Broad vs Morkel/English vs SA bowling attack

[thevortex]

Quite a while back there was some discussion about the English bowling attack. I remember many people claiming then that the English attack would be put to sword and the like. Round about that time there was also a discussion as to which side had the best bowling attack - South Africa or England. We could, at that time, take all other sides out of the equation. If I remember right very few people backed England. As subtext there was this discussion between the comparative merits/demerits of Broad and Morkel (Morne). I am curious as to how many people would prefer Broad over Morkel or vice versa. Please discuss.

[Serani]

England have a better third seamer and a better spinner, advantage england in my eyes. And I would prefer Broad because of his batting, Morkel is a bit better with the ball.

[ganeshran]

SA are better overall. because they do well in all conditions. But in helpful conditions England bowling attack will do better.

[Asoka]

SA bowling attack is much much better. Indians have made this English bowling attack look better than what they really are.

[Serani]

Yeh thats it, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Paul Harris are what you need in a great bowling attack.

[Trichromatic]

SA bowling attack is much much better. Indians have made this English bowling attack look better than what they really are.

Nah, apart from Morkel and Steyn they don't have good bowlers. If anyone of those two (especially Steyn) misses a match SA bowling will look nothing.

[Septimius Severus]

RIP Zyzz

[Asoka]

Yeh thats it' date=' Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Paul Harris are what you need in a great bowling attack.[/quote'] The SA bowling attack twice bowled out India for about 100 runs in India. I doubt England can bowl us out like that in India. English bowlers are poor in subcontinental pitches. Fact is that Steyn and Morkel are better than all 4 English pacemen combined. They don't need a 3rd/4th bowler. Swann has been exposed in this series. Even Harris looked more threatening against India.

[Kumar]

The SA bowling attack twice bowled out India for about 100 runs in India. I doubt England can bowl us out like that in India. English bowlers are poor in subcontinental pitches. Fact is that Steyn and Morkel are better than all 4 English pacemen combined. They don't need a 3rd/4th bowler. Swann was exposed in this match.. Even Harris looked more threatening against India.

Brings back memories of that delivery from Steyn to dravid, seaming wicket, good inswinger, very fast mind you and just clipped the off stump!

[Jayaram_IND]

@poll question as a test match bowler i will prefer morne morkel

[thevortex]

Some interesting thoughts... Here is a take: On bowling attacks: England - even after missing the services of Chris Tremlett can still bring on a match winner and impact bowler like Bresnan. What is more - if one more of their pace attack go down, they have the choice of bringing in Graham Onions who is no slouch and can bowl 90 mph as well as swing the ball. This is direct contrast with South Africa who do not have as much depth or quality. Only Steyn and Langeveldt (to an extent) swing the ball with any consistency. And we dont have to go down the Swann route. He has no equivalent counterpart on the Springboks' side. On Morkel vs Broad: Leave alone the fact that on a Test match team sheet one would any day take Broad ahead considering his batting abilities, Broad I feel is better equipped to bowl on a variety of surfaces as opposed to Morkel who is somewhat single dimensioned. Broad has the pace - can operate at 90 mph - as well as the swing and seam. Now that is a real handful. In balance one can say that these are two young and very talented bowlers. Broad, for me, has more than an edge as a player with his all round abilities.

[julianlev]

I'd always back Steyn and Morkel over their English counterparts The english have bowled well in this series, but our duo have done the same in India itself, where the pitches are not so kind to fast bowlers Past our spearhead, we have Kallis, who is one of our highest wicket takers, and Tsotsobe, who despite being labelled unfairly as a "quota" player, has performed consistently well in the test arena I'm not going to claim that we have a spinner who can match Swann, but I am interested to see how Tahir performs in his first test match for us Also, no offence to India, but their batsmen haven't exactly been at their best during this tour

[Trichromatic]

I'm not going to claim that we have a spinner who can match Swann, but I am interested to see how Tahir performs in his first test match for us

Swann is an average off-spinner.

Also, no offence to India, but their batsmen haven't exactly been at their best during this tour

That's the truth and not the offence. :((

[express bowling]

SAF has a much quicker attack than England and have 2 genuine fast Bowlers in Steyn and Morkel. England have good fast-medium bowlers but not anybody who can bowl a lot of deliveries at 90mph or above in test matches. I don't think the English have bowled many, if any at all, 90 mph balls in this test series. In conditions where the ball is not moving Steyn and Morkel would be more potent. In Steyn the SAFs have one of the all time greats. Test average of 23. A real strike bowler. The English seamers have not yet shown that striking power over a long time in various conditions. Just a couple of good series under helpful conditions won't make them great. They have to perform well under sub-continent conditions aswell. Over dependence on Steyn is the SAFs greatest weakness as well. If he is injured then the atttack would not look as potent. England, on the other hand have a more balanced attack and is not dependant on any one bowler. Good backup bowlers with discipline are present. So, I would pick the fully fit SAF attack over the English attack but, if Steyn is not playing, the English attack is better especiallly under helpful conditions. But congrats to the English seam attack on a very disciplined performance this series. They have done well. I would pick Morkel over Broad as a bowler. Broad is not as consistent in all series and not as quick as Morkel. But he obviously has better batting abilities.

[Ultimate_Game]

Morkel for me. The guy's much more consistent than Broad and is an ideal bowler in seam friendly conditions.

[tapish]

The batting is pretty much the same. Bowling is diverse- Steyn do well in all conditions, while their main bowler Anderson, Broad do well at home and other conducive conditions. Spinning option is not much different if the South Africans give a chance to Imran Tahir - their leg break bowler who did remarkably well in the World Cup. Although England has the edge as they bat deep but its really hard to find a difference between the two sides.

[vamos_rafa]

Morkel certainly is a much better than Broad. Broad has hit a purple patch. Let him wander a bit and then we would come to know. Morkel on the other hand is far more lethal as a bowler,someone who can perform well in all conditions.

[Sidhoni]

Broad can bat better than Morkel, it might be a bit confusing to see only the bowling, but I would definitely have Barbie in my team due to his batting abilities.

[CG]

Some interesting thoughts... Here is a take: On bowling attacks: England - even after missing the services of Chris Tremlett can still bring on a match winner and impact bowler like Bresnan. What is more - if one more of their pace attack go down, they have the choice of bringing in Graham Onions who is no slouch and can bowl 90 mph as well as swing the ball. This is direct contrast with South Africa who do not have as much depth or quality. Only Steyn and Langeveldt (to an extent) swing the ball with any consistency. And we dont have to go down the Swann route. He has no equivalent counterpart on the Springboks' side. On Morkel vs Broad: Leave alone the fact that on a Test match team sheet one would any day take Broad ahead considering his batting abilities, Broad I feel is better equipped to bowl on a variety of surfaces as opposed to Morkel who is somewhat single dimensioned. Broad has the pace - can operate at 90 mph - as well as the swing and seam. Now that is a real handful. In balance one can say that these are two young and very talented bowlers. Broad, for me, has more than an edge as a player with his all round abilities.

South africa by far have better attack in all conditions , broad was hammered by lankans not long ago on pitches which do not swing english attack is mediocore as proven by bangladesh,westindies,srilanka . South africa have got parnell now as third seamer have variety, south africs have 150 km bowlers and have done well in all conditions so no comaprisons please.

[saneindian]

SA play Eng next year. If England are so cofident about their bowling and think they have the best bowling, would they produce the same kind of wickets with thick grass covering and good bounce.