall may well have bowled to stronger line ups but Mcgrath bowled on flatter pitches.

[bagapath]

then u should not compare the two of them at all. you should compare players only from the current era who have played against 9 different opponents. it is not marshall's fault that there were only six test teams in his time. that he did well against all of them should make him a complete player of his times. and maybe mcgrath for the current era.

[GotSpin]

Originally Posted by Avada Kedavra

Marshall may or may not have been better, that is not relevant.Marshall may have performed against South Africa,Sri Lanka and others but he may not have also.He enver got the chance so we will never know.It is the same logic people use when they rate a batsmen averaging 50 after 100 tests higher than another averaging 50 after 50 tests.Mcgrath averages 30+ in Pakistan and Marshall averages 32 in New Zealand.Marshall may well have bowled to stronger line ups but Mcgrath bowled on flatter pitches.

Don't agree. if Marshall bowled extremely well against the countries that he had the opportunity to bowl against, would it be not logical to suggest that he would bowl well against other nations as well.

[Sanz]

Originally Posted by Avada Kedavra

.Marshall may well have bowled to stronger line ups but Mcgrath bowled on flatter pitches.

How do you know ? The pitches in India in the 80s were much flatter than the pitches Mcgrath bowled on during his trips to India.