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Who's better, Lillee or Hadlee?

Who is the better bowler?


  • Total voters
    78

funnygirl

State Regular
Wasim-hate? :blink: The guy was a fantastic, fantastic bowler - it just so happens recently he's been compared to two of the very few bowlers I think were better than him, in Imran and Donald.
Nice try . I don't find that credible at all .No problem u can hate whoever u want to.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Donald was more fitter and had more stamina than Wasim ,thats all .As far as the skill ,Wasim comfortably . Donald could never bowl the kind of beauties those Akram was able to .If u think that Mcgrath looked one dimensional in comparison with Donald ,i would say Donald looked one dimensional in comparison with Wasim.
I don't. Wasim might have bowled more extraordinary balls than Donald - you always got the feeling one was more likely with him - but Donald bowled hundreds of them too. Wasim's best deliveries were no better than Donald's best. But he probably did manage to produce them a little more often. Equally, there was no bowling skill that Wasim possessed that Donald did not. Donald demonstrated his new-ball skills more often than Wasim did, and Wasim his old-ball skills more than Donald. But both of them possessed them to the full.

For me, though, Wasim went "off the boil" (probably due to his lack of stamina) more often than Donald did. And the difference there was greater than the difference between extraordinary-delivery-ratio. Hence, for me, Donald has the edge.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Nice try . I don't find that credible at all .No problem u can hate whoever u want to.
I hate very few people. I find it especially bizarre to be accused of "hating" one of the bowlers I rate pretty near to the top of the tree.
 

funnygirl

State Regular
I don't. Wasim might have bowled more extraordinary balls than Donald - you always got the feeling one was more likely with him - but Donald bowled hundreds of them too. Wasim's best deliveries were no better than Donald's best. But he probably did manage to produce them a little more often. Equally, there was no bowling skill that Wasim possessed that Donald did not. Donald demonstrated his new-ball skills more often than Wasim did, and Wasim his old-ball skills more than Donald. But both of them possessed them to the full.

For me, though, Wasim went "off the boil" (probably due to his lack of stamina) more often than Donald did. And the difference there was greater than the difference between extraordinary-delivery-ratio. Hence, for me, Donald has the edge.
whatever u think sir .I concur.If Donald was given the kind of the fielding support that what Akram got ,i doubt he would have played cricket .
 
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funnygirl

State Regular
Haha, what on earth are you on about?
The thing is say if u put a criteria like judging a player by his performance in dead pitches ,u should keep that in a consistent way ,isn't it ? For one comparison ,because he was so good in dead pitches ,hence he was better ,then for the next comparison ,that was overlooked .Fine way . Thats because of perosnal ''hate'''.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
whatever u think sir .I concur.If Donald was given the kind of the fielding support that what Akram got ,i doubt he would have played cricket .
I imagine he'd just have done what Wasim did, and tailored his bowling around in-, rather than out-swinger. Easiest way around bad fielding.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
The thing is say if u put a criteria like judging a player by his performance in dead pitches ,u should keep that in a consistent way ,isn't it ? For one comparison ,because he was so good in dead pitches ,hence he was better ,then for the next comparison ,that was overlooked .Fine way . Thats because of perosnal ''hate'''.
Apart from the fact I'm rather puzzled by what I've supposedly overlooked... no, it's not. Hate is a very strong word, and should be used carefully.
 

PhoenixFire

International Coach
The thing is say if u put a criteria like judging a player by his performance in dead pitches ,u should keep that in a consistent way ,isn't it ? For one comparison ,because he was so good in dead pitches ,hence he was better ,then for the next comparison ,that was overlooked .Fine way . Thats because of perosnal ''hate'''.
I was more talking about the fact that you accused Richard of hating a player, when he clearly rates him very highly, as do most sane people.
 

Sanz

Hall of Fame Member
Hey, I just found that funny. That said, there is a lot of truth into that.

And you are right, Some people are not consistent in making their arguments. ;)
 

funnygirl

State Regular
I was more talking about the fact that you accused Richard of hating a player, when he clearly rates him very highly, as do most sane people.
He was like hell bent on proving that Imran ,Donald are better than Wasim in a rather unpleasant way .Like Wasim is not in the ''class '' of Donald . Hmm.....i don't know ,i found that a hateful comment than a sensible comment .
 

Sanz

Hall of Fame Member
I was more talking about the fact that you accused Richard of hating a player, when he clearly rates him very highly, as do most sane people.
Didn't Richard accuse SS of hating Donald too ? How did you miss that ? Did it accur to you that SS rates Mcgrath very highly too.

Next time you jump in to defend your pal make sure that you show 'Consistency'. :ph34r:
 

PhoenixFire

International Coach
Didn't Richard accuse SS of hating Donald too ? How did you miss that ? Did it accur to you that SS rates Mcgrath very highly too.

Next time you jump in to defend your pal make sure that you show 'Consistency'. :ph34r:
Haha, right, I will remember that in future, thanks ;)

For the record, I have hardly read the thread, and certainly reacted in the same way should I have thought Richard was accusing SS of hating Donald. All I was commenting on was the fact that apparently Richard hated a certain player, when in fact, I believe otherwise.
 

silentstriker

The Wheel is Forever
TBH I've always found your McGrath-fetish and Donald-hate truly bizarre.
I can't really disagree with you on the former, but I rate Donald very highly, as a second tier bowler in the all time stakes (e.g, between 7-12 or something like that). He could certainly make a case for himself in the second all time XI. I would say him and Wasim are very close in terms of bowling ability - Wasim may get in front of him due to being a left armer, but otherwise I'd say they are similar in ability. I'd take Imran over both though, personally. And of course, McGrath & Marshall over Imran and the rest.
 

Son Of Coco

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
McGrath was indeed far more multi-dimensional than most gave him credit for, and could indeed use most of the standard weapons available to bowlers.

However, so could Donald, plus a couple of others that McGrath didn't. And he did it more often. So therefore, while McGrath was certainly far from a one-trick pony, I rate Donald the more multi-dimensional.
500-odd wickets to one but not the other would suggest he didn't do it more often :happy:

Edit: Which things could Donald do that McGrath couldn't just out of interest?
 
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SJS

Hall of Fame Member
Didn't we have a poll between Wasim and imran? And didn't Wasim come out in front?

I thought Wasim the better bowler and a big claim as the greatest left-arm speedster of all time
I would say, at his peak, Imran was the greater bowler but Wasim was a world class bowler for longer time.

For all sportsmen, particularly fast bowlers in cricket, we should assess their greatness when at their peak because how long that peak lasts is not necessarily a measure of their skills/caliber/genius etc.

Fast bowlers, of all cricketers, are most like field athletes and we do not take out the average speeds of the great sprinters of the world over all the races they ran in their careers.

PS: I know this(the comparison with a sprinter) is an imperfect comparison so please lets not deviate into this. I am just trying to make a point with the closest parallel from another sport I can immediately think of - nothing more.
 

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