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- #76
I made reference to the batsmen too, perhaps you didn't fully read my post. Short attention span perhaps?
As I said, they never faced McGrath so their arguments are irrelevant.
Lillee vs McGrath
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I made reference to the batsmen too, perhaps you didn't fully read my post. Short attention span perhaps?
As I said, they never faced McGrath so their arguments are irrelevant.
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- #78
More spurious logic. You require a solid definition of all rounder and he doesn't qualify as that.
Warne was obviously a better bowler than lillee though, and probably McGrath too.
I find this one really hard to split. McGrath has the numbers, but a lot of those games were against very weak English sides - made to look even weaker than they were by the skill of McGrath and Warne. Lillee never had the chance to come up against genuinely weak opponents, although Indian and Pakistani batsmen in Australia were (like now) usually going to struggle in pacier, bouncier conditions.
Some of Lillee's best years were in WSC and are therefore not in the stats. On the other hand bats were twigs (unless Clive Lloyd was welding what looked at the time like half a Guyanyan forest compressed into one bit of timber) even compared to McGrath's time; and were barely strips of bark compared to today's weapons. Lillee also played on more unpredictable surfaces, and some venues did not have sightscreens, which aids the bowling in comparison.
I would probably go with McGrath, but there is no real science to that beyond perceptions of the eras. I just think that his ability to land the ball in the right spot time after time after time perhaps gives him the edge in more conditions.
Some of Lillee's best years were in WSC and are therefore not in the stats. On the other hand bats were twigs (unless Clive Lloyd was welding what looked at the time like half a Guyanyan forest compressed into one bit of timber) even compared to McGrath's time; and were barely strips of bark compared to today's weapons. Lillee also played on more unpredictable surfaces, and some venues did not have sightscreens, which aids the bowling in comparison.
I would probably go with McGrath, but there is no real science to that beyond perceptions of the eras. I just think that his ability to land the ball in the right spot time after time after time perhaps gives him the edge in more conditions.
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- #80
In some ways Tony Dodemaide - at his best - brought more to the Aussie lineup than DK. DK was great as a quick, but he couldn't save an innings in the middle order like Tony.
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- #81
probably the biggest question is who was better, DKL or Harry Boyle? Harry played for Australia in 1880, and took 32 wickets at an average of 20! He was then found sleeping with the selectors wife and never played for Australia again.
sherb
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- #83
But that was a glaring one, and when I posted that I was sticking up for someone else.
OK. Nice trolling to this point, I fell for it, but now you've made it obvious.
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- #85
Close poll guys! Looks like not everyone subscribes to the cricket board group think, huh? Just take another soma tablet and repeat after me, "Dennis was good, Dennis was great, we surrender our will, as of this date."
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- #86
Nah the tony dodemaide comment was tongue in cheek, the rest is legit. As the poll shows it's a close call. Personally I'd have McGrath, but I'm not always right. Just ask my wife.
sherb
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That's alright, just ignore the troll and discuss the topic with the grown ups.
Sorry Jim McGrath easily.
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- #89
But on TV y'day you said DK!!
Spitta Andretti
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On that note, Lillee has a pretty terrible record in Asia while McGrath was outstanding in the alien conditions over there. When it comes to these kind of 'best player' debates I like to consider how they performed outside of their comfort zone. Normally it would just be a small thing to consider but the gap in their Asian performance is massive, so I think McGrath is better.
Lillee averaged 68 in Asia taking 6 wickets at a strike rate of 132. McGrath averaged 23 taking 72 wickets at a strike rate of 54. Lillee was in the subcontinent as Vinay Kumar was in Australia.
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- #91
Good point
I saw both careers in full. I went Lillee for his 10kph of extra pace, ability to really physically intimidate, his ability to completely change a game in a 5-6 over spell then ability to change how he bowled as he got older and starting losing his pace.
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Different era though. Once Pakistan got bowlers the like of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Aktar their pitches became alot more faster bowler friendly. In Lillee's days they were slow, low turners with zero for the quicks.
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- #94
McGrath leads the vote now. As expected.
Did the Prince of Penrith & Duritz Creditor vote?
Or averaged half a wicket a game more. Lillee was physically devastating with his speed. It's a rare breed that averages 5 wickets per Test as a fast bowler.
Less wickets, but alot less Tests. With injuries, World Series Cricket, you'd think he'd have taken alot more.
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- #97
PoP has been permanently banned, and Duritz's creditor is not me so I would not know.
Not unexpected as many on here wouldn't have seen Lillee at his best. Lillee's the greatest fast bowler ever in my eyes.
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- #99
Look at all the names of the people who've voted for Lillee... "oldman74" and "glenmillerbandfan", sheesh...
Spitta Andretti
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Pakistan had Sarfaraz Nawaz and Imran Khan around the same time Lillee was playing, I don't know about any quality Pakistani spinners in the '70s. Maybe they still prepared turners when Australia toured to negate Lillee, but McGrath played on many turners in India and Sri Lanka and still did fantastically well.
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