Philander is he better than Steyn?

[smash84]

I'd like to see him do well for a longer period, against a wider variety of opposition and in a wider variety of conditions before I'd rank him above Steyn.

This

In certain conditions... yes.

In all conditions, against top quality opposition... no.

So he's the bowling version of Graeme Hick, in other words.

 

[Pothas]

Should not ignore the fitness levels either, I like how completely different they are but Steyn is a great athlete and is not going to develop the habit of missing ever other test.

 

[Athlai]

Also, claiming he was one of the best bowlers in the world prior to his debut is also completely ridiculous.

Oddly enough Cribb's CPL stats rankings had him in the top 5 in the world before he played Tests.

Was a bit of a triumph for his rankings that he dominated so heavily.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Should not ignore the fitness levels either, I like how completely different they are but Steyn is a great athlete and is not going to develop the habit of missing ever other test.

This is looking increasingly significant. Must be questions about his endurance with that body shape...

 

[GotSpin]

Has Philander played a full series yet?

 

[Prince EWS]

Oddly enough Cribb's CPL stats rankings had him in the top 5 in the world before he played Tests.

Was a bit of a triumph for his rankings that he dominated so heavily.

Yeah especially since there were no other uncapped players in the top 20 or so of either batting or bowling.

 

[Cricketismylife]

Good question . . . I have a few of my own but am feeling too lazy to start a separate thread for each

• Pujara, is he better than Dravid
• Junaid, is he better than Wasim
• Nassir Jamshed, is he better than Saeed Anwar

Detect the sarcasm but my comparison isn't as ridiculous as yours. I've watched the 2 bowl together in series since Philander started and it's debatable currently who is the better bowler.

 

[Cricketismylife]

Philander has been excellent and if you want to prove yourself as a batsman no better place than RSA against Philander. However he has got nothing on Steyn. What Steyn has done in this batting friendly era, no one has been able to match yet. He is already an ATG in my books.

Philander has started out in his peak. There are so many other great players who could have been greater if they had started or played only during their peaks. Imran for one as highlighted above, Botham, Waqar, etc. The truth is Philander wasn't good enough before he was 27 to enter the RSA team .

He was good enough he just wasn't selected. He was performing at a very high level domestically and it was a selection error. I personally don't see him being as effective as Steyn in flatter conditions but I think he is and will be better than Steyn in helpful conditions and so may have the chance to end up as good as Steyn..

As for your point about peak, if you only play during your peak it also means you will get less wickets which will count against you when comparing against others.

 

[NasserFan207]

IMO Philander is a slightly better bowler in helpful conditions, but the margin is small and overall Steyn is definitely the better bowler due to a wide number of factors.

Saying Philander is only good because he debuted in his peak is questionable though, he'd been doing well in domestics for years. We don't know what his career would be like if he'd played tests in his early 20s.

 

[morgieb]

Yeah especially since there were no other uncapped players in the top 20 or so of either batting or bowling.

Not uncapped, but would Ramps tests have made an impact on his ranking back around 2011?

 

[SJS]

Detect the sarcasm but my comparison isn't as ridiculous as yours. I've watched the 2 bowl together in series since Philander started and it's debatable currently who is the better bowler.

Yes I was being sarcastic

But I may have misunderstood what you were saying. If you are saying Philander is a better bowler than what Steyn is TODAY, it is arguable but not something that I would have been sarcastic about. I thought, perhaps wrongly, that you were just comparing Philander with Steyn or predicting that based on what Philander has done so far he appears to be the equal, if not the superior, of Steyn. Of course, I found such a presumption completely off.

But as I said, I could have misunderstood since it is not clear from the thread opener. :o)

 

[Prince EWS]

Yes I was being sarcastic

But I may have misunderstood what you were saying. If you are saying Philander is a better bowler than what Steyn is TODAY, it is arguable but not something that I would have been sarcastic about. I thought, perhaps wrongly, that you were just comparing Philander with Steyn or predicting that based on what Philander has done so far he appears to be the equal, if not the superior, of Steyn. Of course, I found such a presumption completely off.

But as I said, I could have misunderstood since it is not clear from the thread opener. :o)

Yeah I think he's just talking about who he'd pick for a Test right now. If both retired now Steyn would obviously go down as the better bowler.

I'd pick Philander over Steyn right now for a Test at Cape Town or on a pitch that looked similar, which is still pretty high praise really, but overall I'd rather have Steyn in my squad even if I was going to play half my games in South Africa.

 

[longtom]

Should not ignore the fitness levels either, I like how completely different they are but Steyn is a great athlete and is not going to develop the habit of missing ever other test.

Even if they were on the same level this would always favour Steyn. Having said that - over all Steyn is clearly the better (speak: usable and a thread in all conditions) bowler even without the ahletisism thrown into it.