Glen Mcgrath - Greatest Fast Bowler of all Time ??

[Sanz]

Mcgrath is simply amazing and IMO it is his presence in this aussie team that allows the aussie batsmen to be more aggressive and attacking. Even if the entire top order is having a bad day they know that Glen(and Warnie) is there to bowl and that is the reason they never give up their natural style of play.

The Bigger the stage, the betterr the performance, His bowling against the best batsmen (BLC/SRT/RD etc) has been the best and with the exception of SRT(Before 2003) he has had upper hand against everyone. I dont think there is any bowler(past or present) in the world who has dismissed more top order batsmen than Mcgrath. He has hardly missed any game due to injury and whatever injuries he has had, he has come back as strong as he was before the injury.

As far as I remember, he has always been a tremendous leader of the bowling team,Before every series, he says he is going to target the top batsmen, some people take it as arrogance, but I dont remember any series where he has failed to backup his claims.He has supreme confidence in his abilities, therefore If I ever got to pick my world Eleven, the first name I would put down is GLEN MCGRATH.

 

[marc71178]

Actually Ambrose should be in that list too....but not Hall/Gregory/Larwood.... they were nowhere as good and i wouldnt consider Larwood to be any better than Brett Lee.

And why not?

 

[C_C]

And why not?

Why not what ?

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Same goes with Authors/poets/playwrights........Reputation-wise, they are considered the best...but several authors exist today who have a considerably better mastery of the english language, story-plan and layout than Shakespeare.

Oh come on mate. Literal mastery of the English language. Have you ever heard that most lowbrow and oft-used of literary phrases; "clutching at straws"?

 

[Nate]

I know it`s stupid, as I`m a 16 year-old who hasn`t seen anywhere near as much cricket as so many people... but he`s so damn good. Incredible.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Best ever... I'm not sure, but he'd be one of the first names I'd think about for a world XI these days. Certainly he's in that top eschelon of seamers, with Hadlee, Lillee, Marshall, Holding, Trueman, Davidson etc.

 

[shaka]

Davidson?

 

[Somerset]

Davidson?

Alan Davidson:
http://content.cricinfo.com/australia/content/player/4902.html

 

[archie mac]

Davidson?

Alan Davidson of Australia, he played in the 60s the Wasim of his day. The best left handed bowler ever produced by Australia, good batsman and great fielder.

 

[shaka]

thanks for that, I guess the problem is he only played 44 tests, but his average is really impressive with about 20 in test matches and first class.

 

[King_Ponting]

Mcgrath best fast bowler of all time....... Has to be up there with Lillee but definently in the top two

 

[C_C]

Oh come on mate. Literal mastery of the English language. Have you ever heard that most lowbrow and oft-used of literary phrases; "clutching at straws"?

When you rate a novel/story/play/poem, it is rated on two components : The quality of the literature( ie, mastery and manipulation of the english language) and the depth/quality of the plotline...
what else do you rate a work by ? Names and stuff dont count..if you were handed a copy of Othello with the name of Shakespeare removed and you've never heard of the story, what exactly are you gonna rate it on apart from quality of literature and quality of plotline ?

 

[Pedro Delgado]

hate him with a passion. the sooner he retires the better. It's his gob that annoys me. But he is f*£@ing amazing bowler. The way he gets so close to the stumps and lands on the same spot every time, put together with bounce, seam and swing.... He makes it look so easy. Little c*%t

I used to feel the same, but over the years I've warmed to him. The "big gob" routine is half serios/half tongue-in-cheek. And I'm all for aggresiveness on the field too.

Edit to add: In fact he's gone from my least favourite cricketer to nigh on my favourite in the space of ten years; the difference in views of a 24 year old compared with 34 year old cricket fan. Doubtful I'd have liked Lee back then then either.

Best bowler of my time, but Hadlee was just as acurate and a bit quicker. I'd go:

Marshall
Hadlee
McGrath

..of recent times.

 

[Zinzan]

Top 3 are Hadlee, Marshall and Mcgrath

following that group are Lillee, Imran and Akram for me

 

[archie mac]

From 1970-2005

Lillee
Marshall
Wasim

Not on my list, but we should not forget John Snow or Bob Willis of England.

 

[aussie]

Perhaps you haven't been round long enough to stop these things flying over your head.

I've seen McGrath long enough since the 97 ashes....

 

[wpdavid]

Inside joke. Relax.

I can never narrow it down to 'the one' but Glenn McGrath deserves to be rated alongside Lillee, Hadlee, etc.

Yep. And unlike them, he's regularly done the busines on Asian tracks.

 

[marc71178]

Why not what ?

How is Larwood not better than Lee?

 

[C_C]

he may be better than Lee but not by much.
Against inferior batsman + Bradman he has a similar record as Lee and wasnt anywhere close to bowlers like Lindwall, Miller or Bedser, who followed him shortly ( with the war-gap thrown in for all).

 

[C_C]

Yep. And unlike them, he's regularly done the busines on Asian tracks.

?????

Hadlee in Asia : 13 matches. 68 wickets @ 21.58, 42.7 st/r , 5x5fers, 2x10fers
McGrath in Asia: 19 matches, 72 wickets @ 23.02, 54.8 st/r, 1x5fer
Marshall in Asia: 19 matches, 71 wickets @ 23.05, 48.7 st/r, 3x5fer
Ambrose in Asia: 6 matches, 18 wickets @ 22.50, 56.3 st/r, 1x5fer
Imran Khan in Asia: 51 matches, 205 wickets @ 20.28, 48.8 st/r, 12x5fer, 3x10fer


The best of the very best have got it done in Asia, mate....McGrath isnt the only one.