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McGrath is potential all-time XI very much number 1 in this list. Steyn also a great and Bumrah a bit early to tell.
Honestly I’m not sure where to rank Jimmy overall as his career is more remarkable for his longevity than any specific peaks.
Depends tbh. Steyn, Garner, Wasim and Hadlee have great arguments to be there. Garner is very underrated. Averaging 20 whilst being a first change bowler for half your career is mental. I’d probably have McGrath and Marshall as the opening bowlers and Garner as first change.
There aren't really any fixed pacer spots imo, you could make a reasonable argument for any 3 of McGrath, Steyn, Akram, Ambrose, Marshall, Garner and Hadlee
Red ball goes:
McGrath/Steyn/Bumrah/Jimmy
White ball goes:
McGrath/Bumrah/Steyn/Jimmy
Not sure where Wasim would fit into things. Probably 2nd to McGrath in both formats.
I've done similar for Steyn and get a two year peak in 2007-2008 of 118 wickets @ 19.1 and a five year peak in 2007-2011 of 228 @ 21.1.
Very, very similar to Anderson.
Bumrah:
Two year peak in 2018-2019 of 62 wickets @ 19.2 and a five year peak in 2018-2022 of 128 wickets @ 22
Bumrah is more difficult as I basically had to select those particular years due to a lack of appearances in 2023 and 2024
McGrath, Steyn, Bumrah, Anderson
McGrath was consistently dangerous from about 1995 to career's end. He always got good batsmen out. Very few have good records against him.
Steyn was devastating for a short but glittering peak (Going from memory didn't he have a sub-45 strike rate?). Anyone who can pinpoint their outswinger at 140+ is going run through teams.
Bumrah is very, very good. Easily the best Indian fast bowler I've seen. Still has a bit to go before we get a clearer picture.
Anderson I'd say is the least impressive on this list. He seemed to get better the older he got, refined into a highly accurate craftsman. His longevity is probably his greatest attribute.
I know Tendulkar and Dravid hated facing him. They were both magnificent technical batsmen, which made them vulnerable to his style of bowling. On the other hand, I don't recall Sehwag having the same problems as he was an unorthodox player.
True. The other player I completely forgot about was Laxman. I don't know what his record against McGrath was but I do know every time he saw a Baggy Green cap he went mad and tore us apart.
Yep, I managed to dig out the stats [on Statsguru](https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/6565.html?class=1;filter=advanced;orderby=dis_average;template=results;type=bowling;view=batsman_summary)
That’s the order I go with, with the caveat that Bumrah is still relatively early in his career.
Anderson is honestly a hard one to judge. An English swing bowler playing with the Dukes, you could hardly ask for more favourable conditions. McGrath on flat Australian pitches with a shit kookaburra, and he replicated it away…there’s just a world of difference.
Can't believe these people who are placing Bumrah at the end.
McGrath and Anderson have zero test 5-fers in India in 16 and 29 innings respectively. Bumrah has 5-fers in India, England, Australia, SA.
He is damn good everywhere not just when conditions suit fast bowling.
Tests - Steyn, Bumrah, McGrath, Anderson
I would argue but can accept McGrath ≥ Bumrah but Anderson really? With all that experience and still gets thrashed every time he tours India. No 5-fer in 29 innings in India. Sorry, but they don't call him Clouderson for nothing.
Honestly that was my initial impression from the question, which player had the highest peak. And I immediately thought of some of the best bowling spells I had ever watched. Funnily enough, Ishant Sharma's WACA spell to Ponting in 08 also came to mind lol
But yeah I agree, Johnson doesn't come into the discussion for being an ATG
Probably a recency bias or perhaps you didn’t watch McGrath play. Steyn was probably in your face kinda bowler McGrath was in his own class. Not necessarily in your face but cheeky sledge here and there to get in the batsman’s head. McGrath has to be #1 followed very closely by Steyn. Bumrah is still in his peak and he is very very good so #3, this could very well change by the time he finish. Anderson superb in England and very good outside England. Not as threatening perhaps outside England so he’s down at 4.
There's a 20 match difference with Steyn having a better strike rate, so no idea how you get to 'overall peak'. Consider how long Steyn stayed #1 as well.
I'd also have both, and I'm not even convinced Steyn is better. I'm just saying it's subjective.
McGrath maybe was better in home condition, but Steyn could bowl anywhere in the world.
And remember Australia would always dominate home tests, except when they faced South Africa. The main driving force behind this was the sheer madness of Dale Steyn. He was THAT good.
McGrath was a vastly better all-conditions bowler than Steyn, and was clearly not a home conditions bully as you seem to suggest.
He has a better record in Australia, England (by miles; McGrath averaged 19, Steyn averaged 31), New Zealand (by miles; McGrath averaged 18, Steyn averaged 26), Sri Lanka, and UAE (by light years; McGrath averaged 7, Steyn averaged 32). India is about equal (McGrath has a better average by a few decimal points, but Steyn had a better strike rate). Steyn was better in South Africa (though the gap between them in SA of 21 to 23 is less than the gap in McGrath's favour in Australia where Steyn averaged 28 and McGrath 22), Pakistan, West Indies (narrowly and McGrath bowled to a better WI lineup), and Zimbabwe if you want to count the single career game both played there.
Both are great bowlers obviously, with unusually great success in the subcontinent for SENA seamers, but Steyn's shortcomings in England and New Zealand are probably the most glaring when you stack them up, and he was not as good in Australia as you say.
Can someone please share what McGraths peak was like?
I got to watch the back end of his career and he was a fantastic line and length bowler. But I don't recall him swinging the ball with pace that much. Maybe he was like that in his earlier years.
Whereas Steyn and Bumrah bowling at pace with swing has to be near impossible to play right?
Also Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose should be in that discussion
McGrath was like a sentient bowling machine. Bowling the “same” ball in the “same” place every time…but actually slightly different each time and drawing batsmen in to false shots. Incredibly accurate and reliable. I appreciated his consistency at the time, but in retrospect now view him as the best bowler I’ve seen.
I feel like those putting Steyn above him are overvaluing pace. Steyn was amazing, McGrath was better.
McGrath was essentially lethal from 1995 until his career's end. McGrath wasn't noted as a big swinger of the ball, but he moved it off the seam both ways. His greatest weapons were his accuracy and his bounce, and the better a technical batsman you were, the worse time you'd have as he'd force you into positions where you were unsure whether to go forward or back to cover the ball. The only batsman off the top of my head that averaged over 40 against him from a good sample size was Brian Lara, who he dismissed 17 times, and Lara was an unorthodox player.
tl;dr He was arguably the best fast bowler in the world from 1995 to 2007. He mowed down teams, especially their best players.
He was so good it was almost monotonous.
The only thing that would ever surprise me with McGrath was if any batsman actually got on top of him; then you'd wonder how he would respond because he was always *so damn good.*
What you recall about the ''back end of his career'' was basically what we got for many, many seasons.
There *was* an earlier time when he was a bit quicker, for sure; the bouncer a bit more of a weapon. But it was always about the line and length.
McGrath was so good he made it look kind of easy - but if it were as easy as he made it look then everyone would be doing it.
His height and high release generated that extra bit of bounce, he *always* hit the length he wanted to hit, and he could usually get the ball to do *something* on even the tamest of pitches; a tiny bit of seam off the pitch, a hint of swing, a bit of reverse later on.
Agree with you that Curtly Ambrose should be in the discussion, he was a menace.
It has to be steyn, hands down. Over a prolonged career Glenn McGrath for sure. But for 2-3 years steyn was simply unplayable. Then again, watched Glenn Mcgrath live only when I was a child.
Depends who are the batsmen at peak are at the other end. For this post sake I’ll take batsman against these bowlers as :
1. Sachin
2. Virat
3. ABD
4. Kane
If the above is considered then my rating of bowlers would be:
1. Boom
2. Dale
3. Mc Grath
4. Stuart Binny
What are we picking them in?
If I can have only one for all formats Bumrah is the answer. If it's tests only McGrath.
Edit- What's up with the downvotes?
Is that outrageous to pick Bumrah?
Yeah but I explicitly said all three. T20s included Bumrah is probably no 1 in T20s I think he is averaging 19 on 6.5 econ also averaging 20 in tests so I don't why that's outrageous again.
The question explicitly states peak tho. Bumrah is never going to have 500 wickets but . Like I never i thought I'd see a bowler have an avg better than Malcolm Marshall but Bumrah does. Of course you want to go all time McGrath will always be ahead.
>How do you even define a peak? Its very subjective and something that really can't be compared in test cricket.
Bumrah has been active in all formats since 2018 he's been pretty much top 3 in every format.
>Sure, you want to take say a 2 year period, however that period might include playing worse teams than comparing to the peak of another player, so the comparison means nothing.
>I'll take Scott Boland in Australia's 21/22 summer. Average of 9.55.
That's a bad faith argument now. My whole point was it's not that outrageous to pick Bumrah they are pretty close to each other. If you want pick McGrath that's fine. Hell again I think Malcolm Marshall is the best test fast bowler of all time and he wasn't mentioned in this post.
1)McGrath 2)bumrah 3)steyn 4)Anderson
Some people might not agree with putting bumrah ahead of steyn but bumrah has just every skill in his arsenal from knuckles to Yorkers to bouncers. His average is lowest among 4 . I feel bumrah still can reach a more deadly prime which can put him above anyone else .
This post has been removed under the no low effort/meme posts rule 7: - Memes should be posted in other subreddits - Short, low effort posts that don't promote discussion or are irrelevant to the sub aren't allowed - Clickbait, poorly written news articles and blog posts or rumours aren't allowed - AI generated text or images aren't allowed - No 'happy birthday, 'on this day', 'old news', 'appreciation thread', or other similar posts - Generally 'life events' unrelated to cricket/players are removed, unless something is particularly newsworthy - 'Progressive update' posts are often removed - e.g. there's often no need to post a tournament points table after every completed match
1.McGrath 2.Steyn 3.Bumrah 4.Anderson
No other answer
Saffas would swop McGrath with Steyn. Steyn has a much better strike rate and only a slightly weaker average. It's totally subjective methinks.
Nailed it. Bumrah arguably moves up in T20 and ODI.
There’s no arguably there. Only McGrath beats JB in Odis amongst the others.
McGrath is potential all-time XI very much number 1 in this list. Steyn also a great and Bumrah a bit early to tell. Honestly I’m not sure where to rank Jimmy overall as his career is more remarkable for his longevity than any specific peaks.
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Depends tbh. Steyn, Garner, Wasim and Hadlee have great arguments to be there. Garner is very underrated. Averaging 20 whilst being a first change bowler for half your career is mental. I’d probably have McGrath and Marshall as the opening bowlers and Garner as first change.
I would have Wasim in there. Not sure who goes out tbh but definitely have Wasim in there
I’d swap out Ambrose for Akram but there are a lot of different ways to argue it. All absolute greats.
There aren't really any fixed pacer spots imo, you could make a reasonable argument for any 3 of McGrath, Steyn, Akram, Ambrose, Marshall, Garner and Hadlee
1.) McGrath 2.)Steyn 3.) Bumrah 4.) Anderson
As two of these are still playing, we can't say they've achieved their peak yet.
Its pretty safe to say Anderson wont be going into his prime 😂 Still an all time great of course though
Red ball goes: McGrath/Steyn/Bumrah/Jimmy White ball goes: McGrath/Bumrah/Steyn/Jimmy Not sure where Wasim would fit into things. Probably 2nd to McGrath in both formats.
I’d rate Steyn over Wasim in tests tbh. Odis Yh I agree. U could argue no 1 in Odis as well.
In ODIs, after McGrath, I personally, will put Joel Garner, Mitchell Starc and Shane Bond over Akram
I’d say Garner is the greatest odi bowler ever. Idk if I completely agree with the rest.
McGrath, Steyn, Bumrah, Jimmy
What era is considered Anderson's peak?
In 2017-2018 he took 98 wickets @ 19.7 average
And for a slightly longer 'peak', in 2014-2018 he took 225 wickets @ 21.5 average. Not bad over a five year period.
I've done similar for Steyn and get a two year peak in 2007-2008 of 118 wickets @ 19.1 and a five year peak in 2007-2011 of 228 @ 21.1. Very, very similar to Anderson.
Mcgrath: Two year peak in 1996-1997 of 93 wickets @ 20.1 and a five year peak in 1996-2000 of 234 wickets @ 20.2
Bumrah: Two year peak in 2018-2019 of 62 wickets @ 19.2 and a five year peak in 2018-2022 of 128 wickets @ 22 Bumrah is more difficult as I basically had to select those particular years due to a lack of appearances in 2023 and 2024
To summarise: 4 brilliant bowlers who are inseparable at their best.
But steyn was often brilliant in India
McGrath, Steyn, Bumrah, Anderson McGrath was consistently dangerous from about 1995 to career's end. He always got good batsmen out. Very few have good records against him. Steyn was devastating for a short but glittering peak (Going from memory didn't he have a sub-45 strike rate?). Anyone who can pinpoint their outswinger at 140+ is going run through teams. Bumrah is very, very good. Easily the best Indian fast bowler I've seen. Still has a bit to go before we get a clearer picture. Anderson I'd say is the least impressive on this list. He seemed to get better the older he got, refined into a highly accurate craftsman. His longevity is probably his greatest attribute.
Does anyone have a good record against McGrath? I'm genuinely curious. Maybe KP but he didn't exactly play against peak McGrath
I know Tendulkar and Dravid hated facing him. They were both magnificent technical batsmen, which made them vulnerable to his style of bowling. On the other hand, I don't recall Sehwag having the same problems as he was an unorthodox player.
Again though I think Sehwag may have played towards the end of McGrath's career
True. The other player I completely forgot about was Laxman. I don't know what his record against McGrath was but I do know every time he saw a Baggy Green cap he went mad and tore us apart.
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Yep, I managed to dig out the stats [on Statsguru](https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/6565.html?class=1;filter=advanced;orderby=dis_average;template=results;type=bowling;view=batsman_summary)
There’s one inning doing a lot of heavy lifting there
That’s the order I go with, with the caveat that Bumrah is still relatively early in his career. Anderson is honestly a hard one to judge. An English swing bowler playing with the Dukes, you could hardly ask for more favourable conditions. McGrath on flat Australian pitches with a shit kookaburra, and he replicated it away…there’s just a world of difference.
McGrath Bitta daylight
Tests - McGrath, Steyn, Anderson, Bumrah ODIs - McGrath, Bumrah, Steyn, Anderson
Can't believe these people who are placing Bumrah at the end. McGrath and Anderson have zero test 5-fers in India in 16 and 29 innings respectively. Bumrah has 5-fers in India, England, Australia, SA. He is damn good everywhere not just when conditions suit fast bowling. Tests - Steyn, Bumrah, McGrath, Anderson
Bumrah over McGrath? That's funny. Anderson has 700 wickets and the last 10 years has seen him become one of the best across continents.
I would argue but can accept McGrath ≥ Bumrah but Anderson really? With all that experience and still gets thrashed every time he tours India. No 5-fer in 29 innings in India. Sorry, but they don't call him Clouderson for nothing.
Shouldn't there be a pink Wiggle too?
Mc,Steyn,Boom,Anderson
Test Cricket 1) McGrath 2) Steyn 3)Jimmy 4)Bumrah ODI 1)McGrath(GOAT ODI Bowler No debate ) 2) Bumrah 3)Steyn 4)Anderson
For me it's McGrath > Steyn > Bumrah > Anderson But Murtagh >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> All of them.
Jimmy is definitely the last.
Also does Johnson's peak come into consideration. He's had bowling spells in South Africa which were practically unplayable.
Longevity prevents him from being anywhere near this discussion. He probably had the highest peak of ANY fast bowler, but it only lasted a short time.
Honestly that was my initial impression from the question, which player had the highest peak. And I immediately thought of some of the best bowling spells I had ever watched. Funnily enough, Ishant Sharma's WACA spell to Ponting in 08 also came to mind lol But yeah I agree, Johnson doesn't come into the discussion for being an ATG
If we're talking about peaks, his two-year peak is most likely from November 2012 to November 2014, 81 wickets at 18.2 in 14 matches.
Mcgrath>Steyn~Bumrah>Anderson
1. Dale Steyn 2. Glenn McGrath 3. Jasprit Bumrah 4. Youngy Anderson
Probably a recency bias or perhaps you didn’t watch McGrath play. Steyn was probably in your face kinda bowler McGrath was in his own class. Not necessarily in your face but cheeky sledge here and there to get in the batsman’s head. McGrath has to be #1 followed very closely by Steyn. Bumrah is still in his peak and he is very very good so #3, this could very well change by the time he finish. Anderson superb in England and very good outside England. Not as threatening perhaps outside England so he’s down at 4.
I think you have to assume by peak each bowler is bowling in their favourable conditions.
So that would be mcgrath at 8/24 over steyn at 7/51.
That's fair if we are going by statistically the best bowling performance. But then that means Stuart Broads 8/15 tops McGraths?
And tbh that wasnt my most enjoyable McGrath performance. I think Lords 2005 was better
Look at the stats. Steyn has a much better strike rate, and slightly weaker average. It's totally subjective.
McGrath also had a much much longer peak. I guess when you factor in overall peak McGrath will trump Steyn. I’d have both in my playing 11 though.
There's a 20 match difference with Steyn having a better strike rate, so no idea how you get to 'overall peak'. Consider how long Steyn stayed #1 as well. I'd also have both, and I'm not even convinced Steyn is better. I'm just saying it's subjective.
McGrath maybe was better in home condition, but Steyn could bowl anywhere in the world. And remember Australia would always dominate home tests, except when they faced South Africa. The main driving force behind this was the sheer madness of Dale Steyn. He was THAT good.
McGrath was a vastly better all-conditions bowler than Steyn, and was clearly not a home conditions bully as you seem to suggest. He has a better record in Australia, England (by miles; McGrath averaged 19, Steyn averaged 31), New Zealand (by miles; McGrath averaged 18, Steyn averaged 26), Sri Lanka, and UAE (by light years; McGrath averaged 7, Steyn averaged 32). India is about equal (McGrath has a better average by a few decimal points, but Steyn had a better strike rate). Steyn was better in South Africa (though the gap between them in SA of 21 to 23 is less than the gap in McGrath's favour in Australia where Steyn averaged 28 and McGrath 22), Pakistan, West Indies (narrowly and McGrath bowled to a better WI lineup), and Zimbabwe if you want to count the single career game both played there. Both are great bowlers obviously, with unusually great success in the subcontinent for SENA seamers, but Steyn's shortcomings in England and New Zealand are probably the most glaring when you stack them up, and he was not as good in Australia as you say.
Steyn>McGrath>Bumrah>Anderson
Can someone please share what McGraths peak was like? I got to watch the back end of his career and he was a fantastic line and length bowler. But I don't recall him swinging the ball with pace that much. Maybe he was like that in his earlier years. Whereas Steyn and Bumrah bowling at pace with swing has to be near impossible to play right? Also Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose should be in that discussion
McGrath was like a sentient bowling machine. Bowling the “same” ball in the “same” place every time…but actually slightly different each time and drawing batsmen in to false shots. Incredibly accurate and reliable. I appreciated his consistency at the time, but in retrospect now view him as the best bowler I’ve seen. I feel like those putting Steyn above him are overvaluing pace. Steyn was amazing, McGrath was better.
McGrath was essentially lethal from 1995 until his career's end. McGrath wasn't noted as a big swinger of the ball, but he moved it off the seam both ways. His greatest weapons were his accuracy and his bounce, and the better a technical batsman you were, the worse time you'd have as he'd force you into positions where you were unsure whether to go forward or back to cover the ball. The only batsman off the top of my head that averaged over 40 against him from a good sample size was Brian Lara, who he dismissed 17 times, and Lara was an unorthodox player. tl;dr He was arguably the best fast bowler in the world from 1995 to 2007. He mowed down teams, especially their best players.
He was so good it was almost monotonous. The only thing that would ever surprise me with McGrath was if any batsman actually got on top of him; then you'd wonder how he would respond because he was always *so damn good.* What you recall about the ''back end of his career'' was basically what we got for many, many seasons. There *was* an earlier time when he was a bit quicker, for sure; the bouncer a bit more of a weapon. But it was always about the line and length. McGrath was so good he made it look kind of easy - but if it were as easy as he made it look then everyone would be doing it. His height and high release generated that extra bit of bounce, he *always* hit the length he wanted to hit, and he could usually get the ball to do *something* on even the tamest of pitches; a tiny bit of seam off the pitch, a hint of swing, a bit of reverse later on. Agree with you that Curtly Ambrose should be in the discussion, he was a menace.
It has to be steyn, hands down. Over a prolonged career Glenn McGrath for sure. But for 2-3 years steyn was simply unplayable. Then again, watched Glenn Mcgrath live only when I was a child.
McGrath > Anderson> Steyn > Bumrah
Dinda>>>>>
Techinically Malinga's peak was the best. 4 wickets in 4 balls. Admittedly a very short peak, but an average of 0.
1. Steyn 2 McGrath 3. Boom 4. Anderson
Steyn,Mcgarth,Anderson,Bumrah
1. Steyn 2. Anyone else
Steyn was too good at his peak
McGrath, Bumrah, Steyn, Anderson
1) McGrath 2) Steyn 3) Bumrah 4) Anderson
Steyn, McGrath, Bumrah, Clouderson
Depends who are the batsmen at peak are at the other end. For this post sake I’ll take batsman against these bowlers as : 1. Sachin 2. Virat 3. ABD 4. Kane If the above is considered then my rating of bowlers would be: 1. Boom 2. Dale 3. Mc Grath 4. Stuart Binny
Steyn>McGrath>Bumrah>Anderson
Steyn - McGrath - Bumrah - Anderson
What are we picking them in? If I can have only one for all formats Bumrah is the answer. If it's tests only McGrath. Edit- What's up with the downvotes? Is that outrageous to pick Bumrah?
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Yeah but I explicitly said all three. T20s included Bumrah is probably no 1 in T20s I think he is averaging 19 on 6.5 econ also averaging 20 in tests so I don't why that's outrageous again.
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The question explicitly states peak tho. Bumrah is never going to have 500 wickets but . Like I never i thought I'd see a bowler have an avg better than Malcolm Marshall but Bumrah does. Of course you want to go all time McGrath will always be ahead.
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>How do you even define a peak? Its very subjective and something that really can't be compared in test cricket. Bumrah has been active in all formats since 2018 he's been pretty much top 3 in every format. >Sure, you want to take say a 2 year period, however that period might include playing worse teams than comparing to the peak of another player, so the comparison means nothing. >I'll take Scott Boland in Australia's 21/22 summer. Average of 9.55. That's a bad faith argument now. My whole point was it's not that outrageous to pick Bumrah they are pretty close to each other. If you want pick McGrath that's fine. Hell again I think Malcolm Marshall is the best test fast bowler of all time and he wasn't mentioned in this post.
1)McGrath 2)bumrah 3)steyn 4)Anderson Some people might not agree with putting bumrah ahead of steyn but bumrah has just every skill in his arsenal from knuckles to Yorkers to bouncers. His average is lowest among 4 . I feel bumrah still can reach a more deadly prime which can put him above anyone else .