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Glenn McGrath vs Shaun Pollock

Who was the better test cricketer?

  • Total voters
    34
A

Ali TT

International Debutant
While Pollock's batting was obviously several classes above (or was it?), it's not sufficiently better to make me want to take him over Glenda.

Which one's the better commentator though?
 
Migara

Migara

Cricketer Of The Year
McGrath as a bowler alone is greater than Pollock the all rounder. In fact I would pick McGrath over all bowling all rounders other than Imran and Hadlee.
 
ataraxia

ataraxia

International Coach
I think there's a strong case for Marshall > Pollock > McGrath whilst rating Pigeon the G pacer OAT. That said, 'cricketer' threads sux
 
Prince EWS

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
ataraxia said:
I think there's a strong case for Marshall > Pollock > McGrath whilst rating Pigeon the G pacer OAT. That said, 'cricketer' threads sux
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Yeah that's exactly my position. I'd rate Hadlee, Wasim and Davo ahead of McGrath as cricketers too. I don't think I'd rate anyone else who was primarily picked for bowling ahead of him though.

EDIT: Oh and obviously Imran, lol.
 
F

Fuller Pilch

Hall of Fame Member
Prince EWS said:
Yeah that's exactly my position. I'd rate Hadlee, Wasim and Davo ahead of McGrath as cricketers too. I don't think I'd rate anyone else who was primarily picked for bowling ahead of him though.

EDIT: Oh and obviously Imran, lol.
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What about Warne - decent batting and quality slipper and Lindwall (2 test 100s)
 
S

subshakerz

International Coach
Prince EWS said:
Yeah that's exactly my position. I'd rate Hadlee, Wasim and Davo ahead of McGrath as cricketers too. I don't think I'd rate anyone else who was primarily picked for bowling ahead of him though.

EDIT: Oh and obviously Imran, lol.
Click to expand...
IMO, the only allrounders who should be genuinely ranked ahead of one-discipline top tier ATGs should be Sobers, Imran and Hadlee for obvious reasons.
 
Prince EWS

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
subshakerz said:
IMO, the only allrounders who should be genuinely ranked ahead of one-discipline top tier ATGs should be Sobers, Imran and Hadlee for obvious reasons.
Click to expand...
Yeah I think you think the gap between the greats in reality was bigger than it really was.

I'd definitely pick McGrath ahead of Davidson in an ATG XI context, but Davo would be more use to the average Test team. It's a bit like how Chris Woakes would very arguably be more use to a county championship team than James Anderson despite Jimmy obviously being a better Test player. The higher the standard the more noticeable a gap between elite specialist skills becomes and the less useful the secondary skills are.
 
B

Bolo.

International Vice-Captain
Of the top modern quicks, as players, tier 1 is Iman, Hadlee and Marshall for me. Tier 2 is Pollock, Wasim, Steyn, and Mcgrath. Within these tiers, you are just trading off varying degrees of batting for bowling in pretty comparable amounts.

Obviously people rate players a little differently, but I think heavy disagreement on how to rate these guys is more likely to come from prioritising batting and bowling to different extents.

I think I may rate Marshall a touch lower than the other 2, but he is very clearly ahead of everyone in the tier below him.
 
A

Ali TT

International Debutant
If you pick an ATG XI, wouldn't your specialists be so good that the need for an all-rounder to balance the side is diminished? So hypothetically I might pick Kallis as a batter in an ATG XI but wouldn't want him to bowl, or hypothetically pick Pollock as a bowler but not be expecting to rely on his runs at 8.
 
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