South African fast bowler Dale Steyn deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Sachin Tendulkar as a true great of the game, says All Out Cricket columnist David Green.
If there was any doubt that Sachin Tendulkar belongs in the pantheon of the greatest cricketers ever to have played the game then that was surely extinguished when he passed 15,000 Test runs during India’s first Test victory against West Indies in Delhi.
His feat is wonderful recognition of his genius, consistency and longevity but thanks to the fanatical worship from his legions of fans, every sensible cricket follower had already accepted the Little Master’s credentials as one of the game’s greats.
When it comes to bowlers, the general consensus is that since the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, there is a dearth of genuinely great exponents with the ball. In some ways this assumption is accurate. The likes of Zaheer Khan, James Anderson and Graeme Swann fall into the ‘very good’ rather than ‘great’ category. However, one bowler stands out from the crowd. And that man is Dale Steyn.
Like Tendulkar, the South African quick deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the greatest players in the history of the sport, especially if the 28-year-old can maintain fitness and form for another three or four years. Steyn’s potent mixture of aggression and express pace, coupled with unerring accuracy and the ease with which he is able to swing the ball extravagantly both ways, reminds me of Malcolm Marshall. Indeed, perhaps the biggest compliment I can give Steyn is that he would have been good enough to get into the all-conquering West Indian pace attack of the 1970s and 1980s.
Steyn had already snared 238 Test wickets in just 46 Tests prior to the start of the encounter with Australia in Cape Town. His bowling average of 23 runs per wicket is good enough, but it is his strike-rate that marks him out for greatness. Of bowlers to have taken 100 or more wickets, Steyn’s strike-rate of a wicket every 39.6 balls is the second highest in the history of Test cricket, behind only George Lohmann – whose strike rate of 34.1 will never be beaten. However, as good as Lohmann was, this giant of the Victorian era took his wickets at a time when ball generally dominated bat and pitches were uncovered. When you consider Steyn is playing in an era of batsman-friendly wickets, with jam-packed schedules shortening the careers of genuinely quick bowlers, it makes his achievement all the more remarkable.
Steyn was at his best on day one at Newlands and his battle with Michael Clarke was Test cricket at its most captivating and ferocious best. He may not have even a tenth of the devoted following of Sachin, but anyone who witnessed Steyn’s performances at Nagpur and Johannesburg in 2010, or Newlands against India at the start of this year, will know that Steyn is already great, and close to being a legend of the game.
David Green is the warped mind behind The Reverse Sweep cricket blog and regards Douglas Jardine as his ultimate cricket hero. You can follow David on Twitter @TheReverseSweep
Steyn On Fast Track To Achieving Legend Status
South African fast bowler Dale Steyn deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Sachin Tendulkar as a true great of the game, says All Out Cricket columnist David Green.
If there was any doubt that Sachin Tendulkar belongs in the pantheon of the greatest cricketers ever to have played the game then that was surely extinguished when he passed 15,000 Test runs during India’s first Test victory against West Indies in Delhi.
His feat is wonderful recognition of his genius, consistency and longevity but thanks to the fanatical worship from his legions of fans, every sensible cricket follower had already accepted the Little Master’s credentials as one of the game’s greats.
When it comes to bowlers, the general consensus is that since the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, there is a dearth of genuinely great exponents with the ball. In some ways this assumption is accurate. The likes of Zaheer Khan, James Anderson and Graeme Swann fall into the ‘very good’ rather than ‘great’ category. However, one bowler stands out from the crowd. And that man is Dale Steyn.
Like Tendulkar, the South African quick deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the greatest players in the history of the sport, especially if the 28-year-old can maintain fitness and form for another three or four years. Steyn’s potent mixture of aggression and express pace, coupled with unerring accuracy and the ease with which he is able to swing the ball extravagantly both ways, reminds me of Malcolm Marshall. Indeed, perhaps the biggest compliment I can give Steyn is that he would have been good enough to get into the all-conquering West Indian pace attack of the 1970s and 1980s.
Steyn had already snared 238 Test wickets in just 46 Tests prior to the start of the encounter with Australia in Cape Town. His bowling average of 23 runs per wicket is good enough, but it is his strike-rate that marks him out for greatness. Of bowlers to have taken 100 or more wickets, Steyn’s strike-rate of a wicket every 39.6 balls is the second highest in the history of Test cricket, behind only George Lohmann – whose strike rate of 34.1 will never be beaten. However, as good as Lohmann was, this giant of the Victorian era took his wickets at a time when ball generally dominated bat and pitches were uncovered. When you consider Steyn is playing in an era of batsman-friendly wickets, with jam-packed schedules shortening the careers of genuinely quick bowlers, it makes his achievement all the more remarkable.
Steyn was at his best on day one at Newlands and his battle with Michael Clarke was Test cricket at its most captivating and ferocious best. He may not have even a tenth of the devoted following of Sachin, but anyone who witnessed Steyn’s performances at Nagpur and Johannesburg in 2010, or Newlands against India at the start of this year, will know that Steyn is already great, and close to being a legend of the game.
David Green is the warped mind behind The Reverse Sweep cricket blog and regards Douglas Jardine as his ultimate cricket hero. You can follow David on Twitter @TheReverseSweep