Nathan Lyon vs Graeme Swann

[Silver Silva]

Who is the better off spinner ?

 

[trundler]

Lyon and it's not close.

 

[ataraxia]

Lyon and it's not close.

Swann's average starts with a 2 though

 

[Line and Length]

Three reasons why Swann > Lyon
(a) Better average 29.97 v 30.86
(b) Superior WPM 2.25 v 4.07
(c) Lyon didn't have to bowl to great Australian batsmen.

Joking of course - check my vote.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Lyon, but Swann has won an away Ashes and a series in India.

 

[GIMH]

Swann's peak better than Lyon's. But he only really played internationals at his peak so it's a bit like comparing Anderson with, I dunno, someone.

Voted Swann anyway because that's how I roll

 

[PlayerComparisons]

Pretty close on skill/ability but Lyons had the far more valuable career

 

[Aidan11]

Swann came to test cricket late in his career but was quite an effective off spinner. Their ratio of wickets per test is pretty close but I'll go with Swann.

 

[Coronis]

Swann's peak better than Lyon's. But he only really played internationals at his peak so it's a bit like comparing Anderson with, I dunno, someone.

Voted Swann anyway because that's how I roll

Ryan Harris

 

[Coronis]

One quit on his team during the Ashes, the other came out to bat on a blown calf during the Ashes.

Tough call.

 

[GIMH]

Ryan Harris

Decent shout

 

[howitzer]

Ryan Harris

I like this, except one played consistently for five years and the other still missed lots of tests during his five year career. Harris was clearly a better bowler when he could get on the park though, so that redresses the balance. Would be a fun comparison thread between those two.

 

[morgieb]

Lyon, but Swann has won an away Ashes and a series in India.

Did he really do much in that Ashes series though? Fair point re: India though.

I think it's fair to say Swann might've had the better peak, but the fact that he spent so long unable to make the team is a bit of a black mark.

 

[BazBall21]

Did he really do much in that Ashes series though? Fair point re: India though.

I think it's fair to say Swann might've had the better peak, but the fact that he spent so long unable to make the team is a bit of a black mark.

He didn't set the world alight but he did a bit more than most touring off-spinners manage in Australia. And he had a gun tour of India, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the Caribbean.

Have always considered him the most important player of that 2009-2013 England team. Abandoning his teammates in a crisis halfway through the final series of his career was arguably wrong on a moral level but his shoulder was too ****ed for his bowling to still be useful.

Overall though, it's obviously Lyon. Swann simply didn't have a long enough career for this to be a serious comparison.

Spinners get better over time too. I don't know much about where his level was in the mid-2000s etc but on paper his career was nicely timed like Strauss' was.

 

[howitzer]

He didn't set the world alight but he did a bit more than most touring off-spinners manage in Australia. And he had a gun tour of India, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the Caribbean.

Have always considered him the most important player of that 2009-2013 England team. Abandoning his teammates in a crisis halfway through the final series of his career was arguably wrong on a moral level but his shoulder was too ****ed for his bowling to still be useful.

Overall though, it's obviously Lyon. Swann simply didn't have a long enough career for this to be a serious comparison.

Spinners get better over time too. I don't know much about where his level was in the mid-2000s etc but on paper his career was nicely timed like Strauss' was.

IIRC it was his elbow?

 

[Prince EWS]

IIRC it was his elbow?

Chucker.

 

[BazBall21]

IIRC it was his elbow?

My mistake.