How did Shaun Pollock manage to achieve so much success as a bowler?

[Mamoon]

Your being kind

He hasn’t seen him bowl. Otherwise he wouldn’t argue Pollock was a more accurate bowler than McGrath. Mate I’ve seen both of them. GM was the undeniable king of accuracy, even Shaun Pollock would admit this…and GM would know he is lying if he was to say Pollock was more accurate than he was out of humility.

Had you seen both bowl, you wouldn’t have said the following:

1. Amla faced McGrath in ODIs
2. Cullinan was a world class ODI batsman

You are clearly lying. You started watching cricket post 2010.

I saw both bowl. And also Ambrose of course. Three of the most accurate bowlers ever, but Pollock was the most accurate of them all.

 

[Mamoon]

To understand how good a new ball bowler he was you have to look at the strike rate of openers against Pollock in his era.

Strike rates of leading batsmen vs Pollock in ODIs

Jayasuriya 69.5 in 213 balls 136 dots
Gilchrist 66.5 in 245 balls 166 dots
Ganguly 57.9 in 38 balls 25 dots
Hayden 73.3 in 165 balls 118 dots
tendulkar 17.1 in 76 balls ( staggering 68 dots )
sehwag 79.4 in 155 balls 111 dots


Nobody could dominate him.

This is very insightful. It also exposes Tendulkar more than it makes Pollock look great.

 

[jnaveen1980]

This is very insightful. It also exposes Tendulkar more than it makes Pollock look great.

Don't think this is complete stat. Website has stat only for data available. Most of the 90s stats cannot be found. He has faced over 1000 balls against SA with Pollock in the side. Hard to believe he only faced 76 balls from him. Neverthless it was Ganguly who often walked down the wicket against Pollock.

 

[Rana]

Had you seen both bowl, you wouldn’t have said the following:

1. Amla faced McGrath in ODIs
2. Cullinan was a world class ODI batsman

You are clearly lying. You started watching cricket post 2010.

I saw both bowl. And also Ambrose of course. Three of the most accurate bowlers ever, but Pollock was the most accurate of them all.

Well, you add the one lying again because I never made those two claims. They are there for everyone to see. Just like your claim of Pollock being the most accurate bowler ever

 

[jnaveen1980]

+1

He may not be most accurate or most versatile or most dangerious, but Pollock was the most diffcult bowler to hit during his playing days. It's also refelcted in over all ER over a large sample size. Most aggresive batsmen found it hard to hit him without taking lots of risk.

Yup Back then most of the aggressive batsmen had to be aggressive using conventional shots. Even naturally aggressive Kevin pietersen had only strike rate of 73 against him. Towards the end his pace dropped. So batsmen started using the feet. From what i have seen Ganguly played him very well. Both in Tests and ODIs. In Tests Ganguly averages 65 against him. Pollock never dismissed him in ODIs.

 

[jnaveen1980]

You have to factor one thing. Pollock was partnered by someone who was better than him.

 

[jnaveen1980]

As far as comparison goes Mcgrath was far more versatile. He could bowl pin point yorker. He could reverse. He could bounce if needed.

 

[mominsaigol]

Your being kind

He hasn’t seen him bowl. Otherwise he wouldn’t argue Pollock was a more accurate bowler than McGrath. Mate I’ve seen both of them. GM was the undeniable king of accuracy, even Shaun Pollock would admit this…and GM would know he is lying if he was to say Pollock was more accurate than he was out of humility.

I've seen the 2 bowl, And mcgrath is heaps and shoulders > Pollock however I'm trying to explain to him that even his own flawed logic is wrong.

Er has nothing to do qith accuracy.

 

[Rana]

I've seen the 2 bowl, And mcgrath is heaps and shoulders > Pollock however I'm trying to explain to him that even his own flawed logic is wrong.

Er has nothing to do qith accuracy.

McGrath apparently used to get smashed in comparison to Pollock

 

[jnaveen1980]

Pollock deserved a world cup for his outstanding spell in 1999 semi final where Mcgrath unusually went wicketless.

 

[mominsaigol]

McGrath apparently used to get smashed in comparison to Pollock

Tbf Pollock isn't bad, He has 829 international wickets all at stellar economies. And while he isn't as good as mcgrath, he can bat too, Has a few 100's in international formats as well.

Arguably SA's greatest bowling allrounder of all time.

 

[Rana]

I don’t know, but if you’re looking at his domestic record, then his economy rate is deflated by bowling to a lot of domestic Australian batsmen who wouldn’t have a chance of representing Australia because they were not good enough.

Well if he’s bowling to List A Batsmen who are not good enough to represent Australia…then he isn’t good enough to bowl for Australia if he’s in the same competition as them?

Do you see your own nonsense?

 

[jnaveen1980]

Tbf Pollock isn't bad, He has 829 international wickets all at stellar economies. And while he isn't as good as mcgrath, he can bat too, Has a few 100's in international formats as well.

Arguably SA's greatest bowling allrounder of all time.

He took 5 for 36 WC semi final. If only Dale Steyn had done that SOuth Africa would ahve reached their first final. Instead could not defend 12 runs in the last over. Also conceded 76 runs in 8.5 overs.

 

[sweep_shot]

You got to be kidding here, right?

In the last 50 years, how many pacer all rounder like Pollock has been produced by India, Pakistan, SL, Eng, NZ, Aus etc...

Forget about his batting, simply based on his bowling,

Only Wasim and IK from Pakistan better than Pollock
Ignoring Bumrah, because current player, better than any other Indian pacer.
Better than any pacer produced by Sl, BD in history.
Better than any pacer produced by Eng in the last 50 years.
Handful of pacers from WI, Aus and SA will come ahead, but he will surely land in the top 10 pacer in history when you consder both formats. Then add his batting. He was harder to hit than McGrath and Wasim in ODI format. He was as good as in pacers in test history in his first half of career.

100-200 players better, lol. You can't even list 5 pacers from entire Asia who were better than Pollock in both formats.

No. I am not kidding.

Test cricket didn't start from 1992. It started from 1877.

If you dig deep, you will probably find 100-200 like Pollock (since 1877).

Definitely a South African ATG. But, his overall ATG status is up for debate.

 

[sweep_shot]

Theirs no such thing as south african ATG's or Pakistani Atg's. Your either an ATG or you're not, otherwise rashid khan and Ryan Ten doeshant are Nedtherlands and Afghani ATG's, it's just a made up term

Disagree.

ATG = All time great.

Someone can be an all time great for his country but an okay player globally.

Shakib is a Bangladeshi ATG but not an overall ATG. Same with Steve Tikolo who is a Kenyan ATG but not a major figure in world cricket.

Pollock is a South African ATG but his global ATG status is debatable.

 

[mominsaigol]

Disagree.

ATG = All time great.

Someone can be an all time great for his country but an okay player globally.

Shakib is a Bangladeshi ATG but not an overall ATG. Same with Steve Tikolo who is a Kenyan ATG but not a major figure in world cricket.

Pollock is a South African ATG but his global ATG status is debatable.

No they can't, ATG's aren't suppose to be handed like candies.

As for pollock taking 829 international wickets all at extremely healthy economies + avg + Having some centuries to hid name as a bowling allrounder easily qualifies him as ATG lol.

His status isn't debatable by any means.

 

[sweep_shot]

No they can't, ATG's aren't suppose to be handed like candies.

As for pollock taking 829 international wickets all at extremely healthy economies + avg + Having some centuries to hid name as a bowling allrounder easily qualifies him as ATG lol.

His status isn't debatable by any means.

ICC doesn't have an official "ATG" title for players. This is something pundits and fans come up with and these are often subjective.

I personally believe ATGs are of two types - country-wise and globally.

Wasim Akram is a global ATG. So is Ricky Ponting. So is Sachin. So is Murali.

Country-wise ATGs would be guys like Shaun Pollock, Graeme Smith, Shakib, Steve Tikolo, Javed Miandad, Ganguly etc. They are ATGs for their respective nations but not globally.

 

[mominsaigol]

ICC doesn't have an official "ATG" title for players. This is something pundits and fans come up with and these are often subjective.

I personally believe ATGs are of two types - country-wise and globally.

Wasim Akram is a global ATG. So is Ricky Ponting.

Country-wise ATGs would be guys like Shaun Pollock, Graeme Smith, Shakib, Steve Tikolo, Javed Miandad, Ganguly etc.

That's your personal belief but it's flawed because it allows average players to get a country atg status solely due to being born in that country.

Grame smith, Miandad and Ganguly are all atg.

Idkw you're undermining Pollock when he has one of the best allformat bowling records of all time and close to 1K wickets along with some centuries? You're acting as if these guys grow on trees?

I have seen some of Miandad's innings. Miandad is significantly superior as a batter and finisher and match saver then Dhoni. He's a significantly below Sachin, Kohli, Rohit, Sehwag etc etc, However he's superior to Dhoni. His 1986 innings was a master class and he was the true surgeon of the game in his era.

However because he's from Pakistan and came at an extremly early time qith zero social media and doesn't have the backing of a 1.4B population, Someone like Dhoni as a batter is considered atg but miandad according to Indian fans isn't when in reality for his era very few match him.

The same can be said for grame smith and Pollock, only crime is that they aren't born in a country like Australia or India or England.

 

[sweep_shot]

That's your personal belief but it's flawed because it allows average players to get a country atg status solely due to being born in that country.

Grame smith, Miandad and Ganguly are all atg.

Idkw you're undermining Pollock when he has one of the best allformat bowling records of all time and close to 1K wickets along with some centuries? You're acting as if these guys grow on trees?

I have seen some of Miandad's innings. Miandad is significantly superior as a batter and finisher and match saver then Dhoni. He's a significantly below Sachin, Kohli, Rohit, Sehwag etc etc, However he's superior to Dhoni. His 1986 innings was a master class and he was the true surgeon of the game in his era.

However because he's from Pakistan and came at an extremly early time qith zero social media and doesn't have the backing of a 1.4B population, Someone like Dhoni as a batter is considered atg but miandad according to Indian fans isn't when in reality for his era very few match him.

The same can be said for grame smith and Pollock, only crime is that they aren't born in a country like Australia or India or England.

From Pakistan, global ATGs would be Wasim, Waqar, Inzamam, Saeed Anwar, and Younis Khan. National ATGs would be Miandad, Azhar Ali, and Saqlain.

Ganguly is not a global ATG. I expect Indian posters to agree with me.

Graeme Smith is definitely not a global ATG. LOL.

What are your criterias for global ATG status?

P.S., I have nothing against Pollock. I was a fan of him. I just think he is an ATG for his country but not globally.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Seemingly he looks innocuous with his laid back run up and release. But he does mix up his deliveries well like in this. You see an outswinger, inswinger, outswinger, outswinger, inswinger.. goes on. From a good length.

 

[sweep_shot]

Seemingly he looks innocuous with his laid back run up and release. But he does mix up his deliveries well like in this. You see an outswinger, inswinger, outswinger, outswinger, inswinger.. goes on. From a good length.

He once had a bowling figure of 6-4-2-0 in an ODI game.

Insane ODI bowler.

Was okay in Test also.

 

[Buffet]

No. I am not kidding.

Test cricket didn't start from 1992. It started from 1877.

If you dig deep, you will probably find 100-200 like Pollock (since 1877).

Definitely a South African ATG. But, his overall ATG status is up for debate.

Go ahead and list 100-200 cricketers.

 

[Buffet]

From Pakistan, global ATGs would be Wasim, Waqar, Inzamam, Saeed Anwar, and Younis Khan. National ATGs would be Miandad, Azhar Ali, and Saqlain.

You don't undertsnad cricket at all if you think all these names qualify as ATG but Pollock does not.

 

[sweep_shot]

You don't undertsnad cricket at all if you think all these names qualify as ATG but Pollock does not.

You do not understand cricket if you think Wasim isn't an ATG but Pollock is.

From South Africa, only 2 players qualify as global ATGs and they are Kallis and Steyn.

 

[Buffet]

Also, putting Miandad with Azhar Ali, lol.

Miandad is an ATG. I have rarely seen fans rating Miandad below Inzzy, Anwar, YK etc.

 

[Buffet]

You do not understand cricket if you think Wasim isn't an ATG but Pollock is.

You listed Waqar, Inzzy, Anwar, YK as ATG and you are arguing that Pollock is not an ATG, lol.
You are listing Miandad in same bracket as Azhar Ali, lol.

 

[Rana]

From Pakistan, global ATGs would be Wasim, Waqar, Inzamam, Saeed Anwar, and Younis Khan. National ATGs would be Miandad, Azhar Ali, and Saqlain.

Pakistan’s legit ATGs are Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Inzimam ul Haq (a bit of a stretch), Javed Miandad and Waqar Younis. These are the 5 who stand out on a global level.

If I were to pick only 1 who can rub shoulders with the very best, or the GOLD Standard of world ATGs, it would only be Wasim Akram. He was the Zinadine Zidane of cricket.

 

[Buffet]

From South Africa, only 2 players qualify as global ATGs and they are Kallis and Steyn.

LOL, How did I miss this gem.

Anwar, YK, Waqar, Inzzy are global ATG, but Donald and Pollock are below these global ATG.

 

[sweep_shot]

LOL, How did I miss this gem.

Anwar, YK, Waqar, Inzzy are global ATG, but Donald and Pollock are below these global ATG.

Donald needed SENA conditions to do well unlike Steyn and Pollock.

 

[Ab Fan]

Here is the list of ATGs from 1970 onwards (50 years):-

Aus(10)- Chappell, Border, S Waugh, Ponting, S Smith, Gilchrist, Lillee, McGrath, Warne, Cummins

SA(5) - Kallis, S Pollock, Steyn, Donald, G Smith

Eng(3) - Joe Root, Ian Botham,James Anderson

Ind(6) - Tendulkar, Gavaskar, Kapil, Dravid, Ashwin, Kohli

New Zealand (1) - Hadlee

Sri Lanka(2) - Murali, Sangakkara

Pakistan (4) - Imran, Wasim, Waqar, Miandad

Windies(10) - Viv Richards, Brian Lara, Marshall, Ambrose, Walsh, Garner, Holding, Roberts, Greenidge ,Clive Lloyd

That's about 40 names from 1970 onwards. Shaun Pollock is a guaranteed contender in top 25. You have to be an absolute troll to suggest that Pollock isn't an ATG or claim that he is a South African great, just like Shakib is a BD great lol.

 

[Ab Fan]

Donald needed SENA conditions to do well unlike Steyn and Pollock.

LMAO. Donald was more all conditions bowler than even Imran khan was. Stop trolling.

 

[Ab Fan]

LOL, How did I miss this gem.

Anwar, YK, Waqar, Inzzy are global ATG, but Donald and Pollock are below these global ATG.

Azhar Ali is a national ATG also

 

[Buffet]

Donald needed SENA conditions to do well unlike Steyn and Pollock.

Donald avg in Asia in test : 20
Donald Avg in Asia in ODI : 19

What other gems?

 

[KP From India]

I think Pollock is the best South African cricketer of all time after Kallis.

BTW, Does poor Steve Smith fits to tie shoelaces of ATG Azhar Ali?

 

[jnaveen1980]

LOL, How did I miss this gem.

Anwar, YK, Waqar, Inzzy are global ATG, but Donald and Pollock are below these global ATG.

Alan Donald quintessential South African legend. He was the torchbearer for South African fast bowling. Steyn , Rabada all come later.

 

[jnaveen1980]

LMAO. Donald was more all conditions bowler than even Imran khan was. Stop trolling.

Donald is the ultimate legend from SOuth Africa. Ignorance is overflowing as their knowledge starts and ends in cricinfo filters.

 

[Buffet]

LMAO. Donald was more all conditions bowler than even Imran khan was. Stop trolling.

Donald is the ultimate legend from SOuth Africa. Ignorance is overflowing as their knowledge starts and ends in cricinfo filters.

Nah, even a cursory glance of stats will get rid of ingnorance. Since some poster may say home conditions, so here is away condition with sub 25 avg from 93-03 when Donald played.





Narrowing down to just Asian conditions:



Ther is no reason for ignorance even if just using stats. Donald was a notch above Pollock as a bowler but both were outstanding performers in both formats everywhere.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Nah, even a cursory glance of stats will get rid of ingnorance. Since some poster may say home conditions, so here is away condition with sub 25 avg from 93-03 when Donald played.

View attachment 146429



Narrowing down to just Asian conditions:

View attachment 146430

Ther is no reason for ignorance even if just using stats. Donald was a notch above Pollock as a bowler but both were outstanding performers in both formats everywhere.

Donald was the enforcer. He was one of the primary reason why SA did not take too long to become a great team. If i remember right his first ball was a wicket in the world cup 1992. But umpire did not give that out.

 

[Ab Fan]

Nah, even a cursory glance of stats will get rid of ingnorance. Since some poster may say home conditions, so here is away condition with sub 25 avg from 93-03 when Donald played.

View attachment 146429



Narrowing down to just Asian conditions:

View attachment 146430

Ther is no reason for ignorance even if just using stats. Donald was a notch above Pollock as a bowler but both were outstanding performers in both formats everywhere.

McGrath, Ambrose, Donald and Pollock were the best bowlers away from home in 1990s.

Wasim performed worse than these four guys, although he was the best performing away bowler from Pakistan. Waqar was much worse than all of them.

 

[kron]

He is probably the most underrated bowler ever. The most accurate bowler I ever saw.

If he was Indian he would be hyped 100x times more than he is now and he’d probably have a biopic by now.

A greater cricketer than anyone in Indian cricket history.

He is the greatest trundling AR I would say of all time. Greatest trundler bowler. Would have been celebrated indeed if he was Indian in the 90s and 2000 era.


Now he would be very popular in Pakistan given the amount of trundlers coming out of Pakistan.

 

[kron]

Well, that makes no sense or is a blatant lie.

If you saw Pollock bowl (which I doubt you did), then you must have seen McGrath bowl too. It’s absurd to claim Pollock was more accurate than McGrath. There are phases in cricket where Naseem Shah is the most accurate bowler in the world…do we use that to say “Naseem Shah is the most accurate bowler I have ever seen”?

Pollock is nothing compared to mcgrath.

 

[kron]

Watching cricket from the late 90’s, so I saw both bowl. Not sure if you were born at the time, your mental maturity (lack of) suggests otherwise.

Pollock, McGrath and Ambrose are three of the most accurate bowlers I ever saw, with Josh Hazlewood fourth on the list.

In terms of accuracy, the three are neck and neck and you could go with any of them, but I go with Pollock ahead of McGrath because of the following factors:

Pollock generated a lot more swing and when you swing the ball more, it is harder to control your line. McGrath on the other hand barely got any swing and most of his movement was off the seam, it was easier for him to land the ball on the same spot. In spite of this, he had a slightly better ER than McGrath over a larger sample.

Furthermore, he had a better ER than McGrath vs India and in India, which isn’t an easy place to bowl in ODIs because of the flat pitches and India’s batting might.

Also, McGrath had the luxury of not bowling to Australia, who has the most powerful ODI lineup in the 2000s, and in spite of this, his ER was slightly less impressive than Pollock’s.

As a result of this, purely in terms of accuracy I do with Pollock. As an overall bowler, McGrath was definitely better than him.

McGrath faced all those great batsmen of Australia in shield and ruined them all. He could literally predict how he would get them out and he would go out there and get it done. Only punting did well in one series vs McGrath on a uber flat pitch.

 

[kron]

eeeyaaah but no.

Pollock made his Test debut in 1995 and retired in 2008. In the meanwhile, he wasn’t bowling to batters of the caliber of,

Gary Kirsten
Hansie Cronje
Jacque Kallis
Hershelle Gibbs
Lance Klusenar
Greame Smith
Hashim Amla
Ab Devilliers

To name some illustrious names, there may be more who I have missed out but I don’t falsely claim to have watched cricket closely like you do in the 90s. Daryl Cullinan is a name I have missed out, he may will have been world class. Boetta Dippenaar another one who I have seen play, good batter. So Pollock’s had his fair share of not having to bowl to SERIOUS batters from SA too.

That batting lineup is better than indians of late 90s to early 2000. It's only after 2004 ish to 2011 Indian batting peaked.

 

[Ab Fan]

That batting lineup is better than indians of late 90s to early 2000. It's only after 2004 ish to 2011 Indian batting peaked.

SA were all Kallis and Smith in Tests till 2007. Gibbs was hit and miss in Tests. In 2008, AB and Amla shined and since then they formed a formidable batting unit together with likes of JP, Gibbs showing some performance here and there.

 

[mominsaigol]

From Pakistan, global ATGs would be Wasim, Waqar, Inzamam, Saeed Anwar, and Younis Khan. National ATGs would be Miandad, Azhar Ali, and Saqlain.

Ganguly is not a global ATG. I expect Indian posters to agree with me.

Graeme Smith is definitely not a global ATG. LOL.

What are your criterias for global ATG status?

P.S., I have nothing against Pollock. I was a fan of him. I just think he is an ATG for his country but not globally.

Azhar Ali doesn't deserve to be in the atg list period.

And Younis Khan over Miandad is wild.

Your criteria seems to be popularity rather then skills

 

[kron]

SA were all Kallis and Smith in Tests till 2007. Gibbs was hit and miss in Tests. In 2008, AB and Amla shined and since then they formed a formidable batting unit together with likes of JP, Gibbs showing some performance here and there.

For bouncy and swing friendly conditions they were still much better.

Only vs spin we were better.

We also got flogged in late 90s or I think it was 2000 by SA at home.

 

[Mamoon]

Well if he’s bowling to List A Batsmen who are not good enough to represent Australia…then he isn’t good enough to bowl for Australia if he’s in the same competition as them?

Do you see your own nonsense?

In domestic cricket, you will play vs players who are international material and who are not. So if you are a top tier international player yourself, your numbers in domestic cricket can be inflated because you are taking advantage of those players who are not international material.

Pollock was harder to score against than McGrath in ODI cricket even though he faced the best batting unit of the 2000s unlike McGrath.

Pollock swung the ball more which made it more challenging and harder for him to land the ball on the same spot compared to McGrath but he still did it, which means he was more accurate.

You wouldn’t know this because you didn’t watch either of them bowl, hence the fumble that Cullinan was a world class ODI batsman and Amla batted against McGrath.

 

[Rana]

McGrath faced all those great batsmen of Australia in shield and ruined them all. He could literally predict how he would get them out and he would go out there and get it done. Only punting did well in one series vs McGrath on a uber flat pitch.

Thanks for this,

No point wasting your time with him. He didn’t watch cricket in the 90s as he claimed.

 

[Mamoon]

McGrath faced all those great batsmen of Australia in shield and ruined them all. He could literally predict how he would get them out and he would go out there and get it done. Only punting did well in one series vs McGrath on a uber flat pitch.

None of that changes the fact that Pollock had a better economy rate than McGrath in ODI cricket and didn’t have the privilege to not play Australian batting lineup in the 2000s.

Same goes for someone like Viv Richards who was lucky to not play the Caribbean fast bowlers and didn’t have a great record vs the next best bowling unit of his era (Pakistan).

This is also the same reason why Ganguly was better than Anwar as an ODI opener. He did vs Wasim, Waqar and Shoaib unlike Anwar.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Pollock was class. What a great cricketer.

 

[kron]

None of that changes the fact that Pollock had a better economy rate than McGrath in ODI cricket and didn’t have the privilege to not play Australian batting lineup in the 2000s.

Same goes for someone like Viv Richards who was lucky to not play the Caribbean fast bowlers and didn’t have a great record vs the next best bowling unit of his era (Pakistan).

This is also the same reason why Ganguly was better than Anwar as an ODI opener. He did vs Wasim, Waqar and Shoaib unlike Anwar.

Put it this way. Without mcgrath, Australia wouldn't have won many of their icc titles. Lot of it can be attributed to him. He ia the sole reason no team could even breach their fortress in Australia. Moment he missed some games, finally England won the series in 2005 at their own home. India drew in Australia in 2003? Why. In tests I mean. Cause mcgrath dint play.

Also in odi, sacchu averaged 50 plus when mcgrath dint play. When he played it was 40 in tests.

This applies to odi as well. Desert storm etc happened why? Mcgrath dint play. All top batters including lara found it hard vs mcgrath
Not polly. Polly is a legend himself though

 

[Rana]

Put it this way. Without mcgrath, Australia wouldn't have won many of their icc titles. Lot of it can be attributed to him. He ia the sole reason no team could even breach their fortress in Australia. Moment he missed some games, finally England won the series in 2005 at their own home. India drew in Australia in 2003? Why. In tests I mean. Cause mcgrath dint play.

Also in odi, sacchu averaged 50 plus when mcgrath dint play. When he played it was 40 in tests.

This applies to odi as well. Desert storm etc happened why? Mcgrath dint play. All top batters including lara found it hard vs mcgrath
Not polly. Polly is a legend himself though

No doubt the guy was the biggest headache throughout his career for all batsmen. Always at the back of your mind, you worried about dealing with him. He was like a ruthless cross examiner for batsmen on the stand. Could pose the same difficult questions in more than one ways.

Brett Lee benefited massively from him on the other end.

 

[Mamoon]

Put it this way. Without mcgrath, Australia wouldn't have won many of their icc titles. Lot of it can be attributed to him. He ia the sole reason no team could even breach their fortress in Australia. Moment he missed some games, finally England won the series in 2005 at their own home. India drew in Australia in 2003? Why. In tests I mean. Cause mcgrath dint play.

Also in odi, sacchu averaged 50 plus when mcgrath dint play. When he played it was 40 in tests.

This applies to odi as well. Desert storm etc happened why? Mcgrath dint play. All top batters including lara found it hard vs mcgrath
Not polly. Polly is a legend himself though

In my opinion, McGrath is the best all-round bowler in history. However, I wouldn’t necessarily say that he was the best ever in all aspects. Nonetheless, as an overall package, he is the best of them all.

 

[jeeteshssaxena]

Here is the list of ATGs from 1970 onwards (50 years):-

Aus(10)- Chappell, Border, S Waugh, Ponting, S Smith, Gilchrist, Lillee, McGrath, Warne, Cummins

SA(5) - Kallis, S Pollock, Steyn, Donald, G Smith

Eng(3) - Joe Root, Ian Botham,James Anderson

Ind(6) - Tendulkar, Gavaskar, Kapil, Dravid, Ashwin, Kohli

New Zealand (1) - Hadlee

Sri Lanka(2) - Murali, Sangakkara

Pakistan (4) - Imran, Wasim, Waqar, Miandad

Windies(10) - Viv Richards, Brian Lara, Marshall, Ambrose, Walsh, Garner, Holding, Roberts, Greenidge ,Clive Lloyd

That's about 40 names from 1970 onwards. Shaun Pollock is a guaranteed contender in top 25. You have to be an absolute troll to suggest that Pollock isn't an ATG or claim that he is a South African great, just like Shakib is a BD great lol.

Ab devilliers should be there

 

[kron]

Ab devilliers should be there

100% but in LOI he choked aloooooot. Ans that goes against him. In tests yes automatic entry. Wildcard entry for SA, rabada should be there imo. 100%

 

[kron]

No doubt the guy was the biggest headache throughout his career for all batsmen. Always at the back of your mind, you worried about dealing with him. He was like a ruthless cross examiner for batsmen on the stand. Could pose the same difficult questions in more than one ways.

Brett Lee benefited massively from him on the other end.

Yep. I ding feat aus batting. I dint fear Lee. I dint fear gilly. But I feared only one man. His name is mcgrath.
He is so accurate. Extreme bounce. Movement. Seam bowling etc. He can hit any length at will. Complete package.

 

[Rana]

Yep. I ding feat aus batting. I dint fear Lee. I dint fear gilly. But I feared only one man. His name is mcgrath.
He is so accurate. Extreme bounce. Movement. Seam bowling etc. He can hit any length at will. Complete package.

You had to have watched cricket in the time to actually know this. Only a fool would claim there was a more accurate pacer than McGrath in his playing days.

 

[RyanRyan10]

None of that changes the fact that Pollock had a better economy rate than McGrath in ODI cricket and didn’t have the privilege to not play Australian batting lineup in the 2000s.

Same goes for someone like Viv Richards who was lucky to not play the Caribbean fast bowlers and didn’t have a great record vs the next best bowling unit of his era (Pakistan).

This is also the same reason why Ganguly was better than Anwar as an ODI opener. He did vs Wasim, Waqar and Shoaib unlike Anwar.

 

[TheSultan]

Pollock was an exciting bowler right at the beginning of his career. Sharpish bowler with a lethal bouncer and hit batsman after batsman.

Was somewhat disappointed by his descent or (ascent in some people’s eyes) in to a medium pace dibbly dobbler who was very accurate.

Yes he was accurate but he was boring, very boring and towards the end of his career became a bit of a cowardly stat padder. He used to go missing when SA were under the cosh and bring himself back on against the tailenders so he could end with figures of 2-40 maintaining his 20 odd average.

 

[Buffet]

Donald was the enforcer. He was one of the primary reason why SA did not take too long to become a great team. If i remember right his first ball was a wicket in the world cup 1992. But umpire did not give that out.

It was Marsh having a big edge in the first ball in WC. Clear deflection and not given out.