Can Dale Steyn become the fastest bowler to 300 Test wickets?

[centurymaker]

Originally Posted by Ikki

Back to the thread: one has to ask when people are going to seriously talk about Steyn as the greatest pacer, if not bowler, of all time. He's already played 46 Tests. His average and SR for even this era is already incredible.

lets pray that he stays away from serious injuries.

[slowfinger]

It can't happen but who knows :O BTW about that stat... 8 wickets a match?Sounds weird dude...

[stephen]

Originally Posted by Ikki

Back to the thread: one has to ask when people are going to seriously talk about Steyn as the greatest pacer, if not bowler, of all time. He's already played 46 Tests. His average and SR for even this era is already incredible.

For any era it's incredible. I guess people don't like seeing an average of over 23, but given the gigantic increase in averages in Steyn's era and his incredible strike rate it's hard to ignore him. In my mind he's already overtaken Donald as the best South African quick of all time. It's not like Steyn is a green track bully either, he's run through India in India on dead pitches. The only thing I don't like about him is that he's not an Australian.

[Cevno]

Originally Posted by The Sean

Ha ha, Murali went from 300 to 700 in 55 Tests.

That's ****ing ridiculous.

Originally Posted by weldone

From 1998 to 2005 Muralitharan took 449 wickets @ 19.87!

Freaking awesome for any bowler!...and almost Bradman-esque when you compare that with other off-spinners of the last 40 years...

Awta.

Awesome record in that Era specially.

[stephen]

Another thing that's interesting about Steyn - he has tied with Ntini for the equal most ten wicket hauls for South Africa and only has two less five wicket hauls than him despite Ntini having played over twice the number of tests.

[Outswinger@Pace]

Originally Posted by Ikki

Back to the thread: one has to ask when people are going to seriously talk about Steyn as the greatest pacer, if not bowler, of all time. He's already played 46 Tests. His average and SR for even this era is already incredible.

The fact that he has a lot more to offer means that a lot of people still reserve their judgment.Yes, I hear what you're saying. 46 tests is a decent sample and some of the great pace bowlers of the past (Hall and Roberts, notably) have played about the same amount. But the fact that Steyn's career is still not finished means that subconsciously most cricket lovers view him as a work in progress.

He's a great bowler for mine and by the time he hangs up his boots, hopefully the legacy he leaves behind will be monumental.

[Cabinet96]

If he stays injury free there's no reason he can't get over 500 test wickets. I reckon he could still be useful when he loses a bit of pace by being an accurate swing bowler. He's pretty crafty as well.

[Slifer]

Originally Posted by salman85

I always thought Waqar was the fastest to get 400 wickets.

Waqar was probably the fastest to 300 and 350 in terms of balls bowled (which is what I look at).

[Cabinet96]

Originally Posted by Slifer

Waqar was probably the fastest to 300 and 350 in terms of balls bowled (which is what I look at).

He was the 3rd quickest to 200 test wickets in terms of matches played.

[centurymaker]

His next big challenge will be in England.
if he has an awesome series there, he'll get that ATG status.

[BlazeDragon]

Originally Posted by Outswinger@Pace

The fact that he has a lot more to offer means that a lot of people still reserve their judgment.Yes, I hear what you're saying. 46 tests is a decent sample and some of the great pace bowlers of the past (Hall and Roberts, notably) have played about the same amount. But the fact that Steyn's career is still not finished means that subconsciously most cricket lovers view him as a work in progress.

He's a great bowler for mine and by the time he hangs up his boots, hopefully the legacy he leaves behind will be monumental.

From here on out in his career he will be tested on the longevity factor. If he can pull off an average of lets say around 22 I think its safe to say that he could be seen as a Top 5 ATG considering the era he is playing in.

[centurymaker]

nah it's not so much about the average imo.
if he keeps his strike rate around 40, he'll go down as top 5.

avg of 24 with a strike rate of around 40 in this era = Top tier ATG.

avg of 24 now is like avging 21 to 22 a decade ago.

his current avg is 23.21

[BlazeDragon]

Strike rate can be downed with economy rate which is not so great for Steyn even for his era.

[Howe_zat]

It's not so much the raw figures that do it for me so much as being miles ahead of the competition for a good few years. Who was the last quick bowler to really do that, besides McGrath? Pretty rare deal.

[centurymaker]

Originally Posted by Howe_zat

It's not so much the raw figures that do it for me so much as being miles ahead of the competition for a good few years. Who was the last quick bowler to really do that, besides McGrath? Pretty rare deal.

this too.
doing well in different conditions is another factor.