Is Glenn McGrath the best fast bowler ever...?

Question

If NOT, who is better?

Answer 1

He comes close, but there's a couple who were just as good if not better & Wasim Akram would be one.Of course as you realise, I think Binga is best! lol

Answer 2

well i dont know if i could say "best ever" but i would says its between McGrath, Lillee and Wasim Akram

McGrath could just drive you (by that i mean batsman and England supporters, no doubt he drove you mad from time to time Kook!) mad by just giving you no way to score off him

Lillee...well what can i say about him that hasnt been said before, imagine what his record would have been if it wasnt for his back injury and playing in World Series Cricket, he probably would have taken 500 test wickets!

Akram was the best left armer i saw, like Mark Taylor said of him, he could ball you 4 balls, on the same spot, but get them to do 4 different things! how do you combat that as a batsman?

thats my top 3, but given only one choice i would say Lillee, if nothing else but for that wonderful Mo!

EDIT: its not like your biased or anything is it Binga! LOL

Kook, ok, can you name the connection to the other numbers?

Answer 3

"Reverse swing" separates Wasim & McGrath by 1 pt.

Answer 4

MACCA ROCKS

Line & length all the way

Answer 5

I think he is.

In fact i will say he is the best bowler (spin or fast) ever.

He is the only guy whose stats are as good as that of the alien off spinner Muralitharan, which is incredible really.

He maintained those awesome stats for a much longer period than other great fast bowlers.

Wasim was the most skilled fast bowler but McGrath was very very accurate.

And just like i give grace marks to batsmen of 70's and 80's,i will take away some marks from bowlers of 70's and 80's as that era was very bowler friendly(only for fast bowlers).

Taking wickets is harder now a days for fast bowlers.You can't bowl many bouncers.If you bowl 2 beamers you can't carry on bowling in the match.The wickets are becoming more and more flat.Batsmen now wear helmets,so no fear of bouncers.

In 70's and 80's,the fast bowlers were devils with no heart.You score a boundary off a fast bowler and the next ball would knock you out and send you to Intensive Care Unit.LOL

An average of 24 in this era is as good as an average of 20 in 70's and 80's.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...

Steyn, Croft, McKenzie and Barnes better than McGrath.

ROFLMAO

Answer 6

IMO, Glenn McGarth is the 14th all-time best fast bowler of test matches.

I think that the title of the all-time best fast bowler should be reserved to Sydney F Barnes (1901-14, England)  (27 matches, 7,873 balls, 292 balls per match 3,106 runs conceded, 189 wickets, 7 wickets per match, 42 balls per wicket, 16.43 runs conceded per wicket).

The other great fast bowlers, better than McGrath are: (2) Colin Croft, (3) Malcolm Marshall, (4) Joel Garner, (5) Richard Hadlee, (6) Freddie Trueman, (7) Graham McKenzie, (8) Dennis Lillee, (9) Alan Donald, (10) Andy Roberts, (11) Dale Steyn, (12) Michael Holding and (13) Curtly Ambrose.

We tend to forget players of old times and prefer the current players. I would not do that and will remember every single player, old or new. The contributions will ever be remembered.

There are some fast bowlers less effective than McGrath. They are: Imran Khan, Alan Davidson, John Snow, Neil Hawke, Brett Lee, Ray Lindwall, Wes Hall, Ian Bishop, Max Walker, Neil Adcock, Shaun Pollock, Courtney Walsh, Geoff Dymock, Wasim Akram, Bruce Reid etc.

Answer 7

Tests or Odis or over all? I say he is up there with the best Wasim Akram Macgrath Holding Marshall Lillie etc

Answer 8

Gee this is a strange 1 for you to ask....

He is 1 of the best mate,but unfortunatly i think there are a few who were just as good as him....

Its hard to say who actualy is the best so here are a few of my choices for the best...

Deniss Lilee'

Jeff"Thommo" Thompson

Richard Hadlee

Wasim Akhram

Kapil Dev

Curtley Ambrose

Courtney Walsh  AND

Alan Donald...

EDIT:: It's just i did'nt really think you were much of a McGrath fan mate,just surprised me seeing you mention him in a ?..

Answer 9

no

wasim akram then shoaib akthar

Answer 10

Well, I haven't seen much of the oldies ( Lille, Marshall, Thomson, Hadlee etc. ) but whatever Cricket I've seen, I'll suggest the name of Wasim Akram...... he got everything control, accuracy, swing....... what not

I'll prefer him over McGrath becuase this guy (Wasim Akram ) has bowled on the most bowler unfreindly pitches of the world ( subcontinental wickets ) but yet he was a success there, too !!!!!

Answer 11

Malcolm Marshall would be another to think about

And the difference?

six of one and half a dozen of the other!

Answer 12

I'll say Malcolm Marshall and Courtney Walsh

Answer 13

Well ill assume your just talking about tests here.

McGrath is without a doubt one of the best fast bowlers ever however i do beleive there is a few who have been better.

There are two i consider to be better outright statswise and anyway you look at it. those two are Malcom Marshall and Richard Hadlee.

Malcom Marshall:

Fantastic and fearsome bowler who had to battle for wickets with many other all time greats and still maintained a superior record in a era of cricket i consider superior to any other

Richard Hadlee

Close to impossible as any seam bowler has came. prayed on the best batsman whilest give poor totals to defend and carrying the weight of a nation on his back. his contributions were such he was knighted before his career even finished

But of course Magrath would make most peoples top 10 with ease

Answer 14

I agree with ace and poormarc. Malcolm Marshall is, was and will be the best ever I've seen. He had sheer destructive ability and also bowled to a host of great batsman during his days. Not to mention, he won most of the battles.

McGrath was extremely good, but nowhere close to Marshall, as were the other modern era bowlers.

Answer 15

well i dont know if i could say "best ever" but i would says its between McGrath, Walsh and  Wasim Akram~

Answer 16

Malcom (r.i.p) Marshall was the best bowler ever.

His ability to undo a batsmen was legendary.  His bowling average of 20 is still the best for someone who took the amount of wickets he did.  Considering his height (5-10) his skidding deliveries were extremely dangerous and his use of every bowling strategy was unheralded and unmatched.

Wasim Akram must surely come in a close second with his ability to take wickets almost at will.

McGrath was great in his time, but with only Lara and Tendulkar around and the best of the rest on his own team (which he never could bowl to) he can't compare to Lillee, Hadlee (whose stats never included bowling to his own weak team), Garner and Holding.

Answer 17

yes

Answer 18

who said he is fast bowler ever

fast nd great bowler ever are wasim akram , waqar younis and shoaib akhtar

Answer 19

He is certainly up there with the best.

But there is not such a big gap between 1st and 2nd as there is in batting (Bradman first, daylight second!!).

I think you could just about throw a blanket over the top three or four.

Each of the top bowlers brings their own uniqueness to the game.

As everyone seems to be suggesting, it is very hard to split between Akram, Lillie and McGrath.

Akram - certainly the best left armer of all time.

Lillie - fearsome when he started (especially when teamed with Thommo!!) and great tactician by the time he finished.

McGrath - impossible to score off and took wickets at will!

Then we have the at least 6 West Indian greats - Roberts, Holding, Walsh, Ambrose  (I will never forget a 7fa he took to destroy Australia in a test - frightening!!) Garner and Marshall...phew they were just plain hard work to watch let alone what it would have been like to bat against.

So, in summery I would have to answer No! There is no clear 'Best' fast bowler of all time. Just a select group that would make the hair on the back of your neck stand up!

We haven't even begun to mention older style bowlers - like Frank Tyson. Rumor has it that he was just plane scary. He wasn't called Typhoon for nothing!

He is an immediate example that I am sure would be able to claim the mantle - only problem I have is the amount of tests he played. But then again, they did not play as many in the 50's anyway.

Answer 20

no brett lee is the best