Morne Morkel vs Stuart Broad: Who's the better fast bowler?

[Tec15]

Self explanatory question, now that Morne has retired. Would be interesting to see what people now think, as I get the impression that Morne has always been underrated in this forum while Broad has been overrated.

 

[Starfighter]

Now this is an interesting one. Mercuriality vs consistent under-the-radarness.

	Matches	Wickets	WPM	Average	Econ	S/R	BBI	BBM	4WI	5WI	10WM
Broad	116	410	3.53	29.04	2.97	58.5	8/15	11/121	15	16	2
Morkel	86	308	3.58	27.66	3.19	53.3	6/23	9/110	18	8	0

 

[harsh.ag]

Morkel having a higher WPM stat is not something I would have expected.

 

[R!TTER]

Morkel for me, but Broad has more match winning spells even outside his comfort zone.

 

[StephenZA]

Morkel having a higher WPM stat is not something I would have expected.

The argument for his lack of ten fors and 5 fors, is who he has always had to share wickets with, rightly/wrongly. Even though Broad does have this beast mode, would have picked Morkel everyday for SA over Broad because of what he brought to the SA team. I can't say Morkel is a better bowler. But he is a nicer guy....

 

[Borges]

Hard to say; both of them can make the Australians cry, so they are pretty evenly matched in that respect too.
My vote goes to Broad; he did it all by himself, without any help from cameramen.

 

[Starfighter]

Morkel having a higher WPM stat is not something I would have expected.

It's a whole four wickets over career difference though.

Home vs Away ripped from HowStat

Broad	M	W	5w	10w	Best	Avg	S/R	E/R
Home	56	242	11	2	8/15	26.75	52.60	3.05
Away	50	168	5	0	6/17	32.36	67.18	2.89

Morkel	M	W	5w	10w	Best	Avg	S/R	E/R
Home	31	155	4	0	5/20	26.19	50.51	3.11
Away	40	154	4	0	6/23	29.16	56.29	3.11

 

[Maximas]

Broad for his matchwinning ability, Morne was a little more consistent and stood up when needed, but Broad had the ability to run through sides, his batting waned significantly over time but he easily had the edge there too.

 

[vcs]

I used to generally always favour Broad in this comparison because of his match-winning spells (though I can't stand the guy, whereas Morkel is one of the most likeable cricketers around), but Morkel's last few series have really changed things. On the other hand, Broad hasn't produced one of those spells in a while (though he bowled well in NZ recently in the 2nd Test). Very close now and I couldn't really pick one. My conclusion is that they are both better suited to their respective teams/roles in the attack.

 

[Pup Clarke]

Up until a year ago I would have said Broad, but Morkel in that time has bowled the sort of length that Broad has been unable to consistently hit.
The other really fascinating debate (imo) is Philander v Pollock - which someone mentioned recently.

 

[S.Kennedy]

Why all the dislike for Broad? It is not his fault he looks like he belongs to a 1990s boyband?

 

[OverratedSanity]

I like Morkel, but Broad is better by quite some distance.

 

[andruid]

Much rather RP Singh

 

[ImpatientLime]

woah woah hold on a second. tec picked the south african dude over the english dude?

lol at people picking morne by the way cause he bowled the right length in his last few series. only 11 years too late.

 

[SeamUp]

Not a fan of these.

We 'know the difference' etc I like Starfighter's description of both.

Consistency and reliability are important things and if I asked Morkel or Broad to give it to me I think I would get it from Morkel more times than not around the world.
If I asked them to bowl me a spell to win a game it would be Broad.

In a way I'm really glad Morkel's career ended with the peak it had because he definitely deserved more recognition and considering the bowlers he had to share wickets with it is testament to his ability to get key wickets. I remember for example he used to give KP problems when he was at his best.

 

[Red]

Hard to say; both of them can make the Australians cry,

How many quick bowlers has your country produced who "can make the Australians cry"?

 

[ImpatientLime]

tbf i cried as a cricket lover when sharma ****ed up ponting

 

[Red]

Was actually surprised to note how many times Sharma got Ponting but in 12 tests palyed against an Indian team containing Sharma, Ponting averaged 60+, so I'd say he went alright.

Sharma did have the wood on Ponting around 2008 though.

 

[Motorwada]

How many quick bowlers has your country produced who "can make the Australians cry"?

Umesh during the 2017 series.

 

[Borges]

How many quick bowlers has your country produced who "can make the Australians cry"?

One. Jaydev Unadkat.
Anyone who knows anything about cricket would cry when they see that a team spent 1.5 million euros to buy (a theoretical maximum of) 56 overs of dross.