We are back with yet another comparison article about 2 great players from the same nation with the same skills and in this one we have a good one as we will be looking at 2 of the greatest bowlers that have ever played for Australia and we will try to see who among them is the greatest of them all. Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne were the 2 reasons why Australia was such a dominant side for more than a decade because the batters from the opposition had no chance against these 2.
Before we talk about these 2 and their stats and then compare them , I would like to say how fortunate I was to be able to watch these 2 greats of the sport going at it in their prime and they took wickets for fun and the opposition teams used to lose most of the matches. So, let’s see who is the greatest.
Glenn McGrath
Glenn McGrath is without a doubt the greatest fast bowler that has ever played for Australia and for numbers do not lie. He is one of the best of all time in any era. He did not have fast pace but the thing he had was immaculate line and lengths which he could bowl all the time and the batters got out most of the time. Glenn McGrath was a joy to watch except when he played against India.
Test Cricket
Glenn McGrath played 124 Test Matches for Australia and in those Matches he took a whopping 563 Test wickets which was the all time record for a long time. He took 29 Five wicket hauls in his career and 3 times he took 10 Wickets in a test match. Glenn McGrath had an average of 21.84 while bowling in test cricket which is crazy.
Also Read | Glenn McGrath vs Dale Steyn - Stats Comparison as Fast Bowler
ODI Cricket
Glenn McGrath played 250 ODIs for Australia and he was one of the rarest few who did equally well in both Tests and ODIs. In his 250 ODIs he took 381 wickets which is also among the highest for a fast bowler in this format. He took 7 Five wicket hauls in his ODI career and he had a bowling average of 22.02. In his international career he took 944 international wickets which is among the highest ever.
Also Read | Sachin Tendulkar vs Glenn McGrath Rivalry and head to head stats
Shane Warne
The late Shane Warne might be the greatest spinner to ever play cricket and that is saying a lot since we also have a lot of other great spinners as well. Shane Warne made leg spin bowling look cool and getting inspired by him so many young bowlers took up leg spin bowling and they have made a huge name for themselves.
Test Cricket
Shane Warne played 145 Test Matches in his illustrious career and in those Matches he took a whopping 708 test wickets which is the second highest of all time. Shane Warne was a magician and he took 37 Five wicket hauls in his career. He also took 10 Wickets in a test match 10 times in his career. His bowling average was 25.42 while howling in test cricket. He also made 3154 tear runs in his career with 12 half centuries in test cricket.
Also Read | Sachin Tendulkar vs Shane Warne Rivalry and head to head
ODI Cricket
Shane Warne was very successful in ODI Cricket as well but not to the level in test cricket. He played 194 ODIs for Australia and in those he took 293 wickets. He took 1 Five wicket haul in his ODI career and he had a bowling average of 25.74. He took a total of 1001 international wickets which is among the Top 3 of all time.
Also Read | Muttiah Muralitharan vs Shane Warne bowling stats and comparison
Who is the Greatest?
In test cricket it is clear that Shane Warne was slightly ahead of Glenn and because he had more than 140 more wickets than the great fast bowler and in ODIs Glenn McGrath has the edge over Shane Warne as he took 100 more wickets in ODIs. However since Test Cricket is the ultimate I have to say Shane Warne is the greatest bowler that Australia has ever seen.
Also Read: James Anderson vs Glenn McGrath – Stats Comparison as Fast Bowler
