Dale Steyn vs Allan Donald vs Shaun Pollock

[SeamUp]

Cricketers aren't thoroughbred race horses. So was obviously being facetious. Having those 2 around can only have been help and he only got to see his uncle bat at the end of his career.

His bowling was skill that was honed over time. Moving the ball both ways at will and hitting the same spot repeatedly. He has said many times how big a help Marshall was.

Watching him bat to me was more natural talent and it got him to show off like the above. He wasn't just a hitter - we could perhaps say a boundary-stroker like his uncle but averaging 32+ was not by luck - it was all just talent. So I will leave the glass half full and say there was every chance he could have become a prominent batsman if he wanted to become one by watching his manner of batting.

 

[StephenZA]

That does not prove the fantastic assertion that he would have been a world class batsman if only he had chosen to be a batsman.
" if he had concentrated on batting at a young age would have been world class in that discipline When your father is Peter and your uncle is Graham it was pretty much choose what you want."

I never said it was provable... I said that his talent was obvious, and I believe had he concentrated on his batting he would have been a world class batsmen. Speculation. You are right that my ability to see into alternative universes is very limited.... as for progendy it is a pure tongue in cheek supposition, there is many factors that make a cricketer and/ or cricketing family....

I can't believe that I'm trying to defend a lighthearted speculative post on what a player may have done.... need to find more friends for my Sat night so I find better things to do...

 

[Dendarii]

Here's an interesting stat. In Pollock's 26 matches as captain, his batting average was 41.58, and his bowling average 21.36. So the burden of captaincy certainly didn't have a negative effect on his game.

 

[akilana]

That does not prove the fantastic assertion that he would have been a world class batsman if only he had chosen to be a batsman.
" if he had concentrated on batting at a young age would have been world class in that discipline When your father is Peter and your uncle is Graham it was pretty much choose what you want."

The only way to prove it is to go back in time and ask Pollock to focus on batting.

 

[trundler]

Time to revisit this

 

[Line and Length]

I'd take Steyn for Tests and Donald for ODI's - assuming I didn't have need for an all-rounder.

 

[ankitj]

Steyn and Donald tied.

 

[stephen]

Steyn
Donald
Pollock

 

[honestbharani]

Steyn easily over Donald. Donald over Pollock.

 

[a massive zebra]

Steyn easily over Donald. Donald over Pollock.

Seconded

 

[StephenZA]

The question is not who is better, the question is do all 3 make it into a SA ATGXI?

 

[trundler]

Procter makes Pollock surplus to requirements

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Steyn, but I don't think he's vastly superior to Donald. It's always been an endearing part of a Cricket Web Poll that some people will vote for someone who's a great cricketer in their own right but shouldn't be getting votes just to make sure they're not left without any. In some cases I'm sure a multi has been created just for that purpose.

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

Procter makes Pollock surplus to requirements

If I was picking the all time SA side I'd look at it the other way round: Proctor was clearly a genius who would surely have succeeded at Test level, but we can't say for sure to what degree. Having an ATG bowling all-rounder available in Pollock who actually did kill it at Test level means I wouldn't need to pick the talented but unproven player (especially since there's likely to be one or two of those elsewhere in the SA side already.)

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

Steyn, but I don't think he's vastly superior to Donald. It's always been an endearing part of a Cricket Web Poll that some people will vote for someone who's a great cricketer in their own right but shouldn't be getting votes just to make sure they're not left without any. In some cases I'm sure a multi has been created just for that purpose.

*Looks at who voted for Pollock*

So is this where Athlai and Flem split into two?

 

[trundler]

Holy **** this has 76 votes

 

[Malcolm]

IMO,

Donald > Steyn > Pollock in tests

Donald > Pollock >> Steyn in ODIs

 

[ankitj]

Pollock is the best in ODIs. His economy is unreal for someone who played till end of 2000s

 

[pardus]

In Test match cricket, for me it is Donald. I haven't seen anywhere as much of Steyn as I saw of Donald. My strong memory of Steyn is from his Test match against India in 2006 (where Ganguly scored a delightful 50 after being hit in the head by Steyn - Steyn just couldn't get Ganguly out in that innings despite being able to hit him at will). I also remember Steyn from Sehwag's 319 match in Feroz Shah Kotla.

The thing for me against Steyn is, if multiple batsmen have gotten 300+ scores against South Africa while Steyn was in the attack, and if someone like Stephen Fleming (with all due respects to him) could score 262 while he was in the attack, and if Michael Clarke could score 600+ runs in a 3 Test series while he was in the attack, then there is something amiss. I just cannot imagine Fleming scoring a 262 in a Test innings against a peak Donald or McGrath no matter how batsmen-friendly the conditions.

I never really heard of so many batsmen feasting so many runs against South Africa while Donald was leading the attack (I think only 1 batsman ever got to a double-century against South Africa back then). Yes, it could be argued that pitches/rules/batsmen were different in Donald's time or that Donald had better all round support (but Morkel, Ntini & Kallis weren't bad support either). Yes, it could also be argued that those batsmen feasted on other bowlers while seeing Steyn off. But it still doesn't convince me. It just never felt that easy against the SA attack led by Donald in the 90s.

The comparison reminds me of the comparison between Hadlee & Lillee. I prefer Lillee any day despite Hadlee's slightly superior stat numbers.
Steyn was probably more consistent, and statistically superior since Donald's career started late because of ban on SA. However I just feel Steyn lacked the explosiveness & the sheer aggression that I have seen in Donald (or McGrath or Marshall).

 

[StephenZA]

In Test match cricket, for me it is Donald. I haven't seen anywhere as much of Steyn as I saw of Donald. My strong memory of Steyn is from his Test match against India in 2006 (where Ganguly scored a delightful 50 after being hit in the head by Steyn - Steyn just couldn't get Ganguly out in that innings despite being able to hit him at will). I also remember Steyn from Sehwag's 319 match in Feroz Shah Kotla.

The thing for me against Steyn is, if multiple batsmen have gotten 300+ scores against South Africa while Steyn was in the attack, and if someone like Stephen Fleming (with all due respects to him) could score 262 while he was in the attack, and if Michael Clarke could score 600+ runs in a 3 Test series while he was in the attack, then there is something amiss. I just cannot imagine Fleming scoring a 262 in a Test innings against a peak Donald or McGrath no matter how batsmen-friendly the conditions.

I never really heard of so many batsmen feasting so many runs against South Africa while Donald was leading the attack (I think only 1 batsman ever got to a double-century against South Africa back then). Yes, it could be argued that pitches/rules/batsmen were different in Donald's time or that Donald had better all round support (but Morkel, Ntini & Kallis weren't bad support either). Yes, it could also be argued that those batsmen feasted on other bowlers while seeing Steyn off. But it still doesn't convince me. It just never felt that easy against the SA attack led by Donald in the 90s.

The comparison reminds me of the comparison between Hadlee & Lillee. I prefer Lillee any day despite Hadlee's slightly superior stat numbers.
Steyn was probably more consistent, and statistically superior since Donald's career started late because of ban on SA. However I just feel Steyn lacked the explosiveness & the sheer aggression that I have seen in Donald (or McGrath or Marshall).

Didn't watch much of Steyn's bowling then?