Dale Steyn vs Allan Donald vs Shaun Pollock

[Prince EWS]

Steyn's overtaken Donald ever so slightly IMO, just in the last series or two. It'd been obvious to me for a little while that it was likely he would eventually do it in my estimation but I think I'd now be happy enough, if Steyn retired now, to put him ahead of Donald, ever so slightly. My earlier posts in this thread from 2010 or whenever it was started actually ranked Pollock ahead of Donald which is something I don't even quite remember myself thinking, but there you go. I'd have him marginally behind now as a bowler, but still comfortably ahead as the best cricketer of the three.

[Howe_zat]

Are you saying he's done anything different in the last year to make a difference, or you were just waiting for him to keep up the goods past the 300 mark?

As far as I can tell we've all pretty much been saying "well yeah... it's Steyn" when he does something gun now, rather than thinking he's breaking new ground. I think the 2010 he had, when he went pretty much all over the world and took bags against all of the top sides really showed he's got everything he needs, and it was just a case of waiting for the figures to roll in.

[Prince EWS]

Originally Posted by Howe_zat

Are you saying he's done anything different in the last year to make a difference, or you were just waiting for him to keep up the goods past the 300 mark?

As far as I can tell we've all pretty much been saying "well yeah... it's Steyn" when he does something gun now, rather than thinking he's breaking new ground. I think the 2010 he had, when he went pretty much all over the world and took bags against all of the top sides really showed he's got everything he needs, and it was just a case of waiting for the figures to roll in.

It was just a longevity thing for me really. You have to draw the line in the sand somewhere; I think he's passed it now. I don't think he's bowling better than he was before but he's maintained it for long enough now that if he retired tomorrow I'd put him ahead of Donald by a whisker. if he retired a year ago I'd have Donald ahead by a whisker. Realistically I see them basically as equals but Steyn is unlikely to retire any time soon anyway so there's an excellent chance I'll have him conclusively ahead by then.

[8ankitj]

So who are the all time great fast bowlers still ahead of Steyn in people's estimation ?

[Monk]

Originally Posted by 8ankitj

So who are the all time great fast bowlers still ahead of Steyn in people's estimation ?

I could have just taken Donald or Steyn in the clause draft using the same clause. I took Donald. So I guess I still rate Donald slightly ahead of Steyn.

That said, there's nothing to split them as bowlers in my opinion. They sit in the very top tier of modern quick bowlers imo. Lillee, Marshall, Ambrose, Donald, Steyn, Waqar, Wasim, Imran etc etc.

[Cabinet96]

Originally Posted by Prince EWS

Steyn's overtaken Donald ever so slightly IMO, just in the last series or two. It'd been obvious to me for a little while that it was likely he would eventually do it in my estimation but I think I'd now be happy enough, if Steyn retired now, to put him ahead of Donald, ever so slightly. My earlier posts in this thread from 2010 or whenever it was started actually ranked Pollock ahead of Donald which is something I don't even quite remember myself thinking, but there you go. I'd have him marginally behind now as a bowler, but still comfortably ahead as the best cricketer of the three.

Was only this time last year, FTR. In fact, it feels much more recent to me than that. Few months ago recent, in fact.

[Prince EWS]

Originally Posted by Cabinet96

Was only this time last year, FTR. In fact, it feels much more recent to me than that. Few months ago recent, in fact.

Well a few months ago I still had Donald slightly ahead of Steyn. I can't remember deciding I thought Pollock was better than them on bowling alone though. I was probably just being a bit biased; love me some Shaun Pollock.

[kyear2]

Pollock really is an under rated cricketer, but a slighly over rated bowler. As a bowler alone, not quite in the same class as the other two.

[8ankitj]

At a time when he had taken about 300 wickets, Pollock had the best bowling average for any bowler with more than 200 wickets in test history. That's no mean feet. He did go down considerably in latter 1/3rd of his career and I agree that he is in sum below Donald and Steyn but he must have been doing something right in the first 2/3rd of his career to outperform Donald statistically. Don't remember that he was getting that kind of credit even at that stage. Why was that?

[Top_Cat]

Perception at the time I remember was that he bullied **** batting line-ups. Even in the series against Australia where he took 7 in Adelaide, was arse in the live matches when it mattered.

[Prince EWS]

From this point, I actually think it's more interesting to see if I rate Steyn ahead of McGrath by the time he retires. I doubt it, but it's certainly possible.

[uvelocity]

Originally Posted by Prince EWS

From this point, I actually think it's more interesting to see if I rate Steyn ahead of McGrath by the time he retires. I doubt it, but it's certainly possible.

this is what scares me too. can't really see it happening though

[kyear2]

Don't see him getting there myself, but it's all subjective, so may see it that way.

[SFB]

Donald, forever and always. He IMO was the complete package as a bowler (furious pace, raw fury [attitude], line and length). Steyn always seems to be putting it on when he tries to verbal batsmen; Donald on the other hand used to roar at batsmen and team mate alike. His reaction to Boucher dropping Atherton during their infamous duel in '98 never fails to cheer me up on a bad day.

[Coronis]

Originally Posted by SFB

Donald, forever and always. He IMO was the complete package as a bowler (furious pace, raw fury [attitude], line and length). Steyn always seems to be putting it on when he tries to verbal batsmen; Donald on the other hand used to roar at batsmen and team mate alike. His reaction to Boucher dropping Atherton during their infamous duel in '98 never fails to cheer me up on a bad day.

So verballing batsmen = better bowler?