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Who was the better Test bowler - Shaun Pollock or Courtney Walsh?

Ab Fan

Ab Fan

Senior Test Player
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Although Pollock wins by a mile in ODIs, who is better in tests?

Avgs:

Shaun Pollock

Tests- 23.16
Odis- 24.51

Courtney Walsh

Tests- 24.45
Odis- 30.48
 
Walsh was good in his later half and Pollock was absolutely gun in his first half. Pollock went too much downhill in his second half, but Walsh was not that bad in his first half. I think Walsh will take a slight edge here.
 
Pollock was great fast bowler for first 78 test, averaging under 21 better than all the fast bowler of his era may be not as impactful as the others but still was averaging less than other bowlers, but in last 30 odd test he went straightway downhill, so Walsh longevity gives him edge over Pollock.
 
The_Odd_One said:
How is it seriously a comparison?

Tests

View attachment 76783

ODIs

View attachment 76784
Click to expand...

Actually you are right. Memories are playing tricks due to how they ended their test careers. Walsh ended on high and Pollock ended on low.

Looking objectively, it's clear that Pollock was better. Walsh never reached at the level of Pollock of 00s in the test format. Pollock was rank 1 for few years in the test format and in ODI it's simply not even a comparison. Pollock is one of the best ODI bowlers.
 
The_Odd_One said:
How is it seriously a comparison?

Tests

View attachment 76783

ODIs

View attachment 76784
Click to expand...

These rankings and ratings don't give a clear picture of a player test career. Even AB was no.1 in year end icc test ranking of 2013 and 2014 I.e. 2 years while many never become one and also had the peak rating of 900+.

Both Pollock and Walsh have similar avg and 300+ test wickets. So it's a fair comparison and this isn't even turning out to be one-sided.
 
Buffet said:
Actually you are right. Memories are playing tricks due to how they ended their test careers. Walsh ended on high and Pollock ended on low.

Looking objectively, it's clear that Pollock was better. Walsh never reached at the level of Pollock of 00s in the test format. Pollock was rank 1 for few years in the test format and in ODI it's simply not even a comparison. Pollock is one of the best ODI bowlers.
Click to expand...

We are only comparing them in tests. In Odis, Pollock is miles ahead as I already mentioned.
 
Ab Fan said:
These rankings and ratings don't give a clear picture of a player test career. Even AB was no.1 in year end icc test ranking of 2013 and 2014 I.e. 2 years while many never become one and also had the peak rating of 900+.

Both Pollock and Walsh have similar avg and 300+ test wickets. So it's a fair comparison and this isn't even turning out to be one-sided.
Click to expand...

Pollock of 00s was as good as any bowler in history. Walsh never came close to that level. It's not just about 1 year of rating or 1 year of ranking.
 
Pollock 1995-2003 --- 78 tests 318 wickets @ avg of 20

He played 30 additional tests without taking a 5-fer and pushed his career average to 23.


I don't think that Walsh came anytime close to that level despite not being bad any time.
 
Buffet said:
Actually you are right. Memories are playing tricks due to how they ended their test careers. Walsh ended on high and Pollock ended on low.

Looking objectively, it's clear that Pollock was better. Walsh never reached at the level of Pollock of 00s in the test format. Pollock was rank 1 for few years in the test format and in ODI it's simply not even a comparison. Pollock is one of the best ODI bowlers.
Click to expand...

Majority of the PPers think that Pollock was a nothing bowler in the 2000s. Pollock still averaged 24.7 in the 2000s which is as good as Walsh's overall career average.
 
The_Odd_One said:
Majority of the PPers think that Pollock was a nothing bowler in the 2000s. Pollock still averaged 24.7 in the 2000s which is as good as Walsh's overall career average.
Click to expand...

I actually meant to say Walsh never reached at the level of Pollock of 90s.

---

Pollock lost his ability to run through sides in the last 30 tests and Walsh got stronger in his last 30-40 tests, so memories can have some biases due to that.
 
Ab Fan said:
These rankings and ratings don't give a clear picture of a player test career. Even AB was no.1 in year end icc test ranking of 2013 and 2014 I.e. 2 years while many never become one and also had the peak rating of 900+.

Both Pollock and Walsh have similar avg and 300+ test wickets. So it's a fair comparison and this isn't even turning out to be one-sided.
Click to expand...

Pollock was consistently ranked among the top 3 or 5 bowlers. He was in the league of McGrath, Akram, Waqar, Ambrose, etc. Walsh as far as I remember was never rated among the best fast bowlers. He was more like Kumble, Anderson, etc. type of bowler.

Don't get me wrong. I love Walsh and I think he is massively underrated but having watched both, I think Pollock was better. It becomes extremely one sided when all formats are combined and Pollock's batting is considered.
 
The_Odd_One said:
Majority of the PPers think that Pollock was a nothing bowler in the 2000s. Pollock still averaged 24.7 in the 2000s which is as good as Walsh's overall career average.
Click to expand...

Pollock was of course underrated as hell. But here the comparison is against Walsh who himself was underrated.

So this is why the comparison was made.
 
The_Odd_One said:
Pollock was consistently ranked among the top 3 or 5 bowlers. He was in the league of McGrath, Akram, Waqar, Ambrose, etc. Walsh as far as I remember was never rated among the best fast bowlers. He was more like Kumble, Anderson, etc. type of bowler.

Don't get me wrong. I love Walsh and I think he is massively underrated but having watched both, I think Pollock was better. It becomes extremely one sided when all formats are combined and Pollock's batting is considered.
Click to expand...

Alright. Will agree with that.
 
I will pick Walsh because of longevity. Both played second fiddle for good part.

Tests only.
 
What will be their bowling speeds in their peak?
Pollock in his later years was bowling in mid 120s.
 
BaankeJi said:
What will be their bowling speeds in their peak?
Pollock in his later years was bowling in mid 120s.
Click to expand...

In first 75 tests, Pollock wins handsomely. But he was terrible in next 30 tests averaging over 30 and played second fiddle to even Ntini.

Walsh got better with age and become faster also.

Both were poor against Australia, best team of that era.
 
Ab Fan said:
In first 75 tests, Pollock wins handsomely. But he was terrible in next 30 tests averaging over 30 and played second fiddle to even Ntini.

Walsh got better with age and become faster also.

<B>Both were poor against Australia, best team of that era.</B>
Click to expand...

Pollock averaged 36, Walsh averaged 28. So, Walsh wasn't poor against Australia like Pollock, although he averages 34 in Australia.
 
Hard to separate them so I will take Pollock for his batting.
 
As others have stated Pollock was elite for the first 5 years of his career, while Courtney was elite for the last five of his. Reckon Walsh shades it, but only just.
 
Pollock because he played in more batting friendly era like 2000s while Walsh mostly had 90s and 80s
 
Overall Pollock was better. Walsh is a bit overrated, he got better in the later part of his very long test career in comparison to other West Indies pacers.
He was the least feared among all the great fast bowlers of his generation.
 
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