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Ambrose vs Imran vs Steyn

Who is the best test bowler?

  • Total voters
    34
H

HouHsiaoHsien

International Debutant
Steyn. More well rounded than the other two. Fantastic at home and in Aus, ATG in Ind, good in Eng(especially compared to Broad and Anderson).
 
subshakerz

subshakerz

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
HouHsiaoHsien said:
Steyn. More well rounded than the other two. Fantastic at home and in Aus, ATG in Ind, good in Eng(especially compared to Broad and Anderson).
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That is an exaggeration of Steyn's record.

Steyn was awesome at home, ATG in India, good in Aus, middling/good in Eng and SL. IK was ATG at home, ATG in WI, good in Aus/Eng, and middling in Ind.

There is little to choose between Imran and Steyn's all-country record IMO. But I go with IK because he wasn't as loose and hittable a bowler as Steyn.
 
H

HouHsiaoHsien

International Debutant
subshakerz said:
That is an exaggeration of Steyn's record.

Steyn was awesome at home, ATG in India, good in Aus, middling/good in Eng and SL. IK was ATG at home, ATG in WI, good in Aus/Eng, and middling in Ind.

There is little to choose between Imran and Steyn's all-country record IMO. But I go with IK because he wasn't as loose and hittable a bowler as Steyn.
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Steyn was fantastic and nearly ATG in Aus and better than Imran there. Amazing WPM(don’t include the last match, where he broke his shoulder barely bowled there, 30 wickets in 6 matches). And his average is better than the other bowlers of that era, and he was involved in SA’s most important series win ever. He is good in Eng and far from middling(bowled at some of the best Eng batting lineups in the modern era, and was far better than prime Broad and Anderson, great WPM). Steyn was ATG at home and in Ind additionally. Imran ATG at home, WI, good in Aus and Eng. Close, but Steyn.
 
H

HouHsiaoHsien

International Debutant
The only other overseas pacers to average below 30 in Australia during Steyn’s career are Bumrah, Tremlett, Bresnan and Rabada. (min 15 wickets) Steyn’s last tour was in 2016 and Bumrah’s tour was 3 years after that. And the summer of Tremlett/Bresnan more bowler friendly, and Bumrah’s tour during Warner/Smitj suspension.
 
subshakerz

subshakerz

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
HouHsiaoHsien said:
Steyn was fantastic and nearly ATG in Aus and better than Imran there. Amazing WPM(don’t include the last match, where he broke his shoulder barely bowled there, 30 wickets in 6 matches). And his average is better than the other bowlers of that era, and he was involved in SA’s most important series win ever. He is good in Eng and far from middling(bowled at some of the best Eng batting lineups in the modern era, and was far better than prime Broad and Anderson, great WPM). Steyn was ATG at home and in Ind additionally. Imran ATG at home, WI, good in Aus and Eng. Close, but Steyn.
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Nearly ATG in Australia? He was awesome in the Melbourne test of 2008 and Perth test of 2012, but in between that he was mostly spanked around, albeit on flat tracks. It was a good performance overall, but not significantly different from Imran in Australia IMO who won the first ever test there for Pakistan in 76 and had an excellent full series in 81, only to be affected by a series when he was basically playing as a bat in 90.

England similar. He was terrific in Edgbaston 2008 and Oval 2012 but was also spanked around outside that. I think you need at least a sub-30 average to qualify as good. If you want to argue pitches were tough, what about Imran's entire home career?

And even if you want to consider him in England good, I don't see how his overall breakdown is better than IK's. I prefer IK because he was so exceptional on dead tracks at home compared to the buffets Steyn was served in SA.
 
H

HouHsiaoHsien

International Debutant
subshakerz said:
Nearly ATG in Australia? He was awesome in the Melbourne test of 2008 and Perth test of 2012, but in between that he was mostly spanked around, albeit on flat tracks. It was a good performance overall, but not significantly different from Imran in Australia IMO who won the first ever test there for Pakistan in 76 and had an excellent full series in 81, only to be affected by a series when he was basically playing as a bat in 90.

England similar. He was terrific in Edgbaston 2008 and Oval 2012 but was also spanked around outside that. I think you need at least a sub-30 average to qualify as good. If you want to argue pitches were tough, what about Imran's entire home career?

And even if you want to consider him in England good, I don't see how his overall breakdown is better than IK's. I prefer IK because he was so exceptional on dead tracks at home compared to the buffets Steyn was served in SA.
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He overall took 30 wickets in 6 matches in Aus. Average 27-28(much better than contemporaries of his era). And aren’t two near ATG performances good enough in 6 matches. Imran averaged the same on much better tracks vs worse lineups in Aus. So Steyn is far better in Aus. Eng, Imran’s better, but Steyn I concede. And for the better home record, both are great, and as a home bowler you adapt to the conditions(so for the Imran on dead wickets, that’s great, but those were his home pitches, if he’d done similarly well in Ind, I’d have conceded he was Marshall level in SC). Imran was ATG at home and in WI. Steyn was ATG at home and in Ind, and fantastic in Aus. In Imran’s era, several bowlers were better than him in Aus: Marshall, Hadlee, Kapil etc
 
H

HouHsiaoHsien

International Debutant
2 ATG performances in 6 matches (especially that good and in a flat track era) is great. Imran barely has that, despite playing more matches in a more bowling friendly Aus(and Steyn bowled against similarly strong lineups, especially in 2008 against peak Clarke and a resurgent Ponting) Overrated Sanity can back me up on the Steyn issue here.
 
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Coronis

Coronis

Hall of Fame Member
subshakerz said:
Nearly ATG in Australia? He was awesome in the Melbourne test of 2008 and Perth test of 2012, but in between that he was mostly spanked around, albeit on flat tracks. It was a good performance overall, but not significantly different from Imran in Australia IMO who won the first ever test there for Pakistan in 76 and had an excellent full series in 81, only to be affected by a series when he was basically playing as a bat in 90.

England similar. He was terrific in Edgbaston 2008 and Oval 2012 but was also spanked around outside that. I think you need at least a sub-30 average to qualify as good. If you want to argue pitches were tough, what about Imran's entire home career?

And even if you want to consider him in England good, I don't see how his overall breakdown is better than IK's. I prefer IK because he was so exceptional on dead tracks at home compared to the buffets Steyn was served in SA.
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So Pakistan was basically only playing one bowler that series?
 
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