FaaipDeOiad said:
If it's just about spinners, I'd pick Warne. Warne vs Murali for me has always been like Lara vs Tendulkar, Tendulkar is more consistent and reliable but on his day Lara is more devastating. And generally speaking, I prefer Lara as a player, but they are both all time greats without question.
Nah, Murali is more devastating at his best than Warne.
Best Period:
Mat O M R W Ave Best 5wi 10w SR Econ
Murali 2000-2003 37 2347.3 684 4990 258 19.34 9-51 22 10 54.5 2.13
Warne 1993-97 57 2876.5 938 6457 277 23.31 8-71 11 3 62.3 2.24
Better average, strike rate, economy rate, wickets per match etc...
And to stop Halsey responding as he always does, lets look at their away stats during their peak period.
Murali 2000-2003 13 688.1 1660 70 23.71 6-39 5 2 58.9 2.40
Warne 1993-1997 19 880.4 2105 83 25.36 6-48 3 0 63.6 2.39
Murali wins again.
Best innings:
9/51 M Muralitharan v Zimbabwe at Kandy, 2nd Test, 2001/02 [1583]
9/65 M Muralitharan v England at The Oval, Only Test, 1998 [1423]
8/71 SK Warne v England at Brisbane, 1st Test, 1994/95
8/87 M Muralitharan v India at Colombo (SSC), 3rd Test, 2001 [1559]
Murali wins again, although admittedly he does get more opportunity to get wickets.
Best Series:
Murali
Sri Lanka in Pakistan, 1999/00 [Series]
3 213.1 516 26 6/71 19.84 2.42 49.1 1 1
South Africa in Sri Lanka, 2000 [Series]
3 227.4 480 26 7/84 18.46 2.10 52.5 3 1
Zimbabwe in Sri Lanka, 2001/02 [Series]
3 203.1 294 30 9/51 9.80 1.44 40.6 2 1
England in Sri Lanka, 2003/04 [Series]
3 231.4 320 26 7/46 12.30 1.38 53.4 1 1
Australia in Sri Lanka, 2003/04 [Series]
3 209.1 649 28 6/59 23.17 3.10 44.8 4 1
Warne
The Ashes (Aus/Eng) in England, 1993 [Series]
6 439.5 877 34 5/82 25.79 1.99 77.6 1 0
The Ashes (Aus/Eng) in Australia, 1994/95 [Series]
5 256.1 549 27 8/71 20.33 2.14 56.9 2 1
The Ashes (Aus/Eng) in England, 1997 [Series]
6 237.1 577 24 6/48 24.04 2.43 59.2 1 0
The Ashes (Aus/Eng) in England, 2001 [Series]
5 195.2 580 31 7/165 18.70 2.96 37.8 3 1
Australia v Pakistan Test Series in Sri Lanka/U.A.E., 2002/03 [Series]
3 124 342 27 7/94 12.66 2.75 27.5 2 1
Australia in Sri Lanka, 2003/04 [Series]
3 168 521 26 5/43 20.03 3.10 38.7 4 2
Warne has had one truly amazing series, Murali has had two. Warne has taken more wickets in a series than Murali, but played twice as many matches in doing so. Murali has taken 25 wickets at under 20 in a series 4 times, Warne has done it twice.
Conclusion: The common notion that Warne is more devastating on his day is baseless media hype.