James Anderson vs Glenn McGrath - Similarities and differences

[GotSpin]

Anderson has obviously terrorised Aussie batsmen for a while now but I'm a huge fan.

Not only is his action aesthetically pleasing but I really admire his attitude towards test cricket. The game would be in a better place if we had more Jimmy Andersons running around.

And as much as I hate to admit it, his song is really catchy

 

[the big bambino]

Its the perfect song for a cloudy day.

 

[Borges]

Fact: 564 > 563
Opinion: ATVVG, ATG, GOMP, ATVG etc.

Though I must hasten to add:
No one - and by no one, I mean absolutely no one, not even the Lesser AB - has more respect than I have for the opinions expressed on CricketWeb.

 

[GoodAreasShane]

Anderson has obviously terrorised Aussie batsmen for a while now

That just simply isn't true. His Ashes record is really not that flash.

 

[GotSpin]

What's his average against us in England? Or did Broad do all the damage? To be honest, all the batting capitulations in overseas Ashes tests have kind of blended together into one scene of misery

 

[harsh.ag]

 

[jimmy101]

^ Never gets old.

 

[harsh.ag]

 

[Starfighter]

What's his average against us in England? Or did Broad do all the damage? To be honest, all the batting capitulations in overseas Ashes tests have kind of blended together into one scene of misery

33.36

Broad's is 26.02

 

[GIMH]

In fairness he had no business playing in 06-07

 

[TheJediBrah]

In fairness he had no business playing in 06-07

Still averages over 32 against Aus if you take out 2006/07

also averages nearly 33 against SA. Never realised before but seems like he was a real bully of minnow and Asian teams

 

[Howe_zat]

Was Anderson ever the best bowler in the world during his career? Post Steyn it seems like Rabada has picked up that title. Maybe in between Steyn and Rabada.

been the number one bowler in the world for ages now

ffs man how's the view from under that rock

 

[TheJediBrah]

been the number one bowler in the world for ages now

ffs man how's the view from under that rock

I dunno brah Steyn, Rabada, Harris, Philander even have had him covered more often than not

 

[Red]

Serious question: where does Anderson rank among the English all time great quicks. Is he in the England ATG XI?

 

[Adders]

I dunno brah Steyn, Rabada, Harris, Philander even have had him covered more often than not

1 J.M. Anderson ENG 899
2 K. Rabada SA 882
3 V.D. Philander SA 826
4 R.A. Jadeja IND 814
5 P.J. Cummins AUS 800
6 T.A. Boult NZ 795
7 H.M.R.K.B. Herath SL 791
8 R. Ashwin IND 769
9 N. Wagner NZ 765
10 J.R. Hazlewood AUS 759


Been that way for ages Brah (as Howe just told you)............do try and keep up lad.

 

[Starfighter]

TIL that 'ages' is 'discontinuous intervals since mid 2016'.

 

[jimmy101]

Serious question: where does Anderson rank among the English all time great quicks. Is he in the England ATG XI?

Very much in the discussion imo. The fact that he has achieved the milestone of most Test wickets taken by a fast bowler (a record which may remain unbroken) will serve his cause well in discussions on topics such as this over the next few years.

As far as how he ranks amongst all time English quicks is concerned, not everyone will agree with me, but I envisage something along the lines of this...

Tier 1: Barnes, Larwood, Bedser, Trueman, Tyson

Tier 2: Richardson, Lohmann, Tate, Voce, Statham, Snow, Botham, Willis

Tier 3: Foster, Bowes, Anderson, Broad, Gough

I've probably forgotten some big names there. If anything Anderson will be bumped up to tier 2 by the time he retires.

 

[wpdavid]

So hard to make meaningful comparisons with guys from 100+ years ago. Not that we should ignore the stats of Barnes, Lohmann and others, but it was such a different game then. Perhaps it's worth considering that those guys stats were bumped up by playing a lot of their relatively short test career against fledgling SA.

Tyson's tough call for me. Obviously his performances in the 1954-55 Ashes are up there, but his time at the top was very short.
Statham probably belongs somewhere in there.
I think Anderson deserves to be higher. Perhaps worth considering that unlike most of these guys he played all his tests on covered wickets.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

I'd like to say Anderson is an ATG but then it creates the issue of how to class the multiple fast bowlers who are clearly superior

He clearly isn't GOAT but he is clearly ATG as far as England are concerned, probably only Trueman that would now be ranked ahead of him. As for the rest of the world well as good as Jimmy is i'd still take the likes of Marshall, Ambrose, McGrath, Hadlee, Wasim and Waqar ahead of him and that is not mentioning the numerous Saffers or bowlers who were from earlier who are better. He has been brilliant for us and lead the attack superbly for years and is rare in that he seems to have got better after 32 when most others drop off. He needs credit for that.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Probably the best sledging clip ever.