Slifer
International Captain
Lara matches Gooch with the 99 series vs Australia and the 2001 series in SL.
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Imran Khan vs Allan Donald
- Thread starter PlayerComparisons
- Start date
Lara had two memorable innings against Australia in WI 99.
I'm sure he also scored many many runs in a Sri Lanka series.
Kirkut
International Regular
Lara in 99 and early 2000s was peak stuff but even those performances pale in comparison with Gooch's batsmanship in the early 90s. Hardest batting conditions ever.
shortpitched713
Cricketer Of The Year
This is a battle of who leads the "second tier" of ATG modern bowlers.
(excluding those currently playing)
Imran
Garner
Wasim
Donald
Pollock
Ashwin
Any other obvious choices for that list?
I think Donald leads this list.
Top 6ish modern bowlers all have immaculate records, but all on this list have their own sort of flaw to nitpick. For me Donald's has the least meaningful nitpick, his career was quality throughout, just slightly shortened (not even as curtailed as Garner's for instance) so might lose a bit from longevity in comparison to the very top group.
Imran has 6 years that are unmatchable for quality in cricket history, but the rest of the career that he was bowling was still very good, but not really belonging to this level.
To me Donald then comes out ahead of Imran.
(excluding those currently playing)
Imran
Garner
Wasim
Donald
Pollock
Ashwin
Any other obvious choices for that list?
I think Donald leads this list.
Top 6ish modern bowlers all have immaculate records, but all on this list have their own sort of flaw to nitpick. For me Donald's has the least meaningful nitpick, his career was quality throughout, just slightly shortened (not even as curtailed as Garner's for instance) so might lose a bit from longevity in comparison to the very top group.
Imran has 6 years that are unmatchable for quality in cricket history, but the rest of the career that he was bowling was still very good, but not really belonging to this level.
To me Donald then comes out ahead of Imran.
Johan
International Coach
What a sneak
subshakerz
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Donald was below par against Australia the best team to his time. It's not a minor nitpick.
Coronis
Hall of Fame Member
One of these things is not like the others
shortpitched713
Cricketer Of The Year
Feel free to ignore Ashwin though, as it's a bit hard to compare seamers and spinners anyway. But I think the seamers list are a good, straightforward comparison.
shortpitched713
Cricketer Of The Year
It was by far the best batting lineup too, so I consider it much more understandable than say averaging 31 against England or Pakistan or something.
shortpitched713
Cricketer Of The Year
Made a thread with poll, more directly asking this question here:
How would you rank the "second tier" of modern Test bowlers?
How would you rank them? You can feel free to exclude Ashwin in your thought process here, but I think he belongs. Has a very competitive average given he's a spinner, and the highest wicket total by far of this group, with WPI also being very high. He's not as easy to push aside as Philander...
www.cricketweb.net
Feel free to vote, and discuss, etc.
vidiq
State Regular
So is imran Khan
Johan
International Coach
Imran was sensational against the West Indies
shortpitched713
Cricketer Of The Year
Australia weren't the best during Imran's time. West Indies clearly were.
subshakerz
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
No Imran is great against WI.
subshakerz
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Um underperforming against a random mid tier opponent is more forgivable and can be written off as a outlier than against top quality teams.
You make it sound like he had some insurmountable task. Both Ambrose and Wasim performed against Aus. He was below par.
shortpitched713
Cricketer Of The Year
I fundamentally disagree on highlighted point. You miss out on more wins for your team by under-performing more against teams on your level. For Wasim and late career Ambrose there were a lot of "valiant efforts" that didn't lead to good results.
I don't think Donald should be extra punished for that as no one has an immaculate record everywhere, although sure we can give a bonus to Wasim and Ambrose, especially if it led to some wins.
shortpitched713
Cricketer Of The Year
Also Ambrose is too good for this list, so let's not hold these guys to that high of a standard. 
subshakerz
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Yeah except SA was close to Aus level in the 90s and Donald's lack of performance literally cost them series.
Sure then give that bonus to Imran vs WI over Donald.vs Aus.
subshakerz
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
He really isn't in my view.Also Ambrose is too good for this list, so let's not hold these guys to that high of a standard.
Coronis
Hall of Fame Member
Why is underperforming against a weaker team better than underperforming against a stronger team?