Morne Morkel to retire from international cricket after Australia series

[cnerd123]

I think we're all picturing the same thing but wording it differently. Main point being McGrath did bowl it a touch fuller than Morkel, which made his height and bounce more effective and brought LBWs and bowleds more into play than Morkel did.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Yeah I always picture McGrath bowling into the deck and getting it bouncing 6-12 inches over the stumps.

Anyway, all I'm saying is I doubt there's a good excuse for Morkel "choosing" to not bowl like McGrath, whatever that means. His shortcomings were shortcomings, not some stylistic choice to not take bags of wickets.

No you're right. Morkel did what he did and did it as well as he could. Suggesting that he would have been more effective if he just decided to bowl fuller, or change his style, is just ignorant. If he tried to bowl fuller more often he may have just served up more long half volleys and gone for more runs.

But this is the internet and of course random posters who follow cricket know better than the players themselves how they should play lol

 

[Pratters]

Quite sad by his international retirement. He has been bowling really well and would have loved to see him more playing for SA.

I wonder how much the selection of coloured players over him in the recent series v India impacted.

 

[thierry henry]

I dont think it's as simple as that. Sometimes the biomechanics of one's bowling action means to bowl it fuller you sacrifice pace/accuracy/seam position and arguably make yourself less effective even tho you are bowling in more effective areas. I also think it's possible the team preferred Morkel bowling in a certain way to make Philander/Steyn more effective with their styles at the other end, versus trying to have him do a poor imitation of them.

I just think that if there was a way for Morkel to bowl that means he took more wickets, and given that he's an elite, professional Athlete who has been doing this his whole life and has the best facilities and coaching staff available to him, that for sure he would have just bowled in that way instead. We're armchair cricket fans talking **** on the internet, Morkel's an actual Test cricketer whose bowled more deliveries than I've ever watched. I'm sure he knows what he's doing. I'm not going to assume 'well he could have done better if he just bowled a different length'. I'm going to assume that what he put out there was the best he could put out there.

Wasted Potential needs to be saved for guys like Sreeesanth. Now that's a real waste of talent.

Absolutely, and when a guy's biomechanics make him "averages 28" effective, that's what he is. Not "well he's basically a 23-average bowler when you factor in biomechanics".

I'm not sure we're really at odds here, I'm just responding to comments I've heard over the years about Morkel which use his style of bowling/trajectory as an excuse rather than a limitation/shortcoming. Cricket is a game you play with your body, if your body makes you do something in a less effective way it means you are less good. I mean I'm sorry if this sounds weird but it really just highlights what an odd argument it is.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Absolutely, and when a guy's biomechanics make him "averages 28" effective, that's what he is. Not "well he's basically a 23-average bowler when you factor in biomechanics".

I'm not sure we're really at odds here, I'm just responding to comments I've heard over the years about Morkel which use his style of bowling/trajectory as an excuse rather than a limitation/shortcoming. Cricket is a game you play with your body, if your body makes you do something in a less effective way it means you are less good. I mean I'm sorry if this sounds weird but it really just highlights what an odd argument it is.

We should use this logic more often. Vernon Philander would be a 5-average bowler if he gets his shortness and fatness factored in.

 

[thierry henry]

We should use this logic more often. Vernon Philander would be a 5-average bowler if he gets his shortness and fatness factored in.

The greatest cricketer in the world, adjusted for biomechanics, is really just whoever the most astute CW poster is.

 

[Dendarii]

A fascinating and exasperating career. After he returned to the side in early 2010, he was a remarkably consistent contributor... yet those matchwinning performances that he looked capable of never really materalised. I'm pretty sure he never got a MOM during his Test career.

I found two instances (one of which he shared with Steyn).

3rd Test, South Africa tour of New Zealand at Wellington, Mar 23-27 2012 | Match Summary | ESPNCricinfo

4th Test, England tour of South Africa at Johannesburg, Jan 14-17 2010 | Match Summary | ESPNCricinfo

But it does seem that on other occasions that he picked up a bunch of wickets in a winning cause, the man of the match went to Steyn or Philander as they picked up more, or a batsman who had piled on the runs.

 

[Dendarii]

I wonder how much the selection of coloured players over him in the recent series v India impacted.

SInce he played all three tests and five of the six ODIs (and no coloured bowlers played in the one he missed), I'd say not at all.

 

[vcs]

Interesting question. Johnson and Morkel almost have the same exact average. Whose career would you prefer?

FTR I've really enjoyed watching his career but always thought him to be a bit short of fulfilling his potential.

Would generally take the bowler with similar stats but more individually destructive on his day in such cases (Johnson, Stuart Broad etc.).

 

[SeamUp]

Interesting question. Johnson and Morkel almost have the same exact average. Whose career would you prefer?

FTR I've really enjoyed watching his career but always thought him to be a bit short of fulfilling his potential.

An interesting question. With a Steyn , Philander , KG at the other end I would choose the most consistent who had a knack of picking up key wickets.

 

[Flem274*]

That's a style of bowler? Your classic "I could bowl Glenn McGrath's length but I'll bowl short instead because we need something ineffective" style?

This is a weird argument. If you're saying he didn't have the ability to change his style to something more effective then....well that just means he wasn't that good. If you're saying that South Africa wanted him to bowl less effectively then I really can't buy that.

haha it is though. Remember the 'enforcer' carry on with Broad back before he got good? remember NZ trying to turn Bracewell and Henry into back of a length third seamers? Neil Wagner's test career?

Morkel did bowl full quite well sometimes, or at least he has in my dubious memory, so he was probably told to do the hit the deck thing.

 

[sunilz]

Another really weird post. Those "identical records" don't suggest they are similar players, or were of a similar quality, at all. All it shows is how much of a better and more consistent bowler Morkel was.

Did u forget to read first word of my post UNFAIR. Next time when u reply to my post kindly post ur class 10th and 12th report card . I don't want to waste my time replying to bots.

 

[Daemon]

owned. well done sunilZ u legend.

 

[vcs]

Did u forget to read first word of my post UNFAIR. Next time when u reply to my post kindly post ur class 10th and 12th report card . I don't want to waste my time replying to bots.

I got 83%, mainly dragged down by a poor score in Hindi

Do I qualify to respond to you?

 

[Pratters]

You should have read Champak in hindi VCS. That helped me.

 

[Pratters]

Didn't follow the series very closely. Sorry guys. In any case, I do wonder how much of an impact having so many coloured players in a quota system has on players.

 

[TheJediBrah]

owned. well done sunilZ u legend.

**** completely pwned by the worst poster on CW in years

I should just retire

 

[Daemon]

Didn't follow the series very closely. Sorry guys. In any case, I do wonder how much of an impact having so many coloured players in a quota system has on players.

No worries Pratters

 

[GotSpin]

An interesting question. With a Steyn , Philander , KG at the other end I would choose the most consistent who had a knack of picking up key wickets.

Fair response. I've just always found Morne to be so frustrating in his returns

 

[TheJediBrah]

Fair response. I've just always found Morne to be so frustrating in his returns

I dunno man. A Test average of 28 as a bowler is pretty decent for the era in which he played. There have have been a lot of flat pitches and big scores in the last 10-15 years

Even Jimmy Anderson didn't average much less than that and he played most of his Tests in nice swingy English conditions which suited him perfectly