The UAFC

Well done to a fellow Lancastrian.

Good bloke and a great bowler.

Well done indeed, fabulous record for a guy who hasn't been without his troubles, be that injury or form occasionally.

Joining McGrath and Walshe in addition to 3 unbelievable spinners I'd quite some company. Seems like a really good bloke too.

Hats off.

For a Lionel.

BaggyTrousers wrote:For a Lionel.

He is from the North. Not too many "Lionels" in Burnley

They are all Lionels to me Merv, a nation of Lionels.

BaggyTrousers wrote:Well done indeed, fabulous record for a guy who hasn't been without his troubles, be that injury or form occasionally.

Joining McGrath and Walshe in addition to 3 unbelievable spinners I'd quite some company. Seems like a really good bloke too.

Hats off.

Alec Stewart says he will be the greatest pace bowler in history if he surpasses McGrath

Better than Malcolm Marshall, Richard Hadlee or McGrath himself? I don't think so.

He's probably not even the best English pace bowler in history. Best of the last half century certainly, but them as saw 'im would probably give that accolade to Fiery Fred.

big mervyn wrote:

BaggyTrousers wrote:Well done indeed, fabulous record for a guy who hasn't been without his troubles, be that injury or form occasionally.

Joining McGrath and Walshe in addition to 3 unbelievable spinners I'd quite some company. Seems like a really good bloke too.

Hats off.

Alec Stewart says he will be the greatest pace bowler in history if he surpasses McGrath

Better than Malcolm Marshall, Richard Hadlee or McGrath himself? I don't think so.

He's probably not even the best English pace bowler in history. Best of the last half century certainly, but them as saw 'im would probably give that accolade to Fiery Fred.

It's a bit like comparing international rugby of the amateur era to now, players then played maybe a dozen years to get 50 caps, now they can rack that up in 5 years or so.

If you look at wickets taken per test, F S Truman took 4.58 on avarage, G D McGrath 4.54 & Anderson 3.33. I T Botham is higher ranked with 3.75 & considering his batting exploits, he stands pretty high in my opinion.

Anderson is a good player but then also factor in some of the weak as water test teams these days.

BaggyTrousers wrote:

big mervyn wrote:

BaggyTrousers wrote:Well done indeed, fabulous record for a guy who hasn't been without his troubles, be that injury or form occasionally.

Joining McGrath and Walshe in addition to 3 unbelievable spinners I'd quite some company. Seems like a really good bloke too.

Hats off.

Alec Stewart says he will be the greatest pace bowler in history if he surpasses McGrath

Better than Malcolm Marshall, Richard Hadlee or McGrath himself? I don't think so.

He's probably not even the best English pace bowler in history. Best of the last half century certainly, but them as saw 'im would probably give that accolade to Fiery Fred.

It's a bit like comparing international rugby of the amateur era to now, players then played maybe a dozen years to get 50 caps, now they can rack that up in 5 years or so.

If you look at wickets taken per test, F S Truman took 4.58 on avarage, G D McGrath 4.54 & Anderson 3.33. I T Botham is higher ranked with 3.75 & considering his batting exploits, he stands pretty high in my opinion.

Anderson is a good player but then also factor in some of the weak as water test teams these days.

Your maths is a bit off there. Jimmy has 506 wkts in 128 tests which works out at 3.95 per test. Not too shabby but your point still holds. In Anderson's defence modern cricket conditions certainly favour the batsman much more than in Fred's day which makes that comparison even more problematic.

Just realised that Jimmy recorded his best ever test and first class figures with 7/42. Quite remarkable given the circumstances.

big mervyn wrote:

BaggyTrousers wrote:

big mervyn wrote:

BaggyTrousers wrote:Well done indeed, fabulous record for a guy who hasn't been without his troubles, be that injury or form occasionally.

Joining McGrath and Walshe in addition to 3 unbelievable spinners I'd quite some company. Seems like a really good bloke too.

Hats off.

Alec Stewart says he will be the greatest pace bowler in history if he surpasses McGrath

Better than Malcolm Marshall, Richard Hadlee or McGrath himself? I don't think so.

He's probably not even the best English pace bowler in history. Best of the last half century certainly, but them as saw 'im would probably give that accolade to Fiery Fred.

It's a bit like comparing international rugby of the amateur era to now, players then played maybe a dozen years to get 50 caps, now they can rack that up in 5 years or so.

If you look at wickets taken per test, F S Truman took 4.58 on avarage, G D McGrath 4.54 & Anderson 3.33. I T Botham is higher ranked with 3.75 & considering his batting exploits, he stands pretty high in my opinion.

Anderson is a good player but then also factor in some of the weak as water test teams these days.

Your maths is a bit off there. Jimmy has 506 wkts in 128 tests which works out at 3.95 per test. Not too shabby but your point still holds. In Anderson's defence modern cricket conditions certainly favour the batsman much more than in Fred's day which makes that comparison even more problematic.

Just realised that Jimmy recorded his best ever test and first class figures with 7/42. Quite remarkable given the circumstances.

You mean the ball moving 6 feet in the air for 3 consecutive days?

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

The conditions for batting were considerably better today.

Whatever your opinion of his ranking compared to others of yesteryear, he is once again OFFICIALLY the current best Test bowler in the world.

Kevin O'Brien and the rest of the Irish TEST cricket squad

Cap'n Grumpy wrote:Kevin O'Brien and the rest of the Irish TEST cricket squad

Great effort so far.

Kevin o’brien is the man for the big occasion. I am sure there are others who are technically better, but that was an innings of real character today. At the very least Ireland have respectability out of this game for the way they bowled and their 2nd innings batting. Getting over 300 is a good effort.

Even if we get another 30 or 40 unfortunately we do not have the bowlers to win it for us. Big Boyd Rankin and Murtagh could do a decent job but there rest would not be able to finish the job off.

Anyway, well done Kevin and the boys in the lower order who gave you such great support.

Australia are the only team that have won their first test.

Zimbabwe are the only other side to avoid defeat.

For Ireland to have an outside chance of victory on Day 5 is a fine effort.