Lillee vs McGrath

[Duritz]

James Brayshaw just referred to DKL as the "greatest of all time, at least in so far as Australian quicks go."

My immediate thought was "what about Mike Whitney? Did DKL ever host a show with **** Tania? No, no he didn't."

Anyway, then I thought again and thought "what about Glenn McGrath?"

So, I thought I'd compare their bowling records. If you could have one bowler only in your side, who would you have?

DKL / GMcG
Tests - 70 / 124
Wickets - 355 / 563
Ave - 23.92 / 21.64
Wickets per match - 5.07 / 4.54

 

[Duritz]

Mods could you add a poll I forgot

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

James Brayshaw just referred to DKL as the "greatest of all time, at least in so far as Australian quicks go."

My immediate thought was "what about Mike Whitney? Did DKL ever host a show with **** Tania? No, no he didn't."

Anyway, then I thought again and thought "what about Glenn McGrath?"

So, I thought I'd compare their bowling records. If you could have one bowler only in your side, who would you have?

DKL / GMcG
Tests - 70 / 124
Wickets - 355 / 563
Ave - 23.92 / 21.64
Wickets per match - 5.07 / 4.54

McGrath... Is there any point having a debate?

 

[Duritz]

McGrath... Is there any point having a debate?

James Brayshaw certainly seems to think so

 

[sherb]

Off the top of my head
- Lillee took 24 wickets in 71/72 against the RoW when the South Africa tour was cancelled.
- He also took 67 wickets in two seasons of WSC supertests
- He missed 4 of the 5 tests on the 73 West Indian tour, the entire 73/74 domestic season and also the 77 tour of England

So his test record could have been even better.

 

[Duritz]

Off the top of my head
- Lillee took 24 wickets in 71/72 against the RoW when the South Africa tour was cancelled.
- He also took 67 wickets in two seasons of WSC supertests
- He missed 4 of the 5 tests on the 73 West Indian tour, the entire 74/75 domestic season and also the 77 tour of England

So his test record could have been even better.

Had he played as many tests as McGrath, would he have as good figures? Better? Worse? Who would you choose?

 

[sherb]

Had he played as many tests as McGrath, would he have as good figures? Better? Worse? Who would you choose?

I saw both careers in their entirety and my choice would be Lillee.

 

[sherb]

Had to edit my post - Lillee missed the 73/74 season, not 74/75.

Not sure what I was thinking there, 74/75 was when he made his comeback.

 

[Duritz]

So sherb says dkl, having seen both careers, while Nakia says there's no point even debating because it's obviously McGrath.

 

[sherb]

So sherb says dkl, having seen both careers, while Nakia says there's no point even debating because it's obviously McGrath.

I'm not really into these "who is best" type discussions, because they are so subjective and can never end.

But you asked, so I answered.

 

[Cleavy]

James Brayshaw just referred to DKL as the "greatest of all time, at least in so far as Australian quicks go."

My immediate thought was "what about Mike Whitney? Did DKL ever host a show with **** Tania? No, no he didn't."

LOL!

 

[Illinois Nazi]

James Brayshaw certainly seems to think so

James Brayshaw thinks a lot of stupid things though.

 

[larrikin]

Love them both

DK was before my time but I've seen a lot of footage - he was amazing. He probably played less weak teams than McGrath so the stats are hard to compare there. McGrath's average is amazing though, he was so good.

Such different bowlers too.

 

[footyfan1978]

If I only had seen Pigeon McGrath I probably would vote him but thankfully I was blessed to see Dennis Lillee bowl in twilight of his career so straight forward vote for the truly great DK Lillee. I wish I seen him his whole career so jealous of those that saw him bowl to likes of Garfield Sobers of earlier eras.
Mind you, Richard Hadlee for New Zealand was not far off as good as Lillee in similar era.
McGrath has a better average on runs per wicket which is testament to his amazing accuracy of line and length. Great bowler in his own right. Very Ambrose like.
I rate Wasim Akram superior to those two tall bowlers and the closest in talent to Lillee and Hadlee.

 

[Scotland]

I saw both careers in their entirety and my choice would be Lillee.

This.

I was born in 1984, Lillee had retired by then.

I don't know why people get worked up in 'who's better?' debates about players they didn't see play.

 

[Ok Boomer]

McGrath

 

[Duritz]

Interesting answers. Clearly this is a polarising issue. The McGrath camp have a good argument in that he took more wickets at a better average, tied an up an end better than possibly anyone ever and also had to play in an era where he shared wickets with the greatest spin bowler ever. How many did warney take off McGrath after all? Plus McGrath did this in an era of higher scoring, bigger bats.

However the DKL camp rightly say he played against almost no weak teams, played against some of the greats, had his stats robbed by missing several seasons due to wsc etc, and wore far more jewellery.

Who is right???

 

[western royboy]

Had he played as many tests as McGrath, would he have as good figures? Better? Worse? Who would you choose?

Lillee by the length of the Flemington straight

 

[western royboy]

I think there is some footage around of a Gillette Cup match - WA v QLD in the mid 70's. Both sides were full strength - QLD had a young import playing for them - IVA Richards. Queensland ripped through WA for about 70 odd...and lost. It is worth more than nostalgia to go and have a look at what Lillee did that day. McGrath was a great - but too my mind there is no comparison.

 

[western royboy]

 

[greatwhiteshark]

Never considered McGrath to be a fast bowler, he was medium pace even though he opened the bowling. Absolute great bowler and rightfully sits with the all time greats.
Lillee however rightfully sits at the top end of those greats.
I would go lillee everyday, it's amazing how quickly we forget how good some of these guys were.

 

[Duritz]

Never considered McGrath to be a fast bowler, he was medium pace even though he opened the bowling. Absolute great bowler and rightfully sits with the all time greats.
Lillee however rightfully sits at the top end of those greats.
I would go lillee everyday, it's amazing how quickly we forget how good some of these guys were.

So you'd take the guy who took less wickets at more runs per wicket? Interesting.

 

[Duritz]

McGrath

Even though he was slower, arguably bowled against lesser teams and lesser batsmen?

 

[Gough]

I think there is some footage around of a Gillette Cup match - WA v QLD in the mid 70's. Both sides were full strength - QLD had a young import playing for them - IVA Richards. Queensland ripped through WA for about 70 odd...and lost. It is worth more than nostalgia to go and have a look at what Lillee did that day. McGrath was a great - but too my mind there is no comparison.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/798733.html
I'd recommend this book to you.

 

[STFU Donnie]

So sherb says dkl, having seen both careers, while Nakia says there's no point even debating because it's obviously McGrath.

Dude, if Nakia said "good morning", I'd put my PJs on and head straight to bed. He provided weeks of side-splitting hilarity in the football section.