Following on from the greatest fast bowler thread...... Who is the greatest spinner ever? Warne Murali Qadir Kumble Gibbs etc etc etc :good
Warne is the best Ive seen for his ability to freakishy turn the ball and truly be a gamebreaker. But if you put more stock in longevity and consistency (which is a huge part of cricket) Murali and Kumble certainly deserves a shout. One of the most important roles of a bowler is to simply game in and game out take wickets for the least amount of runs possible. At the end of the day thats what wins matches. Warne had his spells where he was very expensive and really only saved face with some soft dismissals off tail enders. Murali has an amazing first class bowling average, his numbers are more impressive then either of those guys. Even if he isnt technically the superior bowler and has gotten many his wickets because Sri Lanka generally have played the weaker teams more often then Australia has, he is an amazing athlete. Whilst this is still in classic if I could make a comparison of the two then Murali is a bit like Myung-Woo Yuh to Warne's Jung Koo Chang. One man is clearly the more talented and skilled operator, whilst the other is more consistent and focused seeing him make the best of his talents even if they are slightly inferior to the other guy. The more I think about it the more I feel Murali deserves this distinction.
No reason why this can't be made into a boxing thread. For spinning, Ted Spoon would have to nominee Benny Leonard and Willie Pep.
S F Barnes. Avg: 16. something, he used to spin 'em at medium pace. Equally impressively, he was probably the most evil looking ******* to walk on the face of the earth.
Cricket: As much as it annoys me to say it, I think it was Shane Warne. Boxing: Don King; he can spin anything in his favour.
