@CCW

Dale Steyn, Stuart Broad, Ravichandran Ashwin, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins. All great and unique in their own way.

All these players, both batters and bowlers excelled in all formats of the game. That makes them special and separates them from the rest.

@XFactor

Again, all from NZ , SA, India or Australia. Nothing in the medium to long term is going to come from half of the cricketing world: WI, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe or Bangladesh

all those batsmen, with the exception of Kohli and AB struggled when confronted by challenges that would have been bread and butter in the 1980s and 1990s. Only AB was able to cope, for example when Mitchell Johnson carved a swathe of destruction across both England and South Africa and scared Graeme Smith into retirement. Joe Root was petrified of Johnson. There were at least six bowlers in the 90scwho presented the physical threat that Johnson did during those series: Curtly Ambrose, Ian Bishop Allan Donald, Devon Malcolm, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. England and South Africa encountered one really nasty fast bowler and they collapsed. The 80s had even more of those pacemen because international legislation had not cracked down off the bouncer

@Jumpstart

It is rare for a nation to be just lucky with top talent. it is a long‑term investment through a combination of culture, investment in facilities, training and coaching. Nothing happens magically.

@XFactor

For me only Dale Steyn an James Anderson as a swing bowler could make the cut an mix it with greats of the past.....yuh surely can't think Cummins an Hazelwood better than Mcgrath or Starc as a left hand swing bowler better than Wasim Akram ..an no idea why yuh have Ashwin in the mix up against Warne & Murali....I'm thinking ur of a younger generation an hence didn't see much of the Lara/Shiv era!!

.

@CCW

Anderson, to me has been fortunate that county cricket teams can only field two overseas professionals, meaning most of the cricket teams touring England will not be used to his type of bowling. Viv would have beat him out of existence because Viv spent every summer in England playing for Somerset and later Glamorgan. That’s also the reason Brian Lara could have scored 700+ runs across 6 tests in England in 1995, which nobody save Steve smith has done since. Anderson wasn’t even as good as Angus Fraser, English cricket was just so insular that he was protected

i do agree with you that Cummins and Hazelwood are in no league with Glenn McGrath. But then again, I think McGrath is as good as any of the great West Indian pacers we have witnessed. He was a genuinely difficult bowler to face.

@Jumpstart

I dnt take ur comparison between Angus Fraser an Anderson serious....its complete nonsense on every level!!😀

@CCW

do you know angus Fraser has four five wicket halls in the West Indies, and not bowling to shai hope and Kraig brathwaite, I mean bowling to Viv, Lara, hooper, shiv, jimmy Adams. Anderson only has two. In fact Anderson’s career average is only marginally better at 26.46 than Fraser’s 27.32. And Fraser’s average in Australia is better than Anderson’s. Fraser also has two five wicket hauls in Australia across 8 tests in Australia. Anderson only has one despite playing 21 tests in the country. When England won in 2010/11, the bowlers who did the damage were Steven Finn, Chris tremlett and Tim Bresnan. Not anderson. Anderson was well protected by the protectionism of the English county system

@Jumpstart

Jumpy you are spot on.

People look at bare stacks and forget the nuances.

Anderson was overrated big-time.

On another note, when comparing greatness.

We HAVE to stick to test cricket only.

Despite changing laws and conditions,

Test cricket is the only format that crossed eras

It is stupid to compare eras and mention ODI and or T20 etc.

We can only speculate.

I can spectulate that Lara, Viv, and a few others would have been great at T20

had it been a popular format during their formidable years.

@CCW

Keemo Mandela ANGUS Paul ain’t name suh fuh nothing yuh know!!!

@WIfan26

Ok!

@TanteMerle

Champ ....having previously lived in Hengland throughout Anderson career i saw a quite a lot of him an esp in overcast conditions he could mek de ball talk so not guessing or just going by his stats ...not saying he belongs in the upper echelons with the likes of Amby,Wasim an Mcgrath etc but he was a class act an no doubt one of Hengland's finest.....overated, well protected or not....give Jack he jacket!!

@CCW

Please read your response again.

How did he perform outside Hingland where the conditions favored him?

Anderson is overrated.

You really want to put him in the class of

great players who performed in all conditions?

@WIfan26

Two quick things. First, sports fans always seem to think the era they grew up in was the greatest. Second, just because a great player didn't play in your era does not diminish his greatness.

@Fivestar

Two quick things. First, sports fans always seem to think the era they grew up in was the greatest. Second, just because a great player didn't play in your era does not diminish his greatness.

Well said sah!

Going through this thread it seems that some posters are very reluctant to move into the 21st century. Imagine a poster decrying:

Any era with helmet, limited bumpers rules, DRS of any sort,

not to mention video analysis, diet fitness and other aids;

cannot be in the GOAT conversation.

@TanteMerle

I think "you" should read my previous properly at no point did i put Anderson in the very top tier ...but for a man to play nearby 200 tests with over 700 wickets an ave of 26.45 eco 2.79 an SR 56.8 is overated??....stats are not everything but it is a fair reflection of ur ability esp over a long period of time ..ok the 700 test wickets is purely down to longevity cos if you play longer than anybody it stands to reason that you will get more wickets but to have an ave 26.45 an 56.8 SR over such long career is very commendable in my book....i dnt know where yuh get this overated thing from cos i haven't heard any respected commentators(even Henglish)placing Anderson amongst the elite!!